Fortuna are favourites again, with Boerhout and a new coaching duo
Last season Fortuna were the best team in the competition, and yet the title went to DVO. After two lost finals in a row, the team from Delft start tonight against Unitas, with Nikki Boerhout added and Damien Folkerts no longer on the bench.
Automatically translated from Dutch. Read the Dutch original.
- Fortuna finished first in the competition last season, but lost the final.
- Niels van der Steuijt succeeds Damien Folkerts alongside Joost Preuninger.
- Nikki Boerhout comes from KZ, no starting player left.
In the regular competition last season it was clear-cut: Fortuna finished first with 30 points, four more than LDODK, and a goal difference of +109. After two won semi-finals against PKC, things still went wrong in Ahoy. Fortuna lost the final 30‑31 to DVO. A year earlier Fortuna lost the final to PKC (17‑21).
Damien Folkerts stepped down after nine seasons as head coach; that was already known in January. Joost Preuninger stays and gets Niels van der Steuijt alongside him. Van der Steuijt grew up at Fortuna, became national champion seven times with the youth teams, coached Fortuna 2 to the title in the Reserve Korfbal League last season and is assistant national coach of TeamNL under 19.
Sven Roeleven of the technical committee said at the appointment on Fortuna's website: "With Joost Preuninger we are continuing the path we have taken of fast and varied korfball, playing hard, and with a focus on defending."
Boerhout added
The squad stayed together, no starting player left. Added to it is Nikki Boerhout, who came over from KZ and has played for Oranje since 2025. "It was a difficult choice, but the mentality, the friendly atmosphere and the ambitions of the club really appeal to me", she said on Fortuna's website. According to the coaches, her arrival "fits seamlessly with our ambition to structurally belong to the absolute top of the Korfbal League."
The core is strong. Fleur Hoek became female player of the year for the third time and Nik van der Steen male player of the year. Together they were the top scorers of the regular competition. Van der Steen scored 166 goals over the whole season, the most in the entire Korfbal League. Wouter Wildschut and Merijn Mensink have been with TeamNL since April.
There are also concerns: according to the club, Joren van Nieuwenhuijzen and Daan Preuninger are still on the way back from their injuries.
The decisive moment
From the outside the picture is unanimous. In the first episode of De Korfbal Podcast this season, Wilco van den Bos puts Fortuna at the top: "for me that is Fortuna 1." He also picks Fortuna as champion: "And I think Fortuna also have the best team." But he adds: "Only that doesn't mean you also win at the decisive moment."
Lise van Maldeghem sees the same: "when it really counts, they haven't always performed." John Jonker puts the pressure on Delft: "Yes, Fortuna simply have to." He also points to the departure of Folkerts and to the difference between good players and a good team: "These are the best players, only that doesn't immediately mean they also have the best team."
First against Unitas
Tonight at 18:30 it starts at home against Unitas. Last season Fortuna won both matches: 28‑26 away and 36‑28 at home. In its own preview Fortuna writes that it must live up to "the role of favourite". Unitas are without Lynn Bijkerk, who is playing with the Netherlands at the beach korfball World Championship.
After that come DOS '46 away, Dalto at home and DeetosSnel away. On 6 December Boerhout plays against her old club KZ in the competition. Fortuna have won the indoor final six times, the last time in 2021-2022.
