SASKATOON, Saskatchewan — The Hollandia Soccer Club is based in the northern part of the city of Saskatoon. The north zone, where the Hollandia Soccer Club belongs, happens to be the smallest, yet they have stood out as one very successful soccer team in Saskatoon and Canada.

The Club derived its name from the nationality of the first people who played in the Club. Originally, most members of the Club were from the Netherlands, also known as Holland. They migrated to Saskatoon and decided to form a soccer team in 1955. The Club didn’t go with the name Hollandia Soccer Club until in the 90’s when some of its players were looking at rebranding the Club. Robbie Pastoor of Dutch origin suggested the name Hollandia Soccer Club. 

The founding father of the team was George Vanderploeg, while Henk Rugs was one of its founding members. Eventually, the first soccer center in Saskatoon was named after Henk to recognize his contribution to soccer in the city until his passing in 2011.

The Hollandia Soccer Club is one of the few clubs whose main philosophy is about their players. Everything they do is based on what is best for their players’ tactics, technical and personal development. For them, winning is important, but it is not the most important thing. Therefore, it is not surprising that Kaylyn Kyle is one of the graduates. She was on the Canadian team that won gold at the 2011 Pan American Games. She also won the Bronze with the Canada team at the London 2012 Olympics.

“The idea of grouping is a very important one, what we want to do is that the players are grouped according to their needs. So what we want to do is that they learn the right things at the right time,” said Percy Hoff, Hollandia director of coach and player development, when he spoke about how important the needs of their players are to the Club. 

Even though the Club’s philosophy is not just about winning, they once went a whole season in the Northern Saskatchewan Soccer League unbeaten in 1962 and lifted the trophy that season. They also won the President’s Cup in the same season and made the final in the Provincial Championship, where they lost to the Regina Concordia. 

When it comes to players’ development in the game of soccer, Hollandia Soccer Club is first to none in Saskatchewan or even Canada. Because of their interest in their players, Terran Tumach has been accepted into the Sport Psychology Program of Laurentian University, which was made known in August 2021. Terran was groomed in the Hollandia Soccer Club, and he has joined many other players from Hollandia in making the Club proud beyond Saskatoon. 

If you have been looking for a soccer team where your interest is the priority, then look no more because Hollandia Soccer Club is the best for you. You can’t get anything remotely close to them elsewhere. 

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