- The University , People
- 03/10/2024
New sports center director played volleyball at Hajraa
Max van Veen is the new director of the Student Sports Center (SSC). Aged 37, he’s the youngest sports center director in the Netherlands. But as he boasts over ten years of experience as head of department at the Tilburg student sports center, he’s definitely not an inexperienced addition to the SSC. “I would like to seek many collaborations, both internal and external, as well as promote lifelong exercising.”
Van Veen started at the SSC on August 1 of this year. “I was lucky enough to overlap briefly with my predecessor Wim Koch, so he could show me the ropes.”
Why did Van Veen choose TU/e? “I felt like seeing how things worked at another organization, but I didn’t really want to say goodbye to student sports. This student sports center is quite a bit bigger than the one in Tilburg, with its own pool, rowing association, and catering (internal exploitation). Those were important elements in my decision to switch. Plus, I live in Nuenen, so this is closer to home, which is very nice if you have two small children like me.”
When we ask him about his goals for the SSC, he goes quiet for a moment. Not because he doesn’t know, mind you. “I’m very cautious in setting all kinds of goals, as this might imply that things aren’t going well at the moment or that I’m here to change everything. Which isn’t the case. When I’m new somewhere, I mainly want to see how things are done, learn from the people that have been around long(er). I want to become a part of how things are going here and don’t feel the need to make my mark. I may ask some critical questions here and there, but again, that’s mostly to learn.”
Hajraa
Van Veen completed a bachelor’s and master’s in Leisure Studies at Tilburg University. This was followed by a master’s in Human Resource Studies (Tilburg University) and one in Management & Organization (TIAS). “Fun fact: my first master’s thesis was on student sports.” And I grew up playing sports anyway: “I’ve always played a lot of volleyball and as a kid I also played tennis, which I recently took up again.”
He even played volleyball at TU/e back when he was a student. “I lived in Eindhoven and joined Hajraa. That’s where I met current my girlfriend. Or actually, I had known her for a while longer but it was in the period we played at Hajraa that we got together.”
In addition to his own experience playing high-level volleyball, he’s also familiar with the guidance side of elite student sports. “Before I started heading up the SSC in Tilburg, I worked as an elite sports coordinator at the Tilburg equivalent of ESA. I provided guidance to students who combined elite sports and studies.” Eindhoven has a similar program.
Hierarchic awareness
What kind of manager he is? “I’m a people person, I’m open to connect, and I want to collaborate with everything and everybody, both internally and externally.” Van Vaan is aware of the fact that many people describe themselves as open and accessible. “I think what matters most is to demonstrate these qualities every day. At the same time, I’m also critical: I set the bar high and don’t mind calling people to account if there’s room for improvement.”
Van Veen is very aware of the effect that having a position high up in the hierarchy can have on people. “On occasion I’ve noticed that if you’re the director and you ask people on the work floor why they do things a certain way, they’ll take this to mean they have to do it differently. And that if you share an idea, people think they have to implement it. This is not the case as far as I’m concerned and I also try to clearly convey this to people.”
“I simply want to learn from the people here and I have a genuine interest in their working methods. There are several ways of doing things and it’s important that your way fits the people and the organization.” Having said that, Van Veen will sometimes have to make decisions as the SSC director. “And this I’ll indicate as well. But first and foremost, I like to give my people lots of freedom and trust. I’ll talk to them a lot and explicitly make clear what I expect and don’t expect from them.”
Lifelong exercise
You’re almost certain to spot Van Veen “in the wild” on campus one of these days, as he’s so intent on collaborating. “That’s really important to me, both with people inside and outside the organization.”
“And I want to keep promoting lifelong exercise, as that’s something that the SSC is great at facilitating. Students can use the all-access system to familiarize themselves with a range of sports in an informal setting, so they’ll have an easier time switching to a new sport later in life. This is important, because we know that if people don’t exercise for an extended period of time, it’s more difficult to start back up again.”
“As all kinds of life phases are represented in our employees, it’s also great that we have a diverse range of sports to keep them moving. And playing sports and exercising also connects people, which serves the additional purpose of creating a vital and connected community.”
Drop by!
He warmly invites Cursor readers to come and experience the SSC for themselves. “It’s of course ideal if you exercise here, but I also recommend visiting the Sports Café.” The latter is also possible without a sports subscription.
“And if people have any nice collaboration ideas: my door’s always open, so do reach out.”
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