Quinty Roeffen – Fleur van de Ven – Mike Schloesser – Steve Wijler – Jacqueline van Rozendaal

Quinty Roeffen

What a swimming afternoon at a vacation resort can do. On an adjacent field near the pool, children can take a trial lesson in archery. Quinty, then eight years old, also participates, and after shooting her first arrow, it is immediately clear … She has found a new love. A few weeks later, the registration form was filled out to start at the archery club in her hometown of Horst. Soon it is clear that she has the necessary talent and through hard work Quinty manages to win several Dutch titles. Thus, at the age of 16, she also gets the opportunity to join TeamNL. She is currently focusing entirely on archery, which is why she has been living at Sport Center Papendal for a while now in order to be involved with her sport as much as possible. After all, the mission is clear, to compete for the Netherlands at the Olympics.

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Fleur van de Ven

Although she started archery at a slightly later age, Fleur van de Ven soon managed to make a name for herself in this Olympic sport. The archer from Helmond appears to be very talented and has already advanced to the best archers of her nation in a short time. In early 2023, for example, she took the Dutch Indoor Recurve title for women under 21. Not surprisingly, she managed to secure a spot with TeamNL. Only four women are among them, including Quinty. By the way, the two know each other very well, as they live together at Olympic Training Center Papendal. They are good friends for years, but when it’s match day, they’re fierce rivals of each other. That way, Fleur and Quinty keep each other on their toes, which may also explain the progression both ladies manage to achieve in the sport of archery. In this way they mutually profit to reach higher levels in archery. Like Quinty, of course, Fleur also has only one goal. Compete for the Netherlands at the Olympics.

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Mike Schloesser

Photo: Dutchtarget/Dean Alberga

No Olympic dream for this man, as Mike Schloesser already took a different turn in youth than our ambassadors who compete on the Recurve. And that has done him no harm, because Schloesser is a big star within the Compound competition. The 30-year-old from Limburg is a three-time world champion and the current number 1 on the world rankings. He has held that position for more than three years, a record within this branch of archery. Where in the Netherlands a lot of attention goes to his colleagues at Recurve because of its Olympic status, Compound is very popular in the United States. So if you ask Schloesser for his proudest moment, he will mention his first win at The Vegas Shoot. At the age of 20, as an ambitious youngster, he manages to win this prestigious competition. It is a turning point in his career, with even more impact than his first world title. Because the Compound bow requires a bit less physical labor from its owner, the successful Limburger hopes to be around at the top of this sport for a long time to come. All the necessary ingredients Mr. Perfect (as he is called within hand archery) in his hands to have a bright future, but Schloesser is also aware of the high price he must pay for it. Professional hand archery means being away from home a lot and never knowing a moment of rest. So the key to success for him and his wife Gaby (recurve hand archer, Olympic silver medalist) lies in maintaining the enjoyment of the sport. Exercising together in the backyard is an excellent help.

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Steve Wijler

Through a classmate, Steve Wijler was introduced to hand archery as a teenager and immediately fell in love with the sport. Although he appeared to be talented, he did not immediately seek out the highest possible competitions. For a long time, he shot his matches at the Limburg association “Gezellig Samenzijn” (Cosy Togetherness), where fun was the main focus. Steve wins a lot on the 25 meter, but at that time he does not measure up to the Dutch top in the recurve event. That changes when, at the age of 18, he purchases another bow. The shopkeeper asks him the sincere question of why he doesn’t shoot at 70 meters, the distance on which international competitions such as the European Championships, World Championships and Olympics are based. It turns out to be a key moment for Wijler, as he then commits to 70 meters. He quickly made his way up through the Dutch archery world and beyond. As an archer for TeamNL, he manages to win several international awards, even including a silver medal at the 2020 Olympics (held in 2021 due to corona). Although the media mainly focuses on Olympic achievements when it comes to archery, the 27-year-old Limburger is especially proud of other victories that hardly get any attention. Like his victory at the 2023 Vegas Shoot, where he proved to be the strongest for the third time and shot the match without any support. As a professional athlete, Wijler is now in his eighth year and has been able to take almost every major award during that time. Yet one is still missing. An Olympic medal in the individual event. Hopefully he can change that during the summer of 2024, when he will compete in the Olympics for the second time.

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Jacqueline van Rozendaal

Although she no longer shoots an arrow toward the blazon very often herself, Jacqueline van Rozendaal’s life is nevertheless entirely devoted to hand archery. As a former archer, she shot at two Olympic Games (Seoul ’88 and Barcelona ’92), among others, and since 2017 she has been part of the coaching team to bring the young Dutch talents to the top. After the past 2020 Tokyo Olympics (held in 2021 due to corona epidemic), she even became the head coach for TeamNL’s hand archers. Through her own experience and an education in sports psychology, the 60-year-old Van Rozendaal knows very well what is involved in top sports. With this acquired knowledge, she tries to help the talented archers in their quest for the highest attainable goals. This of course goes with emotional peaks and valleys, but it is precisely the mental aspect of top sport that makes her current role as national coach so interesting. In this area, she enjoys supporting her pupils and closely observes the growth of both athletes and young adults. At the moment that development seems to be going very fast, because the TeamNL selections are among the world’s best. They are competing for prizes at international tournaments and so there is a very real chance that one or more Dutch shooters will return home with the necessary success at the Paris Olympics.

Want to follow her exploits as a national coach?

Then check out the website of the Royal HandboogSport Netherlands.