Today’s treasurer has been doing everything digitally for years, but in the time when Harrie Kusters held that position at De Flinters, it was different. Everything still had to be done with insert cards, which you had to fill in yourself and slide through the correct slot. Which, of course, also had to be counted. “At the end you had a whole book. And if it was wrong except for ten cents, you had to count again. My successor immediately bought a computer with software.”
regulars
Kusters tells it while he is sitting at the table in the house of his good friend Piet van Hees, whom he has known for more than half a century. They still see each other at least twice a week, when they cycle their own West Frisian round of 65 kilometers together. “Always the same round,” says Van Hees. “And we always stop for a cup of coffee at café Stam in Wognum. So we are basically regulars.”
The friends have lived in the area for decades, but their roots lie in the south of the country. Kusters is originally from South Limburg, Van Hees from West Brabant. Because of their work – they both worked in education – they settled in West Friesland in the late 1960s. Kusters looked for and found a badminton club there. „I had already played badminton in Heerlen. I wrote to the association asking if there was a club near here. Then it turned out that there was an association in Enkhuizen. Later I heard that there was also an association in Grootebroek, so I became a member there.” A few years later, Van Hees also reported to De Flinters.
Kusters soon became more than just a member: he joined the board and even became chairman. “There was some disagreement within the board, a number of members left. Then, among other things, Piet came along. He became my secretary.” Together they formed a strong duo for years. They complemented each other well. “I wasn’t that different from Piet. We find: a man a man, a word a word.” Although Van Hees was sometimes a bit easier in that regard. “Harrie was a bit more punctual, I sometimes wanted to admit.” What made it easier for the men was that they had the same working hours: schools usually closed at 3 p.m., leaving time in the afternoon to do club chores.
Top time
For example for the youth department, which Van Hees set up in 1976 and of which he was chairman for 25 years. “Our children were the first youth members,” de Grootebroeker recalls. It grew into a thriving youth department, with between ten and fifteen youth teams in the top time. All kinds of things were organized for those players every year, such as club camps. From that youth came some pretty good badminton players. No national toppers, but players who, according to Van Hees, performed well at a regional level. “There was a time when our best teams could compete very well with HBV from Hoorn,” he recalls. “Jim de Leng was our youth coach at the time. He has lasted a very long time. A very sweet man.”
In that period the association had more than three hundred members: more than three times as many as the current number of members. In sports center De Kloet it was always full on match days, says Van Hees. “We could play with 48 people at the same time, and yet people sometimes had to wait. We still had such an old-fashioned suspension system, with those brackets. To prevent everyone from standing in front of that board at the same time, we have implemented different playing times.”
coffee badminton players
Because it was so busy and De Flinters had many teams, there was not always enough space in sports center De Kloet. De Flint sometimes had to be used. “But at that time we also had a lot of people in the club who made everything run well,” adds Kusters. He refers to the fact that over time it became increasingly difficult to attract volunteers. Van Hees: “But you get volunteers if you have more members.” “That’s right,” Kusters responds, “but you have to be lucky that those members want to do more than just play sports.”
Kusters has not done the latter at De Flinters for about fifteen years: injuries forced him to stop playing badminton. He now sticks to cycling. Occasionally he still helps the association when asked for something. His friend and fellow honorary member is still very fanatical: he can be found in the hall on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, by the way, this is for the elderly, mainly non-members. They pay each time for a game of badminton and a cup of coffee. Kusters calls them the ‘coffee badminton players’ with a wink. Van Hees is – how could it be otherwise – the driving force behind this initiative. “Jim de Leng used to do that, but unfortunately stopped a while ago. And who was going to do it then? Me, said the madman, of course.”
Future
The men have to think for a while about the answer to the question of what they would grant the club the most. “Perhaps a top player from the youth, who attracts other youth”, thinks Kusters. “You also see that with Nadine Visser (top athlete, ed.), who comes from SAW. I think the club will benefit from that.” Van Hees agrees with that suggestion. “As an association you will also be in the newspaper more often with top players. That’s just how it is. But top youth is unfortunately also quickly removed by larger clubs. That’s too bad.”
At the beginning of June, the club celebrates its fiftieth anniversary (see box). A beautiful milestone, says Kusters. “It’s a bit of nostalgia, I’ve put a lot of time and energy into it. I hope the club continues to thrive.” Van Hees hopes that too: despite the sharp decline in membership since the peak, he expects his club to reach the next lustrum. “We have to accept that there are fewer members. That’s the time we live in, people have more choice. We will no longer experience the 75th anniversary, but the club will. As it is now, with the current board, I expect it to work.”
