The oldest samurai in Nettetal was present at the birthday party: Günter Hurtmanns (85), who founded the Nettetal club “JJJC Samurai” 50 years ago with Jörg Hempel (70), did not want to miss the celebration of the anniversary in the sports hall of the secondary school in Kaldenkirchen – and just as few active club members.
“My boyfriend at the time, Helmut Spierings, asked me to take part in judo in Schaag,” recalls Hurtmanns co-founder. The sport appealed to him immediately, but he found: “The group was very small – that was simply not enough.” “After a year we already had 80 members. After two years, we were already up to 120 people,” reported the 85-year-old proudly.
Up until five years ago, Hurtmanns was still on the mat himself: “Unfortunately, I had to stop for health reasons.” He particularly valued his coaching work: “I got involved in working with the young people.” Hurtmanns has had the JJJC Samurai for 18 years as chairman, then management was handed over to Werner Dermann. Hurtmanns is now honorary chairman of the association and likes to think back to the founding years in which he promoted the life of the association together with Jörg Hempel and Hermann-Josef Engels.
Moritz Ott (22) has been with the club for 15 years: “Günter even trained me back then,” he said with a smile. “And the boy was very good,” says Hurtmanns. The 22-year-old tried out various sports in Nettetal when he was a child: “Then I came to the JJJC. That was somehow special and grabbed me,” he says. If your health plays along, then Ott would like to be on the mat at an older age, just like his former coach: “Sport keeps you fit. It is a diverse, full-body sport that requires both strength and endurance.”
Honorary chairman Hurtmanns and Werner Dermann as chairman were honored on Saturday for their many years of commitment to the association. There were certificates, gifts and congratulations from the club, from Jürgen Hendricks from the city sports association in Nettetal, Jutta Bouscheljong from the district sports association in Viersen and from the mayor of Nettetal, Christian Küsters. The program for the anniversary celebration included a variety of shows and reminiscing about old times.
Information about the club is available from the chairman Werner Dermann on the training days in the gymnasium of the Realschule or by calling 0175 1642732.
2023-05-02 14:05:29
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