Wim Bakering will officially start his job as a trainer at Harkemase Boys next weekend, with the opening game in the third division against ASWH. In Friesland, the 54-year-old resident of Norg is a relatively unknown. He built up his track record in Groningen and Drenthe.
No, says Wim Bakering, there is no fair in Norg today. Or an annual market. Or a harness horse competition that can occupy almost the entire village of Drenthe for weeks. In other words, there’s plenty of parking space on this sunny weekday for his converted farm in the heart of his hometown, a green village of over 3,000 residents that revives every year through the summer.
That converted farm is not only an attraction in itself, it also immediately tells who the new 54-year-old trainer of Harkemase Boys actually is. In order to make this monumental building ready to live in and to meet his and his family’s requirements, Bakering temporarily stopped his coaching career.
,,If I do something, I want to do it well”, says Bakering this week, having just returned from a holiday on Terschelling. The farm belonged to his family and when his grandmother could no longer live there on her own, he decided to move in with his wife and two teenagers. He estimated that the renovation would have taken a few years. That deserved all his attention, so football shifted to second plan for a while.
It’s time for football again
The renovation started in 2014, after he became champion with Achilles 1894 as a trainer and thus forced promotion to the main league. After almost two years of restoration, nailing and modernization in the heart of Norg, his fellow villagers from GOMOS knocked on his door for the second time. Now that the refurbishment had been a success, it was time for football again. The enthusiast in him had missed the game, he felt.
But before Bakering wanted to say ‘yes’ for the second time in 2015 to his first love GOMOS – the club where his heart lies, where he grew up as a player, where he tore his cruciate ligament at the age of 30 and where he already returned in 2001 as trainer – he went to investigate with his fellow villagers.
Was the player group ambitious enough for his plans? Did the board support its objectives? Because, and everyone knows that, boys from 20 to 30 years old find a Saturday evening in the pub or nightclub just as much fun. Standing your ground on Sunday is sometimes too much to ask. Bakering received satisfactory answers for everything. With two titles and the historic promotion to the first division as a result.
,,I still remember”, says Bakering, ,,that on the day that we became champion with GOMOS, the team bus of Achilles 1894 drove home to Assen via Norg after an away match. They took a detour to congratulate GOMOS and me on the championship and promotion. Of course that made me feel good.”
The anecdote above may say something about the approach, about the enthusiasm and atmosphere that Bakering creates at its clubs. Bakering, for example, was nominated for the Rinus Michels Award in 2019 because of its way of working.
Throwing a ball at De Bosk
Last season Bakering ran the flagship of Saturday second division team SV Marum, for six months as an interim trainer. In the same winter break he learned that Jan Piet Bosma’s contract with Harkemase Boys would not be extended. So it was time to throw a ball at De Bosk. Because he also knew, if I don’t do it, it will remain silent. He could also have stayed with Marum, but the Norger trainer had decided for himself that he would like to try it at a higher level.
“It is indeed true that few people in Friesland know me. I’ve always been active in Sunday football, I think that’s why. But I contacted Harkemase Boys myself and then we struck up a conversation. It turned out to click. I play dynamic football with my teams, preferably in the opponent’s half, at a high tempo. I always think something has to be done on the field. Give it gas, so to speak. So that is reflected in most matches. I don’t like static football.”
Speaking of Sunday football, Bakering is gloomy about its future prospects. ,,In ten years’ time there may not even be performance football on Sundays anymore. You can really see that the traditional clubs are struggling with it. Too bad actually, I’m going to miss it in that case. Harkemase Boys always play on Saturdays, I can watch GOMOS on Sunday when they play at home. Here in Norg, by the way, there is no question of a switch to Saturday. That won’t be a theme anytime soon, at least I don’t hear anyone about it. Most people work here on Saturdays.”
Unpaid scout of FC Groningen
Until recently, Wim Bakering was one of FC Groningen’s unpaid scouts. “But I stopped doing that,” he says. “Although that was a lot of fun work. You have an entire network, love football and watch players and then report on them. Besides, I didn’t go anywhere myself. Often you were also sent videos of matches to analyze them.”
In the coming season, Bakering will combine his work in the prison of Veenhuizen (located in the same municipality as Norg) with his job at De Bosk. He worked for years as a custodian and is now a planner. An administrative function. “Consciously,” he says. ,,An office job from eight to five is easier to combine with my ambitions in football. I have always enjoyed working in prison. I like working with people.”
Coming and going of players
With Harkemase Boys, Bakering has not really talked about goals except that the club wants to play as high as possible. Every year it is a coming and going of players at the highest playing club in Friesland and that applies to many clubs at that level. The coming weeks will show who has become stronger or weaker.
Harkemase Boys opens its new football year next Saturday afternoon in its own home. The duel on the Bosk against ASWH starts at 2.30 pm.
Bakering is not yet able to explain how his team stands a week before that overture. A week ago, his men went down on their own field against fourth divisionist HZVV (1-2), on Tuesday Flevo Boys (also fourth division) was rolled up (5-1). It was only this week that his entire selection was on the training field together for the first time.
,,Because we knew early on that we were going to work together, I was involved in attracting the most players. So I think we can put together an excellent team for this season. Just no idea how the rest is doing. But we’re looking forward to it, that’s for sure.”
Harkemase Boys has to do without top scorer Kian Visser, who already had 20 in it before the winter break last year. For that reason, the Leeuwarden striker plays for IJsselmeervogels this season. Captain Henny Bouius has also left for FC Burgum. He didn’t feel like re-adapting to a slew of new players.
Football as a metaphor for life
Back to that converted farmhouse, in the heart of Norg. Because as I said: the renovation of this says a lot about Bakering’s view of football – as a metaphor for life. “After all, I said: if we do it, we do it well. And not half. I saw that this was a huge job and I wanted to do my part. That’s why I didn’t want to do a trainer job for the simple reason that you don’t do that on the side. We have renovated this farm with friends and acquaintances. When it was almost done, I found myself missing the football. Then GOMOS came my way. And now Harkemase Boys. This wonderful club will have my full attention next season. I’m excited.”