(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos by RTV Rijnmond & Henk Seppen)
 Neptunus Rotterdam Sports Team of the Year
Nederlands
 ROTTERDAM (Neth.) -
The baseball-team of Curaçao Neptunus won the Sports Team of the Year Award for 2018 during the annual Sport Awards Rotterdam-Rijnmond.
The Awards were handed out on Monday-evening (February 11) at Rotterdam Ahoy during the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament.
It was the 32nd time since 1986 that Rotterdam honored its best athletes and teams of the year.
In 2017, the annual Award-presentation had to be cancelled due to heavy snow.
The nominations for the Awards were announced on December 28.
Back then, Neptunus was one of three teams to be nominated for Sports Team of the Year.
The others were Sliedrecht Sport (volleyball women) and Rotterdam Offshore Sailing Team (sea sailing).
...Dwayne Kemp is congratulated by host Gert van 't Hof...
...after Neptunus won the Award for...
...Rotterdam Sports Team of the Year...
(© Photo courtesy of RTV Rijnmond) |
In 2018, Neptunus captured its sixth consecutive Dutch Championship-title and 19th in club-history.
Earlier in the year, Neptunus also won the European Champions Cup.
Sliedrecht won the National Championship-title in 2018, as well as the National Cup-competition and the Super Cup.
The Sailing Team won bronze at the World Championship Sea Sailing for IRC/ORC-ships and won gold at the Open Netherlands Championship in the IRC1 Class.
On Monday-evening, Neptunus was named Rotterdam Sports Team of the Year for the eighth time since the Awards were first handed out in 1986.
The team earlier won the Award in 1991, 1994, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2009 and 2015.
In 1981, Neptunus also won an Award for Team of the Year.
In those years, Rotterdam handed out an Award to the Champion of Champions.
Neptunus-outfielder Darryl Collins was one of three talented athletes who were nominated for the Award for Sports Talent of the Year.
The 17-year old Collins was part of the successful baseball-team of Curaçao Neptunus with whom he won the European Champions Cup and the National Title.
He also signed a professional contract with Kansas City Royals and will make his professional debut this year.
Also nominated for the Talent Award were 20-year old Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado (cyclo-cross) and 19-year old Brett Zuijdwegt (korfball).
The first won gold at the European Championship and silver at the World Championship in 2018.
The second, as player of the Netherlands Team, won gold at the World Championship Under-21 and promoted with her club-team DeetosSnel last year.
The Award for Sports Talent of the Year went to Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado.
...Darryl Collins was nominated for...
...Talent of the Year...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
Other Awards were handed out to Raemon Sluiter (Tennis, Coach of the Year), Nouchka Fontijn (Boxing, Female Athlete of the Year), Michael van der Mark (Motor Sports, Male Athlete of the Year) and Johan Wensveen (Tennis, Sports Volunteer of the Year).
Rugby-club The Hookers was named Club of the Year.
Neptunus won the Sports Team of the Year for the eight time, but there were more baseball-wins in the past during the Rotterdam Awards.
Robert Eenhoorn won the Male Athlete of the Year in 1999, as player of Neptunus.
He also won the Award in 1990 after he had made his professional debut in the Minor Leagues.
In 2005 and 2007, Eenhoorn won the Coach of the Year for his successes with the Netherlands National Team.
In 2011, Neptunus-pitcher Diegomar Markwell was Male Athlete of the Year and in 2013 and 2014 Neptunus Head Coach Evert-Jan 't Hoen was the Coach of the Year.
In 2000, youth-player Sjoerd Hermans was the Talent of the Year.
Theodoor 'Puck' van Rooijen won the Award for Volunteer of the Year in 2007 for his activities with Neptunus baseball, softball and soccer.
Mr. Van Rooijen passed away last year, one month before his 100th birthday.
In 2014, the Volunteer Award went to Henk Swinkels and Cees Rodenburg for their activities with The Saints.
(February 11)
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