By The Hockey Paper
Former Belgium international Geraldine Chardome never thought she would have the chance to play elite level hockey with her daughter.
But on the opening weekend of the Belfius Women’s Hockey League, the 42-year-old managed to keep her emotions in check as she lined up alongside Marie Verdonck, her 16-year-old daughter.
The mother-daughter combination – Marie was born when Geraldine was 25 – played their part as KHC Leuven came back from 3-1 down to beat rivals Wellington 4-3.
“I was a young mam and I stopped playing hockey for a few years,” she told The Hockey Paper.
“I started to play again when I was around 32. I’m lucky to have a good physical condition. Marie joined my club this year. She’s only 16 so we never thought she would succeed to be selected immediately in the first team.”
As pre-season progressed, it became apparent that Marie could step up to the first team and was duly picked for the Wellington clash.
“I was focused on the game itself,” admitted Geraldine. “But when I saw that my husband was proud of his daughter and his wife and that we had so many nice comments I was very happy.
“And most of all, Marie performed very strong and we won the game.”
