Four top Dutch Rocket League players from a mix of UK teams have been announced to represent the Netherlands in the upcoming Intel World Open (IWO).
They will form eTeamNL and participate on June 3rd in the Intel World Open, a nations tournament linked with the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
The players, selected under the supervision of the Dutch Esports Academy (DESA), consist of Thomas ‘ThO’ Binkhorst from Guild Esports, Ole ‘Oaly’ van Doorn from Wolves Esports, and Mike ‘Mikeboy’ Verkuijlen and Maarten ‘Oscillon’ van Zee from Rix.GG.
Wolves’ Dutch coach Joessi ‘Juicy’ Moorman has also been appointed national coach for the team.
It is not the first national esports team in the Netherlands, as E_Oranje from the KNVB and sponsored by KPN (for FIFA and PES) already had that honour, but the DESA say it’s the first national esports team to participate in a tournament associated with the Olympic Games.
There was also a team called The Flying Dutchmen, who reached the top four at the first RLCS Worlds in 2016, featuring Dutch players Vogan, Jessie and Dogu (thanks to Derperfier for the tip).
The Intel World Open will feature 3v3 Rocket League teams, and multiple teams from a single country may participate in the open qualifying round, so there is still a possibility to add more players to the pre-selection for a second team composition.
“It’s really great to see the support that has been generated for the Dutch Rocket League scene through this process, and I’m incredibly proud two of our players are taking part in it.”
Zack ‘cZer’ Chandler, Rix.GG
Zack ‘cZer’ Chandler, head of esports at Rix.GG, said: “It is an honour that two of our players can represent the Netherlands going into the IWO. We are happy to participate in this initiative as it is particularly important for esports in general and Rocket League in particular to make this step. It gives players a piece of deserved recognition and they also get the chance to measure themselves as a country against other countries.”
“It’s really great to see the support that has been generated for the Dutch Rocket League scene through this process, and I’m incredibly proud two of our players are taking part in it.”
Jan Hoffmann, Rix.GG chief operating officer, added: “It is a great opportunity for Mike and Maarten to represent the Netherlands at the Intel World Open qualifiers. Best of luck in the competition, everyone at Rix.GG will be cheering you on!”
Rix signed their Rocket League team back in February.
The current pre-selection will take part in a training camp this weekend in ‘the Papendal of esports’, the H20 Rabo Esports Campus.
The first open qualifying round will take place on Thursday June 3rd.
There have been calls from doctors associations for the Olympic Games to be cancelled or delayed, given the pandemic.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
