In the middle of the Special Olympics European Basketball Week, basketball in the Netherlands has been relaunched with an event in the capital: the Special Olympics National Basketball Event is the starting point to give the sport the much-needed new boost.
In his purple-yellow sweater and matching cap from the Los Angeles Lakers, 36-year old basketball player Laurens is warming up for the match against Only Friends. Like all sportspeople in the Netherlands, Laurens is a member of one of the many clubs in the country. In his case: Eem ’78 from a small town called Eemnes, the club he has already been associated with for eight years. Laurens is what you might call a basketball fanatic. It’s evident if you look at his outfit and it becomes even more evident when he talks about the sport. “I just think it’s cool. Dennis Rodman [the flamboyant and controversial player for Detroit Pistons, Chicago Bulls and LA Lakers in the nineties] is still my favorite player. I am also a good rebounder, just like Rodman was! At a previous tournament in Katwijk, I dove over the line to keep the ball inside the playing field, as he often did.”
The national event is held at Only Friends in Amsterdam, a multi-sports club for people with disabilities. The club offers a diverse range of sports (no fewer than 80 are offered). After basketball had been off the agenda for a few years, Special Olympics Netherlands is happy the attention for the team sport is back. The request to reintroduce basketball in Special Olympics Netherlands came from—amongst others—Marcel Huijbens, a former international for the Dutch basketball team, and coach at Eem ’78, Laurens’ club. “Our 24-year-old son, Luuk, has a disability and wanted to switch from athletics to basketball. I noticed that there was hardly any contact between the NBB (Dutch basketball association) and Special Olympics Netherlands. For example, the link on the site no longer worked.”
Special Olympics World Games
![A young man standing in a black jersey getting ready to shoot the basketball he’s holding.](https://dotorg.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/1c2e39f/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1200x1500+0+0/resize/800x1000!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fsoi-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fdotorg%2Ff6%2F59%2Fea9da3354a698f4d7d23166b0ec8%2Fbasketball-eem78-1.png)
Huijbens used his experience and contacts to improve the cooperation between the two parties. “In recent years the clubs did organize their own tournaments without the NBB, because there wasn’t any contact anymore. But if you want big events like these you need the NBB, that’s the authority. They can provide volunteers, they have the administration, they can look for a budget and they have international contacts. And that is exactly what the new coordinator can do the upcoming year. We want to try to get the sport back at the National Games and after that we also hope there will be an opportunity to travel to the Special Olympics World Games with a Dutch team.”
It sounds like music to the ears of Natascha Bruers, Sports Director with Special Olympics Netherlands. “This event is a great step in the right direction. We are now showing that we can organize a big event together again. And this is not a one-off, because next year the tournament is scheduled for November 29 at G-Force in Rotterdam.” In the meantime the new liaison within the NBB can plot a route and can listen to the needs of the associated clubs. “Once these clubs know they can reach out with their questions again, the NBB can establish their needs. Do they want education, special courses or help in organizing matches? Those kind of things. It is important we can start re-building into 2025.”
Crack!
Meanwhile, Laurens and his teammates from Eem ’78 are fighting for the win in the match against Only Friends. Jip (30) rushes past his opponents. Sometimes dribbling with the ball, sometimes without the ball to run free. It turns out to be his specialty. “I am very fast, so I often run forward quickly. My opponent cannot follow me and when I get the ball, I stand close to the basket to score.” The enthusiastic Roosmarijn (27), who joined the club a year ago and had to learn the sport, can also often be found right under the basket. Waiting for a pass, focused on catching the ball the right way. “Sometimes it goes so fast that I don’t get a chance to think about how to catch it. During training I once got a ball on my fingers. I heard a loud crack! My finger snapped back. I always have to keep my head straight to play well, but mostly it’s great fun.”
On the sidelines, the basketball players are watched and cheered by family, friends and fans. Toine Klerks of Stichting BEN (Basketball Experience Nederland) is one of the spectators. His organisation, in collaboration with the NBB, is involved in adapted sports. “I definitely get warm feelings when I see this”, Klerks, who was a gym teacher in special education and coached a team with intellectual disabilities at BC Langstraat Shooters in Waalwijk, says. Basketball and Special Olympics Netherlands are determined to enter into a longer relationship. “Besides giving the competition a bit more structure, the NBB also has a link with the Cruijff Foundation, which has contacts with special education. Basketball is in fact a fairly easy entry-level sport. Also because there are all kinds of exercises and tricks to think of to make it a bit more accessible. You can hang the basket a bit lower, play with a lighter ball or think of games that teach the players to play together. So, yes, it’s good to see we found each other again.”