The IFAF website is recognising ‘Unsung Heroes of the Gridiron’ – those men and women whose contribution to the sport enables participation and inclusion, while enriching the experience of all who pick up a football. First up in this series is Ilja Tersteeg, the founder and organiser of the King Bowl flag football tournament in the Netherlands.
Bigger isn’t always better. In the case of King Bowl, one of Europe’s most popular international 5v5 flag football tournaments played each spring in the Netherlands, quality is more important than quantity.
An impressive 65 teams from multiple nations converged on the Sportpark Zuilense Vecht in Utrecht for this year’s event played over two days on April 29 and 30 around the annual King’s Day, which celebrates Dutch King Willem-Alexander’s birthday.
“We could expand because we have more fields available here where we relocated here as part of a redevelopment,” explains Ilja, whose inaugural event struggled to attract 16 teams back in 2017. “Having said that, it’s never been my goal to be big or the biggest. It’s always been my goal to look at the quality of the event. I have seen events where they have 27 fields and a thousand teams, but I’m not sure that is enjoyable for anyone. I think the 72 we initially had this year would be the absolute max and if anything, I’d sooner scale down.”
Teams return to King Bowl year after year, so Ilja and his band of volunteers from the Utrecht Dominators are clearly doing something right.
The tournament itself remains the focal point and is a staple for the likes of the East Kilbride Pirates women’s team, who have attended all but one King Bowl, and Germany’s Mainz Legionnaires, who have been perennial visitors.
But Ilja goes the extra mile, adding on new features. Specially designed flags unique to the King Bowl are used for all matches, and this year the introduction of a DJ booth for the finals provided bursts of music between plays. There was a clinic open only to female players of all skill levels to either sharpen their performance or take their game to the next level.
“I suppose I make it more difficult for myself at times because I want it to be a more progressive event,” says Ilja. “I want to develop and keep trying new stuff and keep finding ways to get more exposure, get more people involved and do more for the sport. I could make it a lot easier for myself if I just put out the schedule on nine fields, but that cut and paste format doesn’t interest me.”
While participants must often buy photographs from official photographers at similar events, King Bowl supplies photos to the teams to enable them to promote their participation on social media, along with a post-event movie designed to create excitement and further increase the tournament’s reach. Games are also streamed for family, friends and fans to watch.
So, who is Ilja Tersteeg, the organizer of King Bowl? Many participants at the tournament will tell you he’s the guy whose name is occasionally called out over the public address system if there is a logistical issue that needs attention, who then drops his flags and is replaced on his Dominators team as he goes off to seek a solution.
Ilja discovered tackle American football in 1998 when free tickets were available to watch the Amsterdam