(Story & Photos by Marco Stoovelaar)
 Legendary Coach and Baseball Ambassador Bill Arce passed away
Nederlands
IN MEMORIAM 
...Dr. William 'Bill' Arce...
(1925 - 2016)
|
 POMONA, Los Angeles County, California (USA) -
Legendary coach, ambassador and war veteran Bill Arce has passed away at the age of 90 on Monday, March 7.
Through the years, Bill Arce became a true baseball-ambassador, traveling around the world to promote baseball and instruct players.
William Benjamin Arce, who played an important role in the development of baseball in Europe, was born on June 24, 1925.
A special luncheon was organized last year on Arce Field at Claremont McKenna College to celebrate Bill's 90th birthday.
During his career as college baseball coach of the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (California) Stags, Arce already started to spread his knowledge of the sport.
In the early sixties, he made his first journey to Sweden, which was the beginning of an European connection of more than fifty years.
Arce became the first American baseball coach to instruct players in Sweden (1962) and also in the former Czechoslovakia (1969) and Yugoslavia (1979), but in these years, he also was active in the Netherlands, Belgium and Italy.
In years thereafter, more countries followed where he shared his experiences.
In all these countries, Bill Arce became a household name and was much-loved and well-respected, both as a coach and as a human being.
In 1980, he also was the first American baseball coach to give clinics in China.
Arce also was involved with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
In 1966, Arce and his California Stags participated in the third edition of the Haarlem Baseball Week and won the event.
The Stags returned in 1969, then finished in second place behind the Sullivans, the other wellknown American team that has a big association with the history of the international event in Haarlem.
In 1971, the Stags participated for the third time and captured the title again, this time staying ahead of the Sullivans.
In 1963 and 1971, Arce won the Best Coach Award of the Haarlem Baseball Week.
...Bill Arce talks with Netherlands Team-pitchers...
...Eric de Vries and Bart Volkerijk during the...
...1989 European Championship in Paris (France)...
(© Photo: Marco Stoovelaar) |
Since his participation in the Haarlem Baseball Week, he visited almost all following tournaments.
When the World Port Tournament first was organized in 1985, Bill Arce also frequently visited that event in Rotterdam.
With that, he traveled to the Netherlands almost yearly.
Besides that, Arce, almost always accompanied by his wife Nancy, also visited other international events, including European Championships and World Championships.
Bill Arce also led the National Teams of both the Netherlands and Italy and led both squads to an European title.
In 1963, Arce became the second American coach to lead the Netherlands Team, succeeding Ron Fraser, who coached the team in 1960-1962.
In his first year as Manager in 1963, he participated with the Orange squad in the second Haarlem Baseball Week, finishing in second place.
Arce returned as Manager of the Netherlands Team in 1971.
That was a successful year.
He first was the Head Coach of the Stags during the Haarlem Baseball Week, which it won.
In those years, there was a frequent mid-season change of American coaches at the helm of the Netherlands Team, mostly after conclusion of a tournament or in the middle of two events.
Shortly after completion of the Haarlem Baseball Week, Arce took over the Orange-duties from Hal Smeltzly, who had led the team in Haarlem.
Arce then led the team during the European Championship in Italy and captured the title.
During that event, he was assisted by coaches Cees de Bruin and Dolf de Zwart.
...Bill Arce with Jim Dimick (left) and Chuck Brayton...
...during one of the first Coach Clinics organized...
...by the International Sports Group...
...in 1987 in Noordwijk (Netherlands)...
(© Photo: Marco Stoovelaar) |
In 1975, Bill Arce led the National Team of Italy also during an European Championship.
In that event, held in Spain, Arce was successful again, leading Italy to the title, which had been won by the Netherlands in the previous three Championships.
For Italy, it was its first European title since 1954.
Arce also had led Italy in 1973, which then finished in second place behind the Netherlands during the Championship in Haarlem (Netherlands) and in 1974.
In 1973 and 1975, Arce also led the 'azzurri' during the Intercontinental Cup.
During the 2003 European Championship, Arce was one of the coaches of the French National Team.
Bill Arce also has been a member of the coachingstaff for the National Teams of the USA in 1970, 1976 and 1978.
With Team USA, he was a coach of the team that participated in the 1970 World Championship in Colombia, where it won the Silver Medal.
In 1978, he was with the American squad that finished in second place in the World Championship in Italy.
In 1985, Arce founded International Sports Group, which has conducted numerous clinics since then for the continued improvement of international baseball coaching.
