(Story by Marco Stoovelaar)
IN MEMORIAM
...Leo van den Boomgaard...
(1931 - 2023) |
 Former administrator Leo van den Boomgaard, Zwijndrecht club-icon and KNBSB Member of Merit, passed away
Nederlands
 ZWIJNDRECHT (Neth.) -
Leo van den Boomgaard, who was one of the co-founders of the baseball-section of Zwijndrecht, passed away on Monday, August 14, at age 92.
For 23 years, mister Van den Boomgaard has been the chairman of Zwijndrecht and was a true club-icon.
Besides that, he also served on some committees of the Royal Netherlands Baseball and Softball Association (KNBSB) of which he was named Member of Merit.
Leo van den Boomgaard was born on May 30, 1931 in Rotterdam.
He became involved in sports at an early age at soccer-club Zwijndrecht.
On September 15, 1965, a group of thirteen persons came together and founded the baseball-section at this club.
Amongst them was Leo van den Boomgaard, who would remain a member of the club his entire life.
In the historical review on its website, it is noted that the baseball-section separated in October 1968, as the board of the soccer-club stated that it didn't want to become a sports-club instead of a soccer-club and also that it was considered unnecessary to have a baseball-section.
In 1973, the now independent club added a women's softball-section and in 1977, a men softball-section followed.
Zwijndrecht continued to expand and in the late eighties, it was one of the biggest clubs not only in the Rotterdam-area, but in the entire country.
Right from the beginning, Leo van den Boomgaard was an able and well-liked administrator at Zwijndrecht.
He went on the head the baseball/softball-section as its chairman for 23 years.
It was during his years in the club-board that an agreement was reached for the first time with a sponsor that supported the club.
That was back in 1971 when an one-year contract was signed with Compri, located in Zwijndrecht and was founded in 1969.
It was the beginning of a long relationship between the company and the club.
The following year, the contract was renewed for three years and from then on, the club played as Compri Zwijndrecht.
When another 3-year contract followed in 1975, the name was changed to Compri Aluminium Zwijndrecht.
That became one of the most recognizable names for many years in Dutch baseball and softball.
The company continued as sponsor through 1998 with the club playing as Alcoa Compri Zwijndrecht in the final three years.
The sponsorship ended in 1998 after 28 years, which makes it one of the longest in history in Dutch baseball/softball.
Other longtime sponsors for 25 or more years were Ola (UVV) and Mr. Cocker (HCAW).
Leo van den Boomgaard's children also became involved in both the baseball- and softball-sectons of Zwijndrecht.
His son Leo junior became one of the pitchers in the main baseball-team in the seventies.
Unfortunately, he passed away in 2015 at age 57.
Another son, Rob, is the current game-secretary of the club.
Earlier, in the eighties, he already had made his administrative debut by becoming the so-called game-secretary for the softball-section.
Daughter Hélène served as softball-secretary from 1979 through 1981.
Through the years, Leo van den Boomgaard closely worked together with Gerard Vaandrager, another passionate and driven club-icon of Zwijndrecht.
Vaandrager was the longtime secretary of the club and later, he also went on to become the chairman for many years.
Besides that, Vaandrager also became known for being the president of Rotterdam Baseball, which organizes the biennial World Portt Tournament.
In November 1984, Vaandrager was one of the founders of the event that was first played in 1985 at the site of Rotterdam-based Neptunus, which has been the home of the tourmament ever since.
Vaandrager headed the Organizing Committee through 2003.
In that span, ten tournaments were organized.
Vaandrager came back to led one more tournament in 2013.
...Leo van den Boomgaard led the...
...KNBSB-disciplinary committee...
...as chairman in 22 years... |
Besides being very active for his club, Leo van den Boomgaard also served for many years in several committees.
In 1973-1975, he was a member of the financial committee of the former Rayon Rotterdam.
Amongst the members in those years were Rinus van der Ham, Karel van Ispelen and Karel van Veen.
Van den Boomgaard also has been a member of the publicity committee for six years.
In 1979, Van den Boomgaard became a member of the this committee of what then had become Rayon Rotterdam/Zeeland.
In that year, the committee also included Gerard Vaandrager and Pim van Nes.
The three were members of the committee through 1981 and were joined by Aad Verheul and Hans Corpeleijn.
In 1982-1984, when the region was known as Rayon Southwest Netherlands, Van den Boomgaard and Vaandrager were joined by Jan van der Sande and André van Overbeek.
In 1982, Leo van den Boomgaard became a member of the Disciplinary Committee of the Royal Netherlands Baseball and Softball Association (KNBSB).
Van den Boomgaard resigned from the committee in early 2010 after almost thirty years!
When Van den Boomgaard joined the committee, it was chaired by Martin Bremer, while Ron Voerman was the secretary.
Other members were Dick Bliek, Teun Gaartman, Hans Geesink and Loek Imhof.
Except for Bliek, the others also were longtime members of this committee.
Gaartman served through 1992, Geesink through 1988 and Imhof through 1990.
Bremer was succeeded by Gerard Voogd in 1984.
Four years later, Van den Boomgaard succeeded Voogd as chairman and led the committee through early 2010 when he retired, a period of more than 22 years.
In all those years, Ron Voerman (secretary) and Hans Schotel also remained members of this committee.
Cor Blitterswijk, Bert Lauer and Greet van Wijk joined in 1989 and Pieter van der Ploeg in 1992 and they also became longtime members.
In 2003, Nico van de Kamer was the first of some new members to join the committee.
Dennis Duin and Bert Stevens followed in 2006, Hep Münzebrock and Sandra Nypels were added in 2008.
In 2009, Duin succeeded Voerman, who had been the secretary of the committee since 1973.
In 2010, being almost 79 years old, Leo van den Boomgaard stepped down as chairman and was succeeded by Bert Stevens.
At that moment, with his 28 years (including 22 as chairman), Van den Boomgaard has been one of the longest serving members of this committee.
Through the years, the Disciplinary Committee has been known for having several longtime members, including Ron Voerman (36 years), Hans Schotel (35 years), Loek Imhof (29 years), Klaas Boersma (22 years) and Jacques Neutkens (21 years).
In 1981, Leo van den Boomgaard was decorated by the former Rayon Southwest Netherlands (former Rayon Rotterdam).
In 1990, he received a decoration from the Royal Netherlands Baseball and Softball Association and in 2007, being active in several positions for more than 30 years, he was named Member of Merit of the KNBSB.
Van den Boomgaard also received a Royal Decoration and was knighted in the Order of Orange-Nassau.
Leo van den Boomgaard was very driven and passionate in all his activities he did for his club Zwijndrecht of which he became one of the club-icons.
He remained closely involved with the club and continued to visit games for many years.
Some years ago, the club named a tournament after Leo van den Boomgaard, who will surely be missed by many.
The webmaster of Grand Slam * Stats & News offers his condolences to Leo's family and friends and wishes them a lot of strength with this big loss.
(September 6)
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