UDEN - Dutch billiards sponsor Carl Verhoeven will not continue with the SIS Schoonmaak team. The Brabant businessman, owner of the company SIS Schoonmaak, has informed the players of his champion team on the last day of competition this Sunday. The best-known players under contract with the SIS team are Dick Jaspers, Eddy Merckx, Raimond Burgman, Jean van Erp, Raymund Swertz and Martien van der Spoel. Carl Verhoeven will stop sponsoring, as he no longer considers it financially responsible. ’’We have an ultra-modern billiard centre, a fantastic team and second team, but we only lose money for years. The hope that it would all become profitable was an illusion. The current financial situation has forced me and my family to quit. I deeply regret it, as we have put our heart and soul into it.''
Carl Verhoeven asuures that the billiard centre will not be closed. ''I really hope that another financier will come up for our teams. I have planned six months for good news. Hopefully there are people who want to take over this wonderful team. They can continue to play in our billiards centre.''
In more than four years, the SIS Billiards Experience Centre, in the centre of Uden in Brabant, has become one of the most wonderful billiard arenas in Europe. Carl Verhoeven started SIS Schoonmaak with his team in 2017 in The Hague. At a later stage, 2020, the billiard centre in Uden was opened. The match tables and regular billiards in this location are used for league matches, tournaments and training sessions.
With the current top team, SIS Schoonmaak became champion (3 times), cup winner (twice), tournaments were organized at the billiard centre and the SIS team participated once in the European Cup for teams in Porto.
Carl Verhoeven: ’’The growth of our centre and the development of our team with top international players has always been close to my heart. We’ve put a lot of money into it and invest for the future. We were unlucky to be hit by Corona first, right after opening. The successes came soon, but it never became what I had hoped for. I had expected more people coming to play billiards in our centre, more crowds at the matches, because after all, we are in the heart of an area with an awful lot of billiard players and fans. But unfortunately that didn't work out, I now have to announce that we will stop sponsoring.''
Carl Verhoeven understands that the players will look out for another team. ''There must be a possibility that they will continue to play here for a new sponsor. That's why I certainly won't give away my premier league licence.'' SIS Schoonmaak is again leading the premier league in the Netherlands, the Kozoom league. ''We will of course finish the season nicely and hope that a new sponsor comes forward.'' Apart from being a billiards arena with professional billiards, lighting and accommodation, SIS Billiards centre also stands out in terms of media. The live broadcasts from the SIS centre are of the best possible quality.
