The Netherlands has a long history of skateboarding dating back to the 1960s when Mr. Beenhakker, the owner of the Eerste Sprangse Metaalwaren Industrie (ESMI) roller-skate factory in Deurne, expanded into skateboards.
The owner is interviewed in a fantastic vintage film on the NCRV Teen Magazine from November 5, 1965. The film includes a group of youth demonstrating their skills at a roller skate rink in Eindhoven. The skateboarders are definitely adapting their skills as ice-skaters to their new toy.
Just as the skateboarding industry took a dip in the 1960s and reemerged in the 1970s in the United States, so did the popularity of skateboarding return to Holland. And this is where the story gets exciting.
In the August 1978 issue of the National Skateboard Review, I noticed on page 16, in the International Skateboard Association Reports (I.S.A.) that there was one “Laura Engel – Heemsteede, Holland” listed under the Amateurs membership list. The name is pretty common, so I wasn’t hopeful that I would ever find her, but I jotted it down in my directory.
Curiously, on the same page, under the heading “Sustaining Board Associates” was something called “Coala Sports” with the address Koog a/d Zaan [Koog aan de Zaan], Holland, and I eventually figured out that Coala sports was actually Laura’s brother’s hang-gliding school – “The Coala Flying School.” Alex Engel was an entrepreneur and coach and began actively promoting skateboarding among Dutch youth alongside his sister, Laura.
Photos below: British skateboard team performing a demo in Vondelpark, Amsterdam in 1978 by Dutch photographer, Bert Verhoeff.
I used Google translate, and with some keywords including “1978” and “Laura Engel”, stumbled upon a newspaper clipping from the Zandvoort Newspaper with an article called “Rolplankiers startten in bennenbad,” published on January 15, 1979. In loose translation, and with help from my Dutch sister-in-law, I understood that Mr. Alex Engel had become a manufacturer and importer of skateboards and had formed a “Coala” skateboard demonstration team consisting of his sister, Mark van de Berg, Bert Rinkel, Tek Djie, Paul Jansen, and Rick Pimentel.
The article explained that the Engels were selling safety gear, complete skateboards, and training sessions. As a result of the popularity of skateboarding in Zandvoort, the first Dutch Skateboard Association was founded there. And it sounds like coaching became Alex Engel’s calling since I was able to find him online as the founder of the Dutch Order of Professional Coaches (NOBCO). When I reached out, he was enthusiastic about the project and encouraged Laura to reply.
Another Dutch newspaper, the Leidse Courant from August 19, 1978, also featured the Engel family in connection with skateboarding. The article, “Schaatsplank niet meer te stuiten” quoted Alex, who said that skateboarding “is and remains a dangerous sport… I also count myself among the enthusiastic practitioners but am temporarily disabled due to an unfortunate fall on my tailbone. The problem is that in the fun that skateboarding offers, the risk is ingrained as a fixed element. You are constantly busy mastering tricks that you have not yet mastered. The thrill lies in that self-conquest… you have to make mistakes regularly.” Alex priced out a helmet (25-30 guilders), arm and knee pads (50-60 guilders) and gloves (25-50 guilders), suitable for skateboarders.
The Netherlands Skateboard Championship was advertised as coming up that weekend at Jaap Edenhal in Amsterdam, which is an ice rink named after a Dutch athlete. The venue has also hosted music concerts from ABBA, Bob Marley, Iron Maiden to Run-DMC. It was anticipated that, “About a hundred boys and girls will compete for honors in two categories: slalom and freestyle. Visitors pay 2.50 guilders entrance fee.”
Dutch National Skateboard Championships (1978) by Hans Peters
I then received an email from Laura who confirmed that she was the Dutch female skateboarding champion in 1978 and 1979! And, she shared a fantastic video that featured her in a promotional video for Holland’s first skatepark on Flevopolder (an island near Amsterdam).
Here’s a montage of Laura, and here’s the link for the full video – notice that Laura is wearing her Coala brand t-shirt.
I continued to dig in the hopes of finding a photo of Laura and I came pretty close while reviewing the Facebook page of Claude Queryel, the leading skateboard historian from France who runs the Endless Lines website. I had searched his photo albums using the words “filles” and “femmes,” when a photo of a mystery skater appeared. The caption stated, “Skater of Team Amsterdam, Paris International Championships, organized by the F.F.S.S. [French Skateboard Federation], Levi’s [jeans], and Europe 1 [radio station], September 16-17 1978.” Claude also posted a photo of the mystery girl skating freestyle.
That’s fantastic that Rodolfo’s sponsored this young woman who made it to Paris, and if anyone remembers her name or has a connection, I would love to know it!
The photos looked familiar, and then I remembered they were from an article called “5 filles et 5 skates” had appeared in the French magazine Djin in 1978, which acknowledged the demonstration in Paris from September. While the Dutch girl wasn’t interviewed for the magazine, five other French girls were: Pascale ? (22), Laurence Lannes (18), Naomi Harris (15), Valerie ? (18), and Veronique (14).
No one could identify the Dutch skater on the Facebook post, but I believed that it was Laura because on the bottom of the Powerflex skateboard, the words COALA were repeated – Alex Engel’s company.
But, Laura explained that it was not her, but rather another girl (name forgotten) who was sponsored by the Rodolfo’s skateboard shop in Amsterdam. Rodolfo’s is still in business, and was founded by Rolf Veenendaal according to a Dutch article online and is revered among skateboard historians in Holland.
Skateboarding continued to survive in the 1980s in the Netherlands, as described on the SkateLab Netherlands website. And, within the last twenty years there’s been an awesome contingent of talented Dutch female street skateboarders such as Louisa Menke, and several Olympians!
Candy Jacobs led the way in the early 2000s at the European championships and beyond, known for her mastery of skating ledges and rails, stylish blunt-to-fakie flip-tricks on transition, and for her resilience considering some of the injuries and set-backs she’s faced.
Keet Oldenbeuving was a child prodigy who continues to push the level of technical tricks for women, always finding unique ways to skate a street course, incorporating shuv-its and reverts in and out of boardslides and grinds with a smile.
And then Roos Zwetsloot has upped the game, being the first woman to 50-50 grind the legendary Hollywood 16 handrail in Los Angeles (celebrated in Thrasher December 2021) and she can now boast a range of signature skateboard gear (wheels, board, shoes!) thanks to her sponsors. The trio are always a threat at contests like SLS, Red Bull, and the Olympics while maintaining super positive vibes, supporting their friends!
I have full confidence that female skateboarders in the Netherlands will continue to thrive!
Womxn Skateboard History 