In 1975 Tom Okker and Fred Hemmes hit the very first ball on the new tennis courts from Tennis & Padel Meerzicht. Now, fifty years later, the sports center has grown into the place in Zoetermeer where sport and cosiness come together.
A permanent place where you not only play, but also make friends, get memories and maybe even miss some balls because you are chatting with your neighbor. That is what Tennis & Padel Meerzicht stands for. And chances are that you have also eaten a legendary sandwich here. Want to make sense to hit a ball? Let’s go!
Personal contact and no fuss
Meerzicht is not a big and anonymous sports complex, but is known as a familiar place where you quickly feel at home. You just come across your neighbor, former teacher or sports buddy. “We are now in the company with the third generation,” says owner Ruud van Hoogdalem. “People know us and we know them. No fuss, just good lessons, fun and a price that everyone can pay.”
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Photos: then & now
From 50-plus to Special Olympics
At Meerzicht it’s all about more than winning, although a good smash is of course never wrong. The motto “”Everyone is welcome“ Also shows the diversity of visitors. For example, senior tennis is on the program every morning and a fixed group of wheelchair tennis players have been training there for more than twenty years. And on Saturday it’s time for G-tennis for people with a physical or mental disability. This is followed by the sporting day care, where participants do everything, from basketball to table tennis.
Ruud: “Whether you are in a wheelchair, come for fun or train for the Special Olympics. Everyone is part of it and everyone can participate.” And this motto goes further than just exercising: Meerzicht also offers workplaces to people with a distance to the labor market.
Sandwiches and top sport
After exercise there is enough room to recover and chat. The catering section is small -scale and feels homely, with a menu full of warm and cold drinks and more than forty (!) Types of beer. But the real secret? The sandwiches. “That herbal recipe is our best kept secret,” laughs Ruud.
In the meantime, the jobs of Meerzicht have already seen a lot of big names: from Kiki Bertens to Robin Haase and since 2021 more and more Padelfans. “The padel courts are popular with everyone,” says Ruud. “From beginners to talents such as Steffie Weterings and the Zoetermeerse brothers Mats and Kai Groen. Even invented tennis players have to admit that Padel is quite addictive.”
The Zoetermeer business has also discovered Het Padellen, for example a monthly companies Padel competition and Meerzicht is the Padel home base of the entrepreneurial association Network Zoetermeer.
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For 50 years, and not nearly ready
Tennis & Padel Meerzicht has been in existence for fifty years this year. They celebrate that by simply doing what they are always good at: balls, bubbling and catching up. Occasionally there is an extra tournament or clinic planning, but otherwise life continues here. “The anniversary is beautiful, but for us it counts that people continue to work out and feel at home,” says Ruud.
Also for a padel clinic or a outing with school, team or company you are in the right place – complete with lunch, dinner or a cocktail board, completely tailor -made. So: put on your sneakers, Come and hit a ball (or scoring a sandwich) and experience for yourself why Meerzicht has been the place for Zoetermeer for so long.