The Hawk-eye from Rojo Racketsports

How is it?

I am John Visser, owner of Rojo Racketsports and born 54 years ago in Amstelveen (Bankrashof). I was a sporty student who switched from tennis to table tennis at the age of fourteen. I used to be trained by Wim Teune at the LTC Amstelland and regularly played against later celebrities such as Hans Schwarz, Paul Dogger and Rogier Taphoorn. After switching to table tennis, I was sponsored by Duncan de Mooy, founder of the current Amstelpark. At school I went to the atheneum and worked part-time with Bert Schoofs, Dutch table tennis champion. After the death of Bert Schoofs, I took over the business and because sticking on bats was not really profitable, I switched to tennis. I have been living with my loved one in Halfweg for several years now.

What do you have with sports and tennis?

I have a great affinity with sport in general and with tennis, table tennis and padel in particular. And Rojo Racketsport is the place to be for me, especially because that's where I meet people from the sports I have the most affinity with. “People are fun and real”, and that is a value that I find very important.

Who/what is Rojo Racketsports?

We are the specialist in the field of tennis and padel. With an enthusiastic team of experienced employees, we are a 12-minute drive from LTC Startbaan with our store at Burgemeester Röellstraat 8 in Amsterdam. And with one click of the mouse you can of course also find our store online under the name tennisdiscount.nl. In addition to the private market, we have been working closely with associations throughout the country for decades.

Why did Rojo choose LTC Startbaan?

I honestly thought you chose us haha! No kidding, contacts with your association go back a long way. I also know the members of the sponsorship committee such as Hans Onverwagt from the time when he ran across the tennis court like a young god. So a long time ago. In the past we have worked closely with LTC Startbaan and fortunately we have recently picked up the thread again. Apart from the close bond, I am of course also very charmed by your entire sponsorship philosophy. We have contacts with many tennis clubs and how you do it is next level.

Is padel a temporary hype or here to stay?

I think that the explosive growth will level off somewhat, but the large numbers of bankruptcies such as in Sweden will not occur here. There is still a huge shortage of jobs in our region. The great thing about padel is that the sport is very accessible. Even with limited technique or mobility you can achieve results. Padel reaches a much broader target group. It is painful, however, that the growth is partly at the expense of tennis. This means that tennis courts throughout the Netherlands are being converted into padel courts and will never return to tennis.

What would you prefer to see your sponsorship contribution spent on?

I will of course not be sitting in the chair of LTC Startbaan, but I obviously hope that something useful will be done with it and that the funds will not disappear into the general resources. I would always allocate it to (additional) destinations that make club life just that little bit more attractive for the members.

What can Rojo do for the members and/or vice versa?

Rojo is the specialist who can provide members with expert advice face-to-face. We listen carefully to the customer to find out what type of player we are dealing with. What is his/her playing style? Which racket suits this best? And we use the “Try and Buy” formula, you can test a racket first and then purchase it if you like it. Very safe. The advice we can give you in the store cannot be found online. If members take the time to drive 12 minutes to our store, we will do the rest. And last but not least: we have a cost-effective stringing service at LTC Startbaan where we collect the rackets, provide them with the correct string and stringing and then bring back again. You can find more information from employees of Sportcafé Startbaan. We provide this pick-up and delivery service free of charge.

Are you coming to the business club's upcoming sponsorship event?

We will certainly make an appearance at the sponsor event, especially if a triptych of tennis, padel and billiards is offered, not to mention the delicious buffet.

Finally, do you have anything to add?

Yes, it feels good to be back on the Startbaan after a short break. We are going to make it a great collaboration!