The appointment of the young Robin Witte (33) as Ruud Jalving’s successor may be more or less a surprise, but Witte himself has little doubt. “This is going to be a great adventure.”
Witte, who has been active as an assistant coach for the past five seasons, thinks that he could well be the youngest head coach in the club’s history. He may just be right. Jalving was 48, his predecessor Fred de Boer 38, when he led ACV for the first time. Hendrik Oosting was 39 years old, brother Joseph 40 and Bert Vos 41.
Even Ron Jans and Foppe de Haan were older
Witte’s three most illustrious predecessors were just a little older than Witte when they became head coach of ACV at the start of their successful coaching careers. Foppe de Haan had just turned 37 when he started in Assen, Hans Westerhof was 36 years old and Ron Jans had yet to turn 36 when he started at ACV. “I really think it is a great honor to follow in the footsteps of those men,” says Witte. “I am very proud.”
Witte was born in Zwolle and saw quite a few points of the compass as a child. With a father who was a soldier in the Royal Military Police – he recently retired in November – this is not surprising. When he was four, the Witte family moved to Curaçao, only to cross back to the Netherlands four years later. After a short time in Borne, Twente, the Witte’s left for four years to the German Zeven, where father Witte went to work at the Seedorf barracks.
Robin Witte was left with an open attitude from those foreign adventures as a child, he now says. “Of course I had to make friends again a few times. This teaches you to be open and vulnerable, to be interested in others and to be social.”
‘Assen is my home’
In 2004, Witte settled in Assen with his parents and brother Leon (now 30 years old) to stay there. “After twenty years, I really feel like a native of Assen. This is my home.”
As a footballer he had a short career, which ended in the A1 of ACV, the club of which he has been a member since he was fourteen. At the age of nineteen he abruptly put an end to playing football himself. Not because of an injury, as is usually the case in such cases. “No, I stopped because I wanted to put all my energy into my coaching career. I have been training the youth at ACV since 2005, first the E-tjes and so on almost all youth teams. I really enjoyed doing that, I knew that was where my future lay.”
Playing football in a lower team was not an option, says Witte. “Nice, a team of friends, but not for me. If it’s not really about the marbles, I quickly lose interest. I want to achieve something, do something that leads somewhere. I think that is characteristic of the person I am.”
Facility manager at Hof van Saksen
After high school, he opted for the Sports & Exercise course and then also completed the shortened HBO course in Sports Management (associate degree) and came to work at the Hof van Saksen holiday park in 2012, at the age of 22. He still works there, now as a facility coordinator. For 32 hours.
A full working week would not be compatible with being a trainer in the Betnation Division and the two young children he now has with his girlfriend Ilona: Tess, 3 years old, and Finn, who was born seven weeks ago.
‘This is not possible without support from home’
“Fortunately, my girlfriend is the daughter of Alex Visser, who was also head coach for many years. She knows how things go in football. I am also very grateful to her for allowing me to seize this opportunity at ACV. You can’t take on such a challenge without support at home.”
Witte started as assistant to Hendrik Oosting in 2013 and remained so under Hans de Jong. Witte’s qualities as a youth coach also penetrated FC Emmen, where he worked as trainer of the Under-13 and Under-15 between 2015 and 2018. During that period he also obtained his UEFA-A, the diploma that allows him to be a head coach up to and including the second division.
‘I don’t mind if people find this surprising’
However, he was not yet head coach of a club. Does he feel pressure, now that his first job as a starting head coach is at the highest-ranking club in Drenthe? “I don’t really care if people find this a surprising choice. I know what I can do, I am ambitious and I have indicated to the technical committee that I aspire to be a head coach. I have a clear vision about football, I know what I want to achieve my goals. I like attacking football and I also emphasize that playing style. We will have to grow as a team and as individuals and intensive training is part of that. But above all, I am very happy that I can embark on this wonderful adventure.”
Volkers: Witte has great qualities
Gerrit Volkers, the chairman of the ACV Topsport foundation, which includes the first selection and staff of the Asser club, is pleased with the new head coach. “Robin has proven to be an excellent trainer. As an assistant to various head coaches, he showed that he has great qualities and he also has the right diplomas. We are confident that this boy from the club and van Assen will become an excellent head coach.”