(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos by Henk Seppen)
 Tjerk Smeets steps down as Technical Director KNBSB end of year
Nederlands
 NIEUWEGEIN (Neth.) -
Tjerk Smeets will step down as Technical Director Baseball and Softball, effectice December 31, the Royal Netherlands Baseball and Softball Association (KNBSB) announced on Tuesday (December 14).
Last week, Smeets was in Peru for the WBSC Under-18 Women's Softball World Cup, where he accompanied the Netherlands Under-18 Softball Team.
That event ended on Sunday.
The announcement of KNBSB on December 14 reads as follows:
,,Tjerk Smeets has decided to stop as Technical Director of the KNBSB on December 31.
The board of the KNBSB and Smeets have different views on the interpretation of the role of Technical Director.
The board regrets that Tjerk does not want to continue in his current position, but accepts the choice and thanks Tjerk for his efforts in recent years and the results achieved within the National Teams and Talent Development section.
Smeets himself says that he regrets having to say goodbye, but wants to remain true to his vision of working and that unfortunately does not fit with the new wishes of the board.
The process of the search for a new Technical Director for the Royal Baseball & Softball Association will become clear in the coming weeks.''
Tjerk Smeets was named Technical Director of the KNBSB on December 22, 2017.
He officially took over the position on February 1, 2018 when he succeeded Gijs Selderijk, who held the position since January 2015, but switched to the competition-section of the KNBSB.
Before becoming the Technical Director of the KNBSB, Smeets had been the Team Manager of the Amsterdam-based soccer-team of Ajax (Eredivisie) for 4½ years (July 2013-December 2017).
In that span, Ajax captured the Dutch Championship-title in 2014.
Back then, when he became Technical Director, Smeets stated:
,,I'm happy to return to 'my' sport.
There are many great opportunities ahead to increase the level of Dutch baseball and softball''.
When Smeets was announced as new Technical Director, it was said that he will become responsible for the top sport programs of the Nationals Teams in both baseball and softball and will focus of the Olympic Games of 2020 and 2024.
In 2019, the Netherlands Softball Team appeared to be in a good position to qualify for the Olympics, but then lost a crucial game against Italy during the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Vleuten (Netherlands).
Also in 2019, during the Olympic Qualifier in Parma/Bologna (Italy), the Netherlands Baseball Team also ended up short in a crucial game against Israel, which therefore qualified for the Olympics.
Due to the coronavirus-pandemic (COVID-19), the Final Global Olympic Qualifier was postponed from early 2020 to June this year and from Taiwan to Mexico.
By finishing in second place in the Qualifier in 2019, the Netherlands participated in this event, but then also was eliminated for the Olympic Games, which had been postponed from last year to this year.
One of the first actions Smeets took came during the Women's World Championship in 2018 in Chiba (Japan).
After the Netherlands Softball Team started with some disappointing results, Smeets decided to change coaches mid-tournament.
In the almost four years that Smeets was the Technical Director, six European titles were captured.
The Netherlands Baseball Team won the title in 2019 (Regensburg, Germany) and this year (Torino, Italy).
The Under-18 Baseball Team won the title in 2018 (Grosseto, Italy) and this year (Macerata, Italy).
Also this year, the Under-23 Baseball Team was the champion in Verona (Italy).
In 2018, the Netherlands Baseball Team won the first edition of the Super6 in Hoofddorp (Netherlands).
In softball, the Under-16 Team was the European champion in 2019 (Zagreb, Croatia).
The Netherlands Women's Softball Team finished second on the European Championship in 2019 (Ostrava, Czech Republic) and this year (Castions di Strada, Italy).
...Tjerk Smeets as Coach during the...
...2013 World Baseball Classic...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
Before joining the staff of Ajax, Smeets has been active as a baseball-coach after having retired as a player after completion of the 2010 season.
During the 2010 season, while still playing himself for Kinheim, Smeets first became a member of the coaching-staff of the National Baseball Team.
He was the Bullpen Coach in 2010 and 2011, then the Hitting Coach in 2012 and 2013.
He also was the Team Manager for one-and-a-half-year (2011-2012).
Smeets was a member of the staff when the Orange-squad captured the title at the World Championship in Panama in 2011.
Also in 2011, Smeets was the Head Coach of the baseball-team of RCH-Pinguïns in the second highest league, but stopped after the season due to his working commitments for the KNBSB as Marketing Manager.
In July 2013, Smeets stepped down from the National Team to assume his new position with Ajax.
At the same time, he then also left his position at the Head Office of the KNBSB where he had been Manager Marketing and Sponsorfunding since November 2010.
In June 2017, Smeets briefly was back in a baseball-uniform, as he was a member of the coaching-staff of L&D Amsterdam Pirates during the European Champions Cup-tournament in Regensburg (Germany).
As a player, the former catcher started playing baseball at ABC in Amsterdam.
Via Diemen-based club TIW-Survivors, he transfered to Amsterdam Pirates, with whom he made his debut in the Dutch Major League in 1999.
Smeets played for Amsterdam through 2005, then played the next five seasons at the highest level for Kinheim in Haarlem, before retiring.
In 2006, he was named Most Valuable Player of the Dutch big league.
Smeets made his debut in the Netherlands National Team during a 5-game exhibition series in the Netherlands against Taiwan in 2000.
He then played his next game in the Orange-squad in 2003 during the World Port Tournament in Rotterdam (Netherlands).
Since 2005, he was on the roster of the Netherlands Team through 2008.
With the Orange Team, Smeets participated in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing (China), participated in one World Championship and won two titles at an European Championship.
Smeets played in 33 official games for the Netherlands Team.
(December 14)
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