(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos by Henk Seppen, Lorena Puškarić / WBSC Europe & Royal Belgian Baseball Softball Federation (KBBSF))
   Bart Volkerijk elected into Board WBSC Europe; Two new members European Hall of Fame
Nederlands
 ZAGREB (Croatia) -
Bart Volkerijk was elected into the new Executive Board of WBSC Europe on Saturday (February 8) during the (annual) 8th Congress of the governing European baseball- and softball-body in Zagreb, the capital of Croatia.
WBSC Europe is one of the continental divisions of the World Baseball Softball Confederation.
Volkerijk was a former longtime pitcher in both the Dutch big league and the Netherlands National Baseball Team and also served as Managing Director of the Royal Netherlands Baseball and Softball Federation (KNBSB).
In December, Volkerijk was inducted into the Dutch Baseball and Softball Hall of Fame.
On the first day (Friday, February 7) of the 3-day get-together in Zagreb, there were meetings by the Baseball Commission and Softball Commission of WBSC Europe, but also General Meetings of these two Commissions, as well as the Baseball5 Commission.
And there also were workshops.
On Day 2 (Saturday, February 8), the Congress took place, which included elections for the Executive Board of WBSC Europe.
On the third day (Sunday, February 9), the delegates of the National Federations returned home again.
Also during the Congress, Eddy Van Straelen (Belgium) and Konstantina Panagiotou (Greece) were inducted into the WBSC Europe Hall of Fame.
During the elections on Saturday, Krunoslav Karin (Croatia) was re-elected as President of WBSC Europe, receiving 38 votes
Remigijus Kuodis from Lithuania, who was the other candidate for the position, got 26.
Karin was first elected President in February 2022, during the Congress in Ljubljana (Slovenia).
Back then, he became the first-ever President of WBSC Europe after the European Baseball Confederation (CEB) and European Softball Federation (ESF) were officially dissolved.
Karin already had been Secretary-General in the Interim Executive Committee of WBSC Europe and before, he had served in the same role of the former CEB.
Secretary-General Ami Baran (Israel), Vice-President Softball Gabriel Waage (Czechia) and Vice-President Baseball5 Youri Alkalay (Bulgaria) also were re-elected.
As there were no other candidates for these positions, they were re-elected by raise of hands.
...Bart Volkerijk...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
Bart Volkerijk (Netherlands) was one of two candidates for the position of Vice-President Baseball, the other being Petr Ditrich (Czechia), who was up for re-election.
Volkerijk was elected after receiving 18 votes, opposed to 15 for Ditrich.
Amsterdam-born Bart Volkerijk played 21 seasons (1974-1978; 1980-1987; 1989-1996) in the Dutch big league, all with ADO (based in The Hague), with he won the Dutch Championship-title in 1992 and the European Cup in 1993.
Bart's father Leen Volkerijk was a longtime coach in both the big league and at a lower level and also has been Pitching Coach of the Netherlands Team for several years.
In his long career, Volkerijk mostly was a (righthanded) pitcher, but also played at first base, in the outffield and as DH.
Volkerijk was not only known as a successful pitcher, but also as being an effective hitter (32 homeruns), as he was one of the few (and last) pitchers who also were good hitter, making him a valuable two-way player.
On Opening Day 1984, he threw a No-Hitter.
In his impressive career on the mound, Volkerijk set several all-time records, such as 333 Games Pitched, 202 Complete Games, 150 Wins and 1,948 StrikeOuts.
All were expected to be unbreakable.
However, Rob Cordemans, who also had a long and impressive career, broke the Win-record in 2012 and the StrikeOut-record in 2018.
At ADO, Bart Volkerijk was the Head Coach in 1995 and 1996 and the Pitching Coach in 1999.
As player of the Netherlands National Team, Volkerijk participated in the 1988 Olympic Games in South Korea, seven World Championships, nine European Championships, six Haarlem Baseball Weeks, three World Port Tournaments and several other tournaments
Volkerijk appeared in 71 official international games.
In 1991, he was invited for the second World All Star Game, organized by the International Baseball Association (IBA), which was later re-named IBAF and was the predecessor of the current WBSC.
From May 2016 until January 1, 2020, Bart Volkerijk was the Managing Director of the Royal Netherlands Baseball and Softball Federation.
As such, he led the Head Office off the KNBSB.
Volkerijk also has been the President/Tournament Director of the Organizing Committee of the biennial World Port Tournament in Rotterdam (Netherlands), overseeing the editions in 2015 and 2017.
Bjørn Christian Thode was elected as Treasurer, after already having served as Interim Treasurer since last year.
The Norwegian received 44 votes.
Jürgen Elsishans (Germany) also was candidate, but he got 21 votes.
For the three Members at Large-Baseball positions, there were five candidates.
A second round was needed to come to a decision.
Elected were Elliot Fleys (France, 29 votes), Jordi Vallès Mestres (Spain, 19) and Pierluigi Bissa (Italy, 18).
There also were three available positions for Members at Large-Softball, which were competed by four candidates.
Elected were Kristian Pälviä (Sweden, 22 votes), Mette Nissen Jakobsen (Denmark, 21) and Conny Chwojka (Austria, 20).
Martina Lackner-Kell (Austria) and Jorge Balboa (Spain) are members of the board as athlete representative for softball and baseball respectively.
