1/4 Father and son working as sweepers for the Bossche basketball club (photo: Anja de Ridder)
“The Knights are back”, it sounds regularly in the stands and along the side at the Bossche basketball club Heroes. The De Ridder family, consisting of father Roland (56), mother Anja (52) and son Stefan (17) are just as indispensable to the club as the public: it is felt when they are not there. ‘De Riddertjes’ keep the club running behind scenes, so that the players have all the space they need to peak. The Bossche club can qualify for the play-off final for the national championship on Saturday evening.
It could then be the 17th time that Heroes Den Bosch has the best basketball players in the Netherlands. This makes it the most successful club in Dutch basketball history. The De Ridder family helps the club with many peripheral matters that are necessary for a top-level club. Together they help set up and dismantle the hall. Anja is also in the fan shop. Roland helps with the card check and Stefan used to mop the floor during the match until recently, but now helps his father check. They all do this voluntarily.
“It seems like an extra job, but it also brings us a lot.”
And the family does much more, Anja says. “We prepare the players’ houses for foreign players who come to the Netherlands. We show them around in Den Bosch. We also do that for the basketball player’s partner because it is often a bit lonely in a country where you don’t know anyone.”
At Roland’s work people sometimes react with surprise to their voluntary hobby. “It seems like an extra job”, are the comments made to Roland with the accompanying incredulous big eyes. “It’s also quite a lot of time that we put into it,” he admits.
“The Knights are not there, does it sound panicky.”
“It has become our social life”, Anja explains their unbridled commitment. “We have a claim everywhere. We are really missed when we are not there. Then it suddenly sounds ‘The Knights are not there’, but then with panic in the voice”, she chuckles.
The family hobby actually happened nine years ago. “The club was looking for ‘sweepers’, which are usually children who mop the floor after a player has fallen and there is sweat on the floor. Stefan was eight at the time and he thought it would be fun. We went to watch and while we were waiting we were asked if we could help with some chores. That’s how it started.”
In the coming weeks, De Riddertjes will have to work hard. Then Heroes Den Bosch plays in the play-offs. “That means several games a week until somewhere in June, if they don’t lose,” explains Anja. “We took a month off in August. We will not move, clean or show players around, as we did before during the holidays. We are really off to start a new season with full force,” it sounds determined.
Then the basketball club will be without De Riddertjes for a month. “But we are not the only fanatic volunteers that Heroes has,” says Anja. “It now seems as if the club can function because of us. We really do it together with other volunteers. In fact, there are two more families where the basketball heart beats so much.”