The UNIS Flyers are an

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

club located in

Heerenveen Heerenveen (, fry, It Hearrenfean ) is a town and municipality in the province of Friesland (Fryslân), in the Northern Netherlands. In 2021, the town had a population of 29,790 (1 January) while the municipality had a population 50,859 (1 July). ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. The team competes in the

BeNe League The BeNe League was the highest women's football league in Belgium and the Netherlands. To increase competitiveness in their national leagues, the BeNe League was a joint cooperation between the Royal Belgian Football Association and the Royal Du ...

and also takes part in the

Dutch Cup The KNVB Beker (; en, KNVB Cup), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Ou ...

. Home games are played in the ice hockey arena which forms part of the

Thialf Thialf is an ice arena in Heerenveen, Netherlands. Thialf consists of the Thialf-hal (a 12,500-capacity speed skating venue) and the Elfstedenhal (a 2,500-capacity ice hockey venue). Thialf is used for long track speed skating, short track speed ...

complex.

History

The UNIS Flyers were founded in 1967 and played their first season in the

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

in 1971-72. The Flyers set the Eredivisie record for the most consecutive championships with 7 between 1976 and 1983. Heerenveen is the smallest Dutch city currently represented in the BeNe League (although the Belgian city of Herentals is smaller). Over the years, the Flyers have competed under a variety of different names, since 2013 they have been known as the UNIS Flyers, due to a sponsorship deal with industrial electronics company UNIS Group. : Names marked with * are sponsorship names.

Championships

;

National Championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

: 9 times Champion: 1976-77, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1982–83, 2015-16, 2016-17 ;

: 12 times winner: 1976-77, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1987–88, 1997–98, 2001-02, 2015-16, 2016-2017

Season results

; Recent seasons from 2005-06 to 2012-13. ''Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, OTW = Overtime Wins, OTL = Overtime Losses, L = Losses, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, Pts = Points''

Roster

Updated February 25, 2019.

Staff

* Mike Nason – Head Coach * Jacco Landman – Assistant Coach * Rob van Aalderen – Team manager * Theo van der Duin - Equipment manager * Erik Veen – Physiotherapist * Piety Elsinga - Physiotherapist

Former coaches

* Alex Andjelic * Dave Hyrsky * Chuck Norris

Notable players

* Alwin Assenberg * Jolke Balt * Jeroen Beeksma * Cole Byers

References

External links

UNIS Flyers

Netherlands Ice Hockey Union

website TYSC Tilburg
{{Eredivisie (hockey) BeNe League (ice hockey) teams Ice hockey teams in the Netherlands Ice hockey clubs established in 1967 1967 establishments in the Netherlands Sport in Heerenveen