The auction of Bente Kerkhoff’s Olympic outfit has yielded 1,669 euros for her old skating clubs STG Koggenland and STG Solid Aqua. Ed Entius, chairman of STG Koggenland, is pleased with the donation. It did not yield as much as Jutta Leerdam’s suit, which went under the hammer for almost €200,000. “That’s bizarre.”
T-shirts, skating suits and headbands: this weekend entire Olympic wardrobes went under the hammer duringan auction organized by TeamNL.
Early fans, and in possession of a well-filled wallet, could score items from Jens and Melle van ‘t Wout, Merel Conijn and Bente Kerkhoff, among others.
Nostalgic touch
The proceeds from the auction had a nostalgic touch: they go to the associations where the athletes once started. One of those clubs is STG Koggenland, the skating club where Olympian Bente Kerkhoff took her first steps on the ice.
As a twelve-year-old boy, Ed Entius took his first steps on the ice rink in Medemblik and is now chairman and trainer. He is happy with the results. “It was in line with what I thought: namely that it would be nice if it went towards 1000 euros and that is what happened.”
The proceeds will be invested in recruiting new, young members, he tells NH. “Easily accessible training days or introductory training, or allowing children to participate in summer training for free.”
Skating expensive sport
The total proceeds from Kerkhoff’s skating outfit were 1,669 euros, but the amount will be divided among both STG Koggenland and STG Solid Aqua, where the Oostwoud native also skated. Both clubs therefore received more than 800 euros.
The donation is welcome, because skating is an expensive sport, says Entius. “Just renting the ice is expensive, for example, you pay 600 euros per hour for the track. All riders have to pay that hour. And we have to have trainers on the ice. These are largely volunteers, but of course there has to be compensation and that also costs money.”
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The absolute highlight during the auction was Jutta Leerdam’s skating suit: that yielded 195,000 euros. Entius: “I wonder if it’s a joke, that’s bizarre. That association in Pijnacker must be a huge success.”
Three times as high as Ronaldo’s shirt
Paul Braat, marketing director at the auction site, was also amazed by the record amount. “We absolutely did not expect this. This amount is three times higher than our previous record with Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portuguese shirt,” he says.
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It does not make the yield of the less pricey items any less special.
Braat: “What makes this auction extra special is that all sports items are all part of Dutch sports history. Because the majority of the proceeds are donated to the ice club where the athlete started his or her sports career, the performance of the athletes at the Olympic Games also has a huge impact on recreational sports.”
It is not known who are the lucky ones to receive the Olympic clothing from Kerkhoff and Leerdam. “Our bidders are always anonymous,” says Braat.
