Football club ACV from Assen won the award for best sports team of 2023 during the Sports Gala Drenthe on Monday evening.
ACV became champion of the third division last year and was promoted to the highest amateur football level, where it is having a wonderful season. During the gala, volleyball player Nova Marring was named sportswoman of the year, and marathon skater Chiel Smit won the statue for best sportsman.
Gio Lippens reported on cycling events for the NOS for no fewer than 35 years. The 65-year-old Drent retired in February. However, he does not sit still, because a month after his last job, the Cyclo-Cross World Championships in Tábor, Czech Republic, he will be on the stage of the De Nieuwe Kolk theater in Assen on Monday evening as host of the Drenthe Sports Gala.
On stage, Lippens is flanked by a DJ and a business cartoonist. She draws on a large white sheet what is happening on stage and in the audience. “So that the message sticks better,” she says. “Eighty percent of people are visual thinkers.” Anyone who is tired of all the talking on stage can take a look at the drawing sheet.
Sports pearl
The first prize to be awarded on Monday evening is for the Sportparel van Drenthe, the prize for a person or organization that has made a positive contribution to the province of Drenthe. Groups in the room clap their hands when their favorite comes along from the list of nominees. The prize ultimately goes to the duo bicycles from the municipality of Coevorden. An organization with volunteers who get on a bicycle together with people who can no longer or dare to do so.
After the sports pearl, a sister battle breaks out. Sabine Spreen has been nominated in the Drenthe para-athlete category. In 2023 she became multiple world champion of obstacle run. Her sister Daphne has been nominated in the same sport in the sportswoman category of Drenthe. She won two silver medals at the World Championships. However, the Spreen family does not go home with two statues. Only para-athlete Sabine triumphs.
Lots of laughs
Daphne loses out to volleyball player Nova Marring in the Drenthe sportswoman category. In 2023 she was voted best player in the Belgian competition. The passer-runner became national champion of Belgium with Asterix AVO and also won the national cup tournament. As the icing on the cake, the 22-year-old volleyball player from Assen, who is active in the German competition this season, won bronze with the Dutch team at the European Championships.
Nova Marring’s father accepts the award, while his daughter watches over his shoulder through a large screen. Dad gets a lot of laughs when he is presented with the statue. “I played football at ACV for years, but I never expected to receive the prize for sportswoman of the year.”
Sportsman
The statue for the sportsman from Drenthe will go to Chiel Smit on Monday evening. The 28-year-old marathon skater never won anything, but surprisingly finished first in the Grand Prix Final Sea Ice Classic in Lulea, Sweden, in February 2023 after 150 kilometers. Drenthe’s sports talent becomes obstacle course racer Leon Frederiks.
ACV wins prize for sports team
Daphne and Sabine Spreen, the obstacle run sisters, jointly have a chance to win the statue for the best sports team in Drenthe. Out of all nominations they end up in the top 3, but the sisters are trumped by ACV. The football club from Assen had a wonderful year, in which it became glorious champion of the third division under coach Ruud Jalving and made a wonderful debut in the second division, the highest amateur football level. The Drenthe football club is currently fifth behind renowned clubs such as Spakenburg and Quick Boys.
With Lippens’ microphone under Lippens’ nose, Jalving explains shortly before the announcement of the prize winner that ACV is experiencing an unforgettable year. “At one point we were undefeated for 26 games in a row. We have entered a flow and that is great to experience.” Player Luka Prljic, also on the podium, agrees with his trainer. “Even as an amateur athlete, in addition to having fun, you aim for the highest possible achievement. You want to achieve the highest, that is happiness and only makes sports more fun.”