ISG is a non-profit organization that conducts seminars and clinics that are dedicated to spreading the proper coaching and teaching of baseball.
It was the beginning of an annual Coach Clinic in the Netherlands, which eventually grew into an European Baseball & Softball Clinic.
Thanks to Arce's group, several wellknown coaches traveled to the Netherlands and numerous other (European) countries to give coach-clinics.
...Bill Arce with then-Netherlands Team Manager Jim Stoeckel...
...and former HHW-executive Wim Oosterhof...
...during the 2010 Haarlem Baseball Week...
(© Photo: Marco Stoovelaar) |
Bill Arce studied at Oakland High School, then attended San Mateo Junior College, both in California.
He earned his bachelor's, masters and doctoral degrees from Stanford University.
He was enlisted during World War II and became a war veteran, having fought in the Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes in Belgium and Luxembourg in 1944.
At the end of World War II, Claremont Men's College was founded in Claremont (California) and many of its first students were war veterans attending college.
The school became coeducational in 1976 and was renamed Claremont McKenna College in 1981.
In the fifties, Arce was the founding director of the atletic program at the Claremont Colleges in California.
The intercollegiate program of Claremont McKenna College, Harvey Mudd College and Scripps College are joint in one program.
The athletic teams participate under the name of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Stags (men's sports) and Athenas (women's sports).
Bill Arce was the first Athletic Director at Claremont, a position he held for 25 years (1958-1983).
He provided students, both men and women, the opportunity to participate in physical education classes and intercollegiate athletics.
Under his leadership, the athletic program of Claremont became one of the top programs in the country, which it still is.
The program grew from nine men's sports to nineteen for both men and women.
...Bill Arce at the 1993 European Championship in Stockholm...
...(Sweden) with then-KNBSB boardmembers Frans van Aalen...
...and Henk den Duijn (resp. baseball affairs and chairman)...
(© Photo: Marco Stoovelaar) |
Bill Arce was the Head Coach of the Stags from 1959 through 1979.
In that span, the team won 446 games and he led the Stags to the championship-title in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in 1970, 1971 and 1975.
He was named Area I Coach of the Year (NAIA) in 1979 and District 8 Coach of the Year (NCAA) in 1978 and 1979.
At Claremont, the basebal facility is named after him, Arce Field.
On May 14, 2013, in an event at the Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum of Claremont McKenna College, Arce was honored for his dedication to Claremont McKenna College and for his efforts as a mentor, physical educator, coach and athletics director.
During that event, the title William B. Arce Professor was introduced.
There is also a William B. Arce Scholarship.
Bill Arce was the President of the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) in 1974 and was Chairman of its Board in 1995-1998.
In 2001, he was awarded the prestigious Lefty Gomez Award, which is presented annually by the ABCA to an individual who has distinguished himself amongst his peers and has contributed significantly to the game of baseball, locally, nationally and internationally.
...Bill Arce with former Netherlands Team...
...coaches and players Jan Dick Leurs,...
...Hamilton Richardson, Simon Heemskerk and...
...Henk Keulemans (front) at a reunion during...
...the 2010 Haarlem Baseball Week...
(© Photo: Marco Stoovelaar) |
In 1999, Arce received the In Memoriam Leen Volkerijk Award, which is handed out annually by the Royal Netherlands Baseball and Softball Association (KNBSB) since 1993.
The award is for individuals who distinguish themselves by having many contributions in the field of player development.
Arce also has received special recognition awards in Italy, Belgium, Sweden and France.
Bill Arce was inducted into several Halls of Fame.
In 1976, Arce was inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame, in 1982 into the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Hall of Fame and in 1991 into the Alumni Association Athletics Hall of Fame of Claremont McKenna College as Athletic Director Emeritus.
In 1985, Bill Arce was inducted into the Netherlands Baseball and Softball Hall of Fame.
In 2012, the Bill Arce Award was introduced by the Royal Netherlands Baseball and Softball Association and is handed out annually in the Netherlands to the Most Promising Baseball Coach to not only recognize his accomplishments, but also to stimulate the individual to develop more.
Since then, the first four recipients were Evert-Jan 't Hoen (2012), Jim Shuster (2013), Robin van Doornspeek (2014) and Kevin Roovers (2015).
With the passing of Bill Arce, the international baseball-community has not only lost a legendary coach, ambassador and someone who has made many contributions to baseball programs in many countries.
Above all, we have lost a much-respected and loved person and friend.
The webmaster of Grand Slam * Stats & News offers his condolences to Bill's wife Nancy and family and wishes them a lot of strength with this big loss.
(March 8)
|
