A new season is imminent and I have been training hard again for almost 2 weeks now. After the World Championships I enjoyed a badminton-free week. To recover from the many trips but most of all to take time to look ahead and reflect on what’s going to come, on the few certainties and the many uncertainties.
It’s certain that for me the new season will begin on Sunday with the start of the German Premier League. As I mentioned before I will be playing for 1.BV Mülheim again. I had a magnificent year with this club last year and the same team is ready to go hard at it again. Sunday afternoon we’ll meet BC Düren at home in our own RWE Sportshall, An den Sportstätten 6 in Mülheim.
It’s also certain that I will participate in the Yonex Belgian International mid September. The Association pays the registration fee, transport and lodging we will have to arrange ourselves and is for our own account again. This tournament is beginning to become some sort of a tradition at the start of every new badminton season. It’s also a tournament where I have played with varying degrees of success. I made it to the finals once, but last year was a disaster when I lost both the mixed doubles and the men’s doubles in the first round. Such sharp contrasts. In addition to the mixed double with Samantha I will also make a double with Robin Tabeling who is a new senior in the National squad and who has, just like me, no permanent doubles partner. We already practised together a couple of times and so it was an easy choice to play this tournament together. After such a long period of just playing the mixed it feels good to play the men’s doubles again. I am looking forward to this event, not only because my partners and I hope to perform well but also because I like to play in Belgium. During my crowdfunding project I got a lot of (financial) support from Belgians and a good performance at this tournament is the least I should be able to give in return.
With these two certainties the party is over. What remains are large uncertainties. The Association has indicated that they will not pay for tournaments till the end of this year and we already know that next year’s budget will also be meagre. Players will have to find funding for their tournaments themselves like we did with our crowdfunding project for the World championships earlier this year. Improving our present world ranking in the mixed doubles requires the playing of at least 15 tournaments a year of which 6 outside Europe.
After the tournament in Belgium there are 7 other events we would like to participate in. Among these are the Super Series Events in Denmark and France but we will need funding from other sources again to make it possible, because to be honest I myself don’t have the money!!!
The Dutch Badminton Association has recently introduced a monthly fee of € 100 as a contribution to the costs of training and of the tournament program (for that matter I don’t know which tournament program). In addition to that I have to pay for my rent, my health insurance and my cost of living. The playing of the required tournaments will be an illusion without a main sponsor and subsponsors.
Our worldranking is rising well now and Samantha and I would love to make the next step towards the top 20 of the world. Therefore, and I do it with great reluctance, I again call on my fantastic fancrowd for help. I have a shirt with on the front room for advertising, I have sleeves and a collar, shorts and a tracksuit on which (company) logo’s can be placed. If you know a company or a person in your network who is open to sponsoring an athlete who has an Olympic target please let me know via the contact button on this site or send an email to jorrit.de.ruiter@planet.nl.
Of course we continue to welcome all financial contributions. Our Worlds project has proven that many small contributions can make up a large amount. Our objective is now the realization of a fully fledged tournament program on the way to our ultimate goal: RIO 2016. Do you want to help (again)? Every Euro, Dollar or Pound you can spare is welcome on account IBAN NL09RABO 032 44 25 996 in the name of J.W. de Ruiter. Please mention your email address aswell.