NOS Skating•
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Jonna ter Veer
online editor
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Jonna ter Veer
online editor
Without Borne, the Netherlands would miss many top athletes. From the Twente village – close to Hengelo – comes Joy Beune, who hopes to win an Olympic medal in the 3,000 meters today on the first day of the Winter Games.
But Olympic skater Sebas Diniz, Dutch football players Wout Weghorst and Mats Wieffer, beach volleyball player Stefan Boermans (who competed at the Paris Games), motorcycle racer Mirjam Pol (who won the Dakar rally in 2022) and swimmer Marleen Veldhuis (four Olympic medals) also grew up there.
National coach Arjan Veurink of the Dutch football players lives there, in the same street as Weghorst at the time. Cyclist Marianne Vos, who has three Olympic medals, moved to Borne for love.
“When the Games or a World Cup are over, we can almost prepare the balustrade of the town hall for a ceremony,” laughs David Vermorken, sports councilor of Borne.
Orange water?
The village has 25,000 inhabitants. That’s not much: they all fit easily in De Grolsch Veste stadium. Is the number of top athletes a coincidence? Or does orange water sometimes come from the tap in Borne?
The Mulier Institute, which maps sports data, initially thinks of chance. “There are many factors that influence the development of sports talents and we obviously do not have a complete overview of them,” says researcher Lisanne Balk.
But, she adds: “Of course, good top sports infrastructure can help.” And Borne has that, in its own way.
Sports councilor Vermorken explains that Borne primary schools have a separate gym teacher, who is paid by the municipality, schools and sports clubs. “This is not mandatory from the government, but we consciously choose a specialist PE teacher. We have been doing this for at least twelve years, because we think it is important that all children develop well in terms of motor skills.”
Sometimes it is difficult to get through the supermarket, because everyone asks for Joy. I prefer to let my wife do the shopping.
Borne has the most sports of all Twente municipalities: 82 percent do so weekly, according to research by NOC*NSF (2024) into regional sports participation. The average in Twente is 68 percent.
And then there is another striking statistic: almost 9 in 10 Borne children between the ages of 8 and 12 are members of a sports club, according to research by the GGD Twente (2021). That’s a lot. According to the Lifestyle monitor from the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), only half of children between the ages of 4 and 18 in the Netherlands are members of a sports club (2024).
Borne is chock full of active sports clubs. The small Twente municipality alone has four football clubs. The primary school also plays a role in this, says Diniz in the NOS Skating podcast: “Through school we were allowed to take trial lessons in different sports. I chose skating and that was a success.”
Talent to top sport
Researcher Balk finds local sports policy interesting. “It means that an active sports municipality like Borne probably has a greater chance of talented athletes, because the group of potential talents is larger.”
But according to her, it does not yet explain the step from talent to top athlete. More is needed for this: “Such as involved parents and trainers, but also money and a growth plan. I expect that in that phase the effect of the birth village will no longer play such a role in the chance of success as a top athlete.”
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Not exercising is not an option for the Beune family. In their spare time and during holidays they go cycling -
The Beune family on a cycling holiday -
Joy Beune as a teenager with a medal around her neck -
Sebas Diniz wins the prize for youth talent of the year in Borne in 2013
Beune only really broke through through the Regional Talent Center, a kind of Young Orange for skating.
Sporty Beune family
“All those top athletes are my children,” jokes Edwin Beune, Joy’s father. He was also born and raised in Borne and cannot imagine a life without sports.
“As a family we do a lot of sports. Skating, horse riding, hyrox, tennis, football, volleyball, squash. During the holidays we often went cycling with the whole family. Sports are very important, you shouldn’t sit in front of the Playstation all day.”
He put his daughter Joy on skates at an early age, but she preferred to ride horses, just like her older sister. It wasn’t until the age of 9 that he took her again. “She was immediately addicted to the ice. She became very fanatic and started training more and more. Her success has slowly grown.”
Beune was twice elected sportswoman of the year in Borne, at the Sports Gala that has been organized annually since 1996. Beune won in 2017 and 2018, despite her world titles, she did not win the prize afterwards because she no longer lives in the village. That is a condition.
Yet the attention for the multiple world champion in the village has remained as high as ever. “Sometimes it is difficult to get through the supermarket,” says father Beune. “Everyone asks about Joy. I prefer to let my wife do the shopping.”
The whole of Borne will probably be sitting in front of the television today, thinks sports councilor Vermorken. Beune is and remains from Borne. Although this does not apply to all top athletes. There is one name that residents have been reluctant to mention for a few years now, Vermorken knows. He clears his throat, says with slight discomfort:
“Wout Weghorst, since he played for Ajax.”
No medals yet
No medals have been won yet
