Theo Vleeshouwer

• Born July 30, 1928 in Amsterdam, Noord-Holland Netherlands
• Died March 2, 2018

Biographical Information

Theo Vleeshouwer was an executive.

Vleeshouwer was editor of the Royal Netherlands Baseball and Softball Association magazine from 1960-1966. He became one of the first official scorers in the Netherlands in 1966 and was the first secretary of the Scoring Committee for the Association; he held that role through 1984 except for one year. He was Secretary of the Board for the Association starting in 1972 and remained there for 17 years, filling annual reports on baseball and softball in the Netherlands. He was part of the Rules Committee for the Association from 1974-1989.

He was treasurer and secretary-general of the European Softball Federation from 1977-1985 and was president from 1985-1991. He was Vice President of the Board of the International Softball Federation from 1981-1991. He lectured to the International Olympic Committee in those years to try to get softball added as an Olympic sport; it was added in 1996 and remained for 12 years.

He helped organize the 1977 European Championship as well as the Haarlem Baseball Week from 1980-1986 and the 1986 Amateur World Series. He helped start the Haarlem Softball Week in 1980. He was inducted into the International Softball Federation Hall of Fame in the 4th class (1987), the European Softball Hall of Fame (1988) and the Dutch Baseball and Softball Hall of Fame (2004).

He died shortly after another noted Dutch softball figure, Nol Houtkamp.

Source: Obituary by Marco Stoovelaar