Meike van Hout chose mixed korfball because she "wanted to become world champion"
Meike van Hout grew up in women's korfball. Now the 21-year-old plays in the Korfbal League for Unitas. "I also always said that I wanted to become world champion", she tells KORFBALINC. "Well, that is difficult with women's korfball. So you soon have to look further."
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Automatically translated from Dutch. Read the Dutch original.
She came to korfball through her mother. She played at the highest level in women's korfball and then coached for a number of years. Van Hout watched along at the finals in a sports centre in Eindhoven. "Then I could always get a taste of the atmosphere."
She herself comes from Gemert, where there are few korfball clubs. After a number of years of football, her parents allowed her to go to De Korfrakkers in Erp, a village further along. The best thing about women's korfball, she found, was "that you could always play together with your friends. So that it was actually always a lot of fun."
Seeking out the physical side
The turning point came when her team ended up in a mixed pool, against Rust Roest, DSC and PSV. That was something she had always wanted: "to take on that physical side a bit more". Via DVO and Oost-Arnhem she came to Unitas in 2024-2025.
Read more: Fortuna "lord and master" against Unitas, DVO loses the opener to DOS '46
According to Van Hout, the biggest difference with women's korfball lies in the tactics and the physical side. "The game is very different. And in women's korfball you can take more difficult run-ins than in mixed." Playing mixed gives her more. "You learn a lot on a personal level, also from playing with men. And I think you can get much more out of it, because mixed korfball is also much more alive."
Just do it
She has clear advice for players from women's korfball: "that they should just do it, especially if they want to get more out of it". According to her, that applies to those who want to keep growing and like to seek out the physical side. "I would above all always recommend it at a young age. I went at a young age myself." She sees that reflected. "You end up taking different shooting chances and you learn a lot from it."
Seventh or eighth place
With Unitas she is aiming for seventh or eighth place, "just like last year", with wins against the bottom teams. The team started on 7 November with a 32‑18 defeat at Fortuna.
Personally, she wants to be strong defensively again and show herself a bit more in attack, "by seeking out the timing more and really going for my actions more".
Unitas host PKC on Saturday 14 November at 20:15.