...The newly elected Executive Committee of WBSC Europe after the elections...
...Left to right: Jordi Vallès, Conny Chwojka, Kristian Pälviä, Pierluigi Bissa,...
...Bart Volkeriijk, Youri Alkalay, Krunoslav Karin, Ami Baran, Mette Nissen-Jakobsen,...
...Bjorn Christian Thode, Elliot Fleys, Martina Lackner-Kell and Gabriel Waage...
(© Photo: Lorena Puškarić / WBSC Europe) |
WBSC Europe was established on February 10, 2018, during the joint Congress of the European Baseball Confederation (CEB) and European Softball Federation (ESF) in Val d'Europe (France).
On that historic day, the CEB (founded in 1953) and ESF (founded in 1976) merged.
Four days later, in French capital Paris, the merger was officially approved by the delegates of 38 National Federations of former CEB and ESF.
Since the CEB and ESF were founded, five persons from the Netherlands have been President.
In March 1985, Guus van der Heijden was elected as President of the CEB, while Theo Vleeshhouwer became President of the ESF.
Van der Heijden led the CEB until his unexpected passing in February 1987.
Vleeshhouwer stepped down in August 1991.
In March 1995-March 2003, Jos Gieskens was President of the ESF and in February 2009, André van Overbeek was elected as President of the ESF.
From February 2013 on, for the second time history both European bodies were led by a Dutchman when Jan Esselman was elected President of the CEB.
Van Overbeek led the ESF in two terms, with a maximum of eight years, through February 2017.
Esselman was CEB-President in one 4-year term, which also ended in February 2017.
Esselman unexpectedly passed away in October last year.
Through the years, there have been several Dutch adminitrators who have served in the Executive Boards of the CEB or the ESF.
Most recently, in February 2017, Roderick Balk and Petra Arends were elected respectively as Member at Large of the CEB and Member of the ESF.
As mentioned, administrator Eddy Van Straelen (Belgium) and player Konstantina Panagiotou (Greece) were inducted into the WBSC Europe Hall of Fame.
Van Straelen was the longtime Treasurer of the European Softball Federation (ESF) and served in the same role for WBSC Europe.
The sympathetic Belgian has been a member of the Executive Committee for almost three decades.
He is one of three Belgians with a long career in the ESF.
...Eddy Van Straelen...
(© Photo: KBBSF) |
In March 1993, during the Congress in Swedish capital Stockholm, Eddy Van Straelen was elected Treasurer for the first time.
At the same Congress, Anny Reinenbergh-Heusschen, also from Belgium, was elected President.
Like Van Straelen, she also had a long administrative career in the ESF-board.
Earlier, Anny Reinenbergh had been 1st Vice-President (1978-March 1985), then became Secretary-General in March 1985 when Dutchman Theo Vleeshhouwer was elected President.
Anny Reinenbergh became the first woman (and still is the only one) to have led the Executive Committee of either the ESF or CEB.
Unfortunately, she passed away in April 1994 due to a severe illness.
In 1997, Anny's husband Jacques Reinenbergh became Vice-President, then 1st Vice-President in 2003.
Before the Congress in early 2004, both Van Straelen and Reinenbergh resigned.
Three years later, during the Congress in Zagreb (Croatia) in 2007, Van Straelen returned as Treasurer and remained in function since then.
Jacques Reinenbergh was a candidate for President in 2009 and 2013.
Both times, Dutchman André van Overbeek was elected ESF-President.
Reinenbergh passed away in July 2023, Van Overbeek in May 2021.
Anny Reinenbergh (in 1992) and Jacques Reinenbergh (in 2003) also were inducted into the Hall of Fame.
When the ESF and CEB merged in February 2018 to become WBSC Europe, Van Straelen continued as Treasurer.
The ESF and CEB were offically dissolved in 2021 and in February 2022, the first Executive Committee was elected of WBSC Europe.
Van Straelen was elected Treasurer, but he announced his resignation towards the end of 2023.
He was succeeded last year by Bjørn Christian Thode from Norway.
In a press release about the inductions, it was stated that Van Straelen 'played a crucial role in the governance of European softball for nearly three decades'.
It was also noted that 'he managed ESF licenses from 1993 to 2022, demonstrating exceptional commitment to the sport’s administrative framework.
Known for his reliability and integrity, van Straelen was a trusted and essential figure in European softball's financial management.
WBSC Europe Softball Vice President Gabriel Waage honored Eddy van Straelen’s decades of dedication in a speech during the Congress, highlighting his invaluable contributions to the sport'.
In the announcement by WBSC Europe, it was reported that 'Greek softball standout Konstantina Panagiotou was honored for her illustrious playing career, which spanned over two decades at both the club and international levels.
Panagiotou's career in Greek club softball saw her win multiple Greek Championships and Cups, with Maroussi 2004 and Seirios Patras.
Her success extended to European competitions, where she competed in the Women’s Softball European Premier Cup and Cup Winners Cup B.
She also represented H2O (GBR) at the Coed Slowpitch European Super Cup in 2018.
On the international stage, Panagiotou was a key member of the Greek National Team, competing in many European Championships and in the WBSC Women's Softball World Championship 2016'.
(February 8)
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