Sitting volleyball pioneer Pieter Joon lives behind the facade of a terraced house in Molenwijk. The 80-year-old Haarlemmer has been inducted into the Hall of Fame in America by the international volleyball world. This makes him the first disabled volleyball player to receive this honorable mention. “He was way ahead of his time”
Pieter Joon – NH News
Modest, passionate and fit for his age. That is how Joop Alberda describes Pieter Joon. Alberda, coach of the Dutch volleyball team that became Olympic champion in 1996, is also among the approximately 150 international volleyball greats that hang in the museum in Holyoke, Massachusetts in the United States.
Time ahead
Sitting volleyball is played on a field measuring six by ten metres, with six players for each team. The net is 115 centimeters high for the men, and 105 centimeters for the women. According to Alberda, Joon was way ahead of his time by looking at how he could integrate ‘what used to be called disabled sport’ into the volleyball association.
“He subsequently made sitting volleyball an official discipline and eventually sitting volleyball was made great by the Netherlands. If Pieter had not been there, we would not have the international sitting volleyball organization as it is now,” says Alberda.
The International Volleyball Hall of Fame is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving volleyball history since 1971, based in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Previously, the Olympic champions Peter Blangé, Ronald Zwerver, Bas van de Goor and top coach Joop Alberda from the Netherlands were inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Emotional Outburst
Pieter Joon will be officially added to the Hall of Fame in the volleyball museum later this year. According to Alberda, the ceremony is an emotional event.
“It’s a reflex and people tell their story; how volleyball has been played throughout their lives and created friendships. That story is impressive and often ends in an emotional outburst.”
Pieter Joon will be festively added to the Hall of Fame on 21 and 22 October, together with the Dutchman Pieter Murphy.
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