Who is Piet Hoek?
Piet Hoek was born and raised in Amersfoort. He grew up in the Randenbroek district in a family with six children. When Hoek was ten years old, he started playing football at AFC Quick 1890, the club of which he is still a member. “I became a board member when I was 18. Quick was then still an omni club with, in addition to football, a softball and baseball department.”
He says he had a good time: “I wasn’t a great football player, but when something had to be organised, I was often at the front.” He has always been an enterprising type. “I got that from home. We weren’t rich at home, but I always had money in my pocket because I did all kinds of odd jobs, from running a paper route to washing the car. On Saturdays I did the shopping as a child, as I learned at an early age. I started dealing with money at an age and my sense of responsibility was developed.”
After a short period in the catering industry, Hoek found his niche in the sports industry. It became his passion and his life. First he worked at the Kraanen sports house in the Krommestraat (‘that’s where I learned the trade’) and later in Soest at Intersport Van Dam, which he has owned since 1992. Many Amersfoort sports clubs, from football to handball, from volleyball to hockey, have a partnership with his company, which specializes in functional sports equipment.
