Pioneer becomes evangelist

I admit. I felt lonely on many occasions. In the early days i felt like i was the only one to believe in the ‘makeability’ of the idea that hybrid grass would become the standard in international football & rugby.

Allthough i was supported by great colleagues and business friends, it was often lonely to fly the other end of the world again, setting up meetings with people that did not had a clue about what i was doing…and to what purpose that reïnforcement system could serve them.

But i loved the adrenaline and the opportunities on my path. Literaly everybody i met in those days was interested in that strange type of grass. I have always loved sharing my convictions, my thoughts and my believe in things. This was a job totaly fit for me.

And slowly but surely, before you know it and beyond your will, you are seen as a specialist, an expert. An authority…

People, organisations, clubs, pitch contractors, pitch consultants; they all wanted to talk to me. As hybrid grass (that term was introduced by Helga Webers and we claimed the term ours) was more and more seen as an interesting option to natural and synthetic grass.

I have never stated and i will never do so in the future, that i am the real expert of hybrid grass. But i do think that i grew along the years in promoting hybrid grass. I met so many interesting people. All experts in their own domain. Groundsmen, pitch consultants, agronomists, founders and inventors of parallel pitch technologies (Nico Van Vuuren SGL, Robert Else Terraplas and others). They all fed me with knowledge. We triggered each other in getting better, not accepting the obvious but chasing the impossible…

I want to thank all of you, co-evangelists, passionates about grass, you have shaped my mindset and my knowledge. Thank you.