Last week coaches from Liverpool’s International Football Academy travelled to Katwijk in Holland, the hometown of Dirk Kuyt. Our now departing Dutchman requested that the coaches pay a visit to the club where he began his fooball journey, amateur side KVV Quick Boys.

Liverpool’s coaches duly obliged and LFC TV joined them on their trip. This is a diary of our week with Dirk Kuyt's first club Quick Boys.

Monday

Our journey began in the early hours, a 6:20 flight from Liverpool’s John Lennon Airport. We joined head coach Adam Flynn, David Ridler, Anthony Godfrey, Jake Campbell, Ben Parsonage and Martin Doig, and despite the early start everyone was keen to get going.

After a short one-hour journey we touched down in Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, where where we were greeted by a number of coaches from Quick Boys. We were transported to our hotel about an hour away in Noordwijk; The Huis ter Duin, and, wow, were we impressed, a hotel for VIPs....and us. Dirk and the Dutch national side unfortunately had just checked out of the hotel to make their way to the European Championships in Poland and Ukraine. 

After getting set up in our hotel we were then back in the coach on our way to Katwijk where Dirk grew up and more specifically Quick Boys. On arrival it was hard not to be impressed/surprised at the standard of their facilties. Despite being an amateur club they have a stadium with a capacity of up to 7,000 and in total six full-size pitches, smaller training pitches and 26 changing rooms. 

We were then introduced to the club's chairman Henk-Jan van Maanen and head of football affairs Cees Haasnoot.

A presentation from the chairman followed including a short history of Quick Boys and footage of a very young Dirk Kuyt doing what he would go on to do many times for Liverpool, scoring goals. 

We were given a short tour of the facilities including the stand tributed to Dirk Kuyt (The Dirk Kuyt Tribune), and straight away it was easy to see how much Dirk is revered in his hometown and his former club.

The first coaching sessions started that afternoon and we were able to see first hand a small glimpse of coaching 'The Liverpool Way'.

Later that evening Adam Flynn gave his own presentation. In a room packed with the numerous senior and youth coaches of Quick Boys, Adam spoke passionately about ‘The Liverpool Way’, how it sets us apart from other clubs, how the coaches have a responsibility for the all round education of young players to prepare them not only for football but for life after football.

One person in attendance was Jan Schaap, best friend and former teammate at Quick Boys of Dirk Kuyt, and he was keen to say a few words about his friend to LFC TV. He spoke glowingly of Dirk not only as a player but as a person, and spoke of how proud everyone in his hometown was of what he had gone on to achieve.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday

The day started with something a little bit different for all the lads, but something very much the norm in Holland: a bike ride.

Some of the Quick Boys coaches kindly took us on bicycle tour of the area. Me and cameraman Joe initially attempted to ride a tandem bike but after nearly face planting into a wall we decided to swap it for two bikes.

Whilst it was a good chance to see other parts of the town it also brought out that competitive edge in all the lads: no one wanted to be the one lagging at the back.

It was a tiring morning but there was no let up for the coaches who had three sessions that evening.

That afternoon we were able to grab a word with Arjan van der Werf, a trainer at Quick Boys who was at the club during Dirk’s time there. During his time at Liverpool Dirk was lauded for his tireless workrate, and Arjan told us how he was exactly the same as a youngster. He praised Dirk’s will to win and said everyone at the club always expected him to go on to great things in the game.

Everyone we have spoken to at Quick Boys has been delighted to have Liverpool Football Club visiting, and all were eager to learn as much as possible from the week.

Dennis Sip, a youth coach at the club, said he was excited to learn about the Liverpool way of doing things, and thinks the visit of the Liverpool coaches will be of massive benefit to everyone at Quick Boys.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday

This was one mammoth day for the LFC coaches, with sessions running from 13:45 to 21:15.

One thing we have found over here is that Quick Boys is very much a family club, everyone is given a chance to play at some level. The LFC coaches are not just coaching the very best players whilst they are here, there are players here of very varying abilities.

In his presentation on Monday Adam spoke of how it was important that coaching sessions were appropriate for the player’s skill level and today was a prime example of how it should be done.

In the early sessions the LFC coaches were training kids as young as five years of age. LFC coach David Ridler said at that age the sessions are purely about developing coordination and most importantly about fun; and that was certainly the case.

It was not just Quick Boys that enjoyed coaching sessions today, however; Quick Boys Girls (or Quick Girls, not sure what they are called) also trained in the afternoon. After the sessions the LFC lads found themselves signing autographs, much to their surprise and delight. I just hope their new found fame doesn’t go to their heads.

Throughout the day the players got progressively older and with it the training got more technical and more advanced, until the final session with players from the Quick Boys first team.

Afterwards the LFC lads were not only impressed with the quality of their players but also how responsive they were to the Liverpool way of coaching.

That evening we also managed to interview Dick van Duijn, who trained Dirk during his time at the club. He spoke quite candidly about Dirk and what he was like as a player. He admitted that he was not always sure Dirk would make it in the game and it wasn’t until his move to Liverpool that he realised just how good Dirk really was.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Thursday

The week certainly wasn’t all work for the LFC lads. The lads were up bright and early for a round of golf. As a thank you, we were taken to the Tespelduyn Golf Course for a full 18 holes at a beautiful new complex.

There was plenty of banter beforehand and a few of the lads were a bit more confident than others. After a quick warm up on the driving range it was onto the first hole. Having only played once before it’s safe to say I was pretty awful but that was certainly not the case for the some of the other lads.

The course itself was brilliant and all the lads certainly enjoyed the round, with Anthony coming out as the overall winner. Before departing the lads presented the sponsor of the morning with a Liverpool International Football Academy medal and posed for a few photographs.

It was the last day of coaching for lads and they had just one session to look forward to that evening.

Once the session had finished it was time for reflection on the last four days and the overriding feeling over dinner was that the trip had been a massive success.

Over the four days the coaches from LFC saw around 700 children and the energy and enthusiasm showed by the coaches was something certainly to be admired. It's okay having knowledge of different training methods but it is the way they lead the sessions and how they are determined to develop the full package, on and off the pitch (The Liverpool Way) which is something really special.

After dinner, as a thank-you to all of the coaches, they were presented with Quick Boys shirts. But we were also extremely thankful. From the moment we arrived everyone had been so hospitable, they really could not do enough for us. The coaches therefore had a presentation of there own. Firstly Adam presented a shirt to the chef, the unsung hero of the week. I felt like I'd eaten more this week than the previous two combined, he was superb. Next he presented one to Arjan, he helped us all so much over the week and is simply a Quick Boys legend. Finally Adam presented a shirt to the club itself; previously Dirk was the one thing that connected the two clubs but not anymore.

Afterwards we caught up again with the Arjan and Dennis and they spoke of how much they have learnt from the experience and what it has meant to have Liverpool FC associated with their club.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday

Our flight home was an early one, so again we were up sharpish to make our way back to Schiphol Airport and back to Liverpool. I have certainly been very impressed with Quick Boys as a club, and though very different to Liverpool in size, I think their philosophies are similar.

They are a family club, who also want to challenge for the highest honours they possibly can. Hopefully they learnt a lot about the Liverpool Way; I know I did, and hopefully they can benefit as a club from this experience.

Dirk really is a hero his hometown, and whilst he may have left us now, it was nice to see where he began his footballing journey. Speaking to those who knew him best in those early years and those who still know him now makes me appreciate him even more; the fact he has not forgotten his roots and still continues to support his old club is something really to be admired.

It was a very enjoyable week and hopefully we'll be back sooner rather than later.