WC Ambassador’s conference Eindhoven
On Tuesday 14 April OSF organized a side-event in connection with the World Championships Ice Hockey in Eindhoven for its members. OSF invited top representatives from the participating countries to come to this meeting at SX, the beating heart of sport & business in the Netherlands. There they met the OSF and its members as well as representatives from the world of politics, among them Bart Zijlstra, the Director Sport of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, and representatives from the sport and the regional industry.
The conference began with a lunch in the Centre Court Café together with the representatives of various embassies as well as two honorary consuls of Lithuania in the Netherlands.
The lunch was followed by a visit to the SPECO Sportslab with some inspiring and informative presentations. OSF board member John van de Laar introduced the OSF and showed on the basis of CBS numbers that the Dutch sport is able, with an annual economical value of 6 billion, to win medals in a very efficient way. This has a positive effect on the Dutch sport and industry and is one of the main reasons that foreign countries are very interested in our approach.
Ruud Vreeman, chairman of the Dutch Ice Hockey Federation had a lively talk about the Dutch Ice Hockey and the World Championship. Bart Zijlstra, the Director Sport of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, emphasized that with big sport events in the Netherlands, an important social spin-off can be realized. His Ministry welcomes the cooperation between ‘Stichting Sport & Zaken’ (Sport & Business Association) of Director Roel Roelfzema and the OSF. They will use main sport events as a platform for the promotion of Dutch industry more often in the future with the help of the Ministry.
Mr Bart Zijlstra director Sports Ministery of Health Welfare and Sports
Peter Rovers, CMO of soccer club PSV emphasized the necessity of innovation and internationalization in soccer in his presentation. He presented the very successful ‘connected stadium’ case as an example.
Eric van Schagen, CEO of Simac represented industry during this conference. Eric van Schagen is the perfect bridge between sport and the Eindhoven Brainport Region. Eric is Director/owner of Simac, a large IT company and board member of the Sport & Technology Foundation. The technological developments in this region are essential for the economical growth in the Netherlands. Through his subsidiary company Learning Solution Eric is , together with OSF, involved in a research on knowledge developments and knowledge transfer within the Dutch sport federations. More information can be found on our website.
After the presentations all participants were offered a tour around the new building at Strijp-S with Triple Double CEO and SX initiator Bob van Oosterhout. Bob van Oosterhout also made an inspiring presentation on the history of SX. The conference was closed with a networking drink.
The ambassador of South Korea H.E Mr. Choe during the match Netherlands – South-Korea
Part of the invites went for dinner at the Oriental Greenhouse and afterwards they watched the soccer game South Korea-the Netherlands in the presence of the South Korean ambassador His Excellency Mr. Choe. South Korea, the ultimate World Champion, defeated the Netherlands with 7-1. Despite the defeat the evening was very successful and lively and the South Korean ambassador was very impressed by the game. Afterwards the South-Korean ambassador presented the ‘Man of the Match’ award to the players and he met and talked with the South-Korean team members.
