Sjef Weber (60) is the driving force behind his son-in-law, kickboxer Nieky Holzken from Helmond. He carries his bag, is his sparring partner during the warm-up and once put the brakes under his worn-out Golf for free a long time ago. This week a book will be published about the eventful life of Sjef: boy of the camp, car wrecker and trainer of world champions.
In his car dealership in Helmond, Sjef Weber pulls up his shirt. His parents’ portraits are tattooed on his side. “Without them I would never have become who I am today. I was brought up very strict, but afterwards I am very grateful for that.” His 80-year-old father, Tommie Weber, still comes to work on the farm every day. “For zero euros, huh?”
The idea for a book about his life arose years ago. Writer Arnold Otten still knew very well who Sjef was. During a football match, Sjef had pinched him hard in ‘his household’, according to the preface. Sjef was ‘raw’ people of the camp. “And if they say that in Helmond, then it is really raw.”
“There is still a lot of discrimination, while many campers are good people”
Sjef hopes that the book will provide more understanding about caravan dwellers. “I want to show citizens who we are. That they understand our culture better. And that people approach the caravan camp differently. There is still a lot of discrimination, while many campers are good people.”
The word ‘burger’ often comes up with Sjef. The people who don’t have real camp blood. In his eyes, it is also the ‘citizens’ who have ruined the caravan culture. “In the 1960s everyone smoked weed, but we didn’t even know what that was. I was not even allowed to get on the track behind the camp, then I immediately had a two-week sentence.”
“Can he be trusted?”
“Boys from outside make love with the girls at the camp. To fit in, they wanted to be rougher than the campers and then it changed,” says Sjef. “I wouldn’t want to be at the camp anymore. It’s not like before. But I am very proud to be a camper. I get angry when the story about camps is told wrong on TV.”
According to Sjef, he is still confronted every day with what people think of ‘campers’. Certainly also because he is a car wrecker and salesman. “Can he be trusted, they think. But do you think we could have had a business here for 47 years if it wasn’t for that?”
“At that time I couldn’t earn anything from boxing”
In addition to his car company, Sjef Weber is daily busy with the gym, which now belongs to Nieky. Sjef used to be a good boxer. He was champion of the South Netherlands several times and in 1980 Dutch junior champion. “But at that time I couldn’t do anything with boxing. I had to take care of my family.”
The book Sjef de Sloper has 120 pages. “I had so much more to say,” says Sjef. “But Arnold also wanted to be done with it for once. Maybe there will be a second part. Maybe when Nieky stops. It won’t be long now, he’s already 39. Unique in kickboxing.”