It may sound crazy, but 2024 will go down in my books as ‘a flat sports year’. If I look over the magnifying glass regional If you are a sports detective, you are looking for moments that have left an indelible impression. What will stay with you: the renewed NH Sport broadcasts on TV. Recorded every Monday morning somewhere in the province between our athletes and viewers!
The TV world is a wonderful world. Most people have no idea how much time and effort it takes to create an item, let alone an entire program. Moreover, every year the question arises whether channel bosses will overhaul their programming. Money and viewing figures often play an important role in this. Innovation can also be an argument.
This year, the football talk show De Aftrap came to an end on Friday, May 17. In the 110th episode, Kees Kist and Ron Nagtzaam are the last guests. The management of NH Media is pulling the plug after three years. As a maker, it is of course a decision that I regret and for which I was confronted many times afterwards on location.
Text continues below the video.
Not the least names have joined in the past three years. I mention Frank de Boer, Danny Blind, Max Huiberts, John van ‘t Schip, Guus Hiddink, Robert Eenhoorn, Wim Jonk, Freek de Jonge, Jack van Gelder, Henk Spaan and Peter Heerschop. But with this list I am selling all the other guests short. It was a pleasure to be able to present this program with Jack Mühren every week.
Text continues below the video.
Party or not, the cancellation of the football talk show also creates room for other ideas. For example, we have been making our NH Sport TV broadcast on Mondays from a digital studio for several seasons. That is to say: a kind of green box in which a decor is projected. This could be the Arena or the AZ stadium, but also a sports hall in Zwaag. Quite nice, but nothing beats the real thing.
Text continues below the photo.
Starting this season, I will be going out as a cameraman with presenter Erik-Jan Brinkman. Since we started at the Zandvoort Formula 1 circuit, we have been racing all over the province. From the Olympic Stadium to the athletics track in Den Helder. We stroll through the Ajax fan shop in the Arena, visit the AZ museum in Waarland and attend the training of the Dutch national team.
Cup of fries and cake
It’s quite a change from the warm studio to, as we say: ‘standing with your feet in the clay’. And for me personally; no longer in front of, but behind the camera. But this is also a party. The unexpected encounters on Monday morning are all very cordial. Truus van den Berg treats us to a box of chocolates. At Koninklijke HFC there is coffee and home-baked cake by Gerrit Peijs. In the Vitesse ’22 canteen on Monday morning we receive a bowl of fries with mayo and a beautiful, thick anniversary book.
Text continues below the photo.
I never knew that so much work was done by volunteers at so many clubs early on Monday mornings. Cleaning up mess, painting, all kinds of repairs, scrubbing dressing rooms and of course having a chat over a cup of coffee from time to time.
Indispensable
Everyone we speak to talks passionately about his or her club. And that club turns out to be much more than the first team or that one famous athlete. The result is that we always leave for Hilversum too late for the final assembly.
Text continues below the video.
We also lack standard length to include all the great stories in the TV broadcast. These people are not called Frank de Boer or Guus Hiddink. No, this is Ger de Boer in his carpentry workshop at RKAV Volendam or Bas Zonjee cleaning the grounds of Royal HFC with a stick.
They walk the streets anonymously, but are indispensable in the regional sports world of North Holland. I will also portray them with love in 2025. Although this is often not necessary for them. Because it’s also a party outside the picture.
Edward Dekker