Opening of the New Dishwashing Area
14 June 2026“This is quite a special moment”
At a tournament with 12 professional teams and their extensive staff, 300 volunteers actively involved, and a large refereeing corps – all of whom eat three meals a day in the sports hall converted into a restaurant – one can imagine that a lot of dishes are used, or rather, get dirty. Everything is organized down to the smallest detail, especially in this area. It’s a full-scale operation. And when everything runs like a well-oiled machine, it brings a lot of peace of mind.
Kitchen Brigade
In the category of invisible but indispensable work: With the renovation of the sports hall, the dishwashing kitchen also had to be relocated. Although the kitchen brigade already puts in a tremendous amount of work during the tournament, the heads of the dishwashing kitchen – Raymond Frank, Christian Reinders, and Tom Heming – along with their right-hand woman Ursula Damen, still wanted to make the reopening and inauguration of the new dishwashing facility a special moment. The honor of cutting the ribbon fell to Monique van Meenen, the patron and intern of the space, in the presence of the regulars of this busy area. She received loud applause and kind words. „We work with a lot of joy in this space with our little team, and Monique plays an important role in that“, Raymond began. „Especially mentally, but she also regularly rolls up her sleeves voluntarily and surprises us.“
Mop and Bucket
This time, there was also a surprise for the gentlemen Tom, Christian, and Raymond – who, together with Ursula, are affectionately known as „the singing dishwasher“ of the tournament due to their singing talents, which blend perfectly with the sound of the dishwashing line. From Monique’s hands, the men received mops, allowing them to multitask – in other words, mop the floor while washing dishes. „This is quite a special moment“, Monique thought. „I found this a great and fitting gift. I was so enthusiastic about it that I even bought a few for my husband, Raymond.“
