Van Wijngaarden wants the title back, Tims first aims for the play-offs

Olav van Wijngaarden is clear about it, he tells KORFBALINC: "Winning the championship back is the goal." Mady Tims, the new coach, is more cautious, she tells KORFBALINC: "The goal with PKC is at least to reach the playoffs this year."

The 2025-2026 season was a step back for PKC. The team from Papendrecht finished fourth in the Korfbal League and were beaten twice by Fortuna in the play-offs (26‑19 and 20‑26). At home PKC did win comfortably against Fortuna (28‑22) and DVO (36‑23), but KZ won both matches.

Barry Schep left after one season as coach. Johannis Schot stays and gets Tims alongside him, who comes from Groen-Geel. "This feels like coming home", Tims said at her appointment on the PKC website. Denise Bezemer has been technical manager since February.

Read more: KZ at the start of a transition period, but Star wants nothing less than the title

Jonker out, Peet in

A lot has changed in the squad. Jelmer Jonker stops after six years at PKC and becomes coach of TeamNL under 21. "It's fine like this", he said at his farewell. Sanne van der Werff stops after fourteen years at PKC and Lise van Maldeghem returns to Voorwaarts. Cécile Slingerland is taking a step back for now due to a new knee injury.

Two names come in return. Niels Stuurstraat (27) comes from relegated Blauw-Wit. Rosalie Peet (20) comes from champion DVO, where she decided the final against Fortuna in April with eleven goals. "I feel that PKC fits well with my vision and ambition", she said on the PKC website. Brett Zuijdwegt is also back in the squad.

Van Wijngaarden sees "partly a new group". "Eager group with a lot of quality!", he says. Tims: "Of course we have a number of new players to fit in. On top of that we are also busy working on our style of play, both in attack and in defence."

The preparation did not go as hoped, because many players played the European Championship with TeamNL. "When you are then missing five Team NL players, that is quite challenging in a preparation like this", says Tims. Van Wijngaarden himself trained "little" at PKC because of the TeamNL schedule.

Searching for their own game

That style of play is also the question from outside. In the first episode of De Korfbal Podcast this season, Wilco van den Bos says he missed something last year: "PKC that as far as I'm concerned no longer really had its own DNA." He thinks PKC can do it, if the players are there, but whether Tims together with Schot can bring that back, "that remains to be seen."

Lise van Maldeghem, who played at PKC for years, hopes that Tims will add something new. She sees PKC competing for the title again: "PKC or Fortuna, one of the two." Van den Bos puts PKC second, behind Fortuna. Tims herself does not want to commit yet: "Who the favourite is, you should ask me again halfway through the season."

The podcast guests also expect Jana Driesprong to break through this season. Van Maldeghem: "she will really break through next season and can also really be important at moments for PKC."

Jorien Jordaan was PKC's top scorer last season with 75 goals. The trio who left, Jonker, Van der Werff and Van Maldeghem, scored 143 goals together: others now have to score those. Internationally things did go well: in February in Lisbon PKC won the Champions League for the fourth time in a row, 20‑14 against Boeckenberg.

First against KZ

Today at 15:30 it starts at home against KZ, the team that beat PKC twice last season (22‑28 and 28‑21). In its own preview KZ hopes to benefit from the long international period: "Reduced focus after such a tough international campaign ... would not suit us badly." Van Wijngaarden is mainly looking forward to "the matches against the top 5 teams in the PKC hall." After that come Unitas away, LDODK away and DOS '46 at home.