History

Handball was played in the Netherlands in the Middle Ages for certain and was for a very long time the national and most played sport. Due to an altering society in the 18th and 19th century this changed strongly. Also in Franeker there was a lowering enthusiasm for the 'balverkaatsen', a yearly handball match and a real public amusement. Within living memory, at this match heroes from far and wide used to meet each other at the playingfield. Another major reason for the decline at that time was, that innkeepers organized the match, who were, besides in sporting, especially interested in the economical issue. In fact it can be seen as an early experience with the influence of commerce on sport.

gravure.jpgAfbeelding van een gravure, die een
realistische  weergave vormt van het "Franeker
kaatsen" in  het verre verleden (gepubliceerd
in "De aarde en haar volken").

In the year 1853, when the yearly 'balverkaatsen' was at its lowest ebb, 5 notables of the town of Franeker established a committee, with the aim 'the advancement and maintaining of handball' and took over the organization of this very old match. Soon the match became again the festal great day; futhermore this was an important stimulant for handball in the Netherlands, that was threatened for extinction at that time. The committee, at present still composed of 5 members, proved to be permanent ('the Permanent Committee') and gradually the match was mentioned in the language of the people “the PC”, according to de initials of the organizing committee. Since 1854, the year that the match was organized for the first time by the Permanent Committee, the match could not take place only four times: in 1859 (bad weather and/or variola epidemic), 1866 (cholera epidemic) and in 1943 and 1944 (World War II). Unfortunately there is not much known of the history of the match over the period before the establishment of the Permanent Committee in 1853. Fact is, however, that the handball court (in Dutch: kaatsbaan) in Franeker (1630-1684) was especially used by the elite and students, and that the ordinary people at that time preferred (and were forced to) play the game outside the town-wall in the open field, where there were no regulations of the authorities. Before the Permanent Committee moved the match in 1856 to the present tilting-ground (the Sjűkelân), the match was played on a playing field just outside the Eastern Gate of the town of Franeker. This place was already known as a handball field in 1650. This place, that has been fully build upon now with houses, still has the name “Oud Kaatsveld” (meaning “Old Handball-field”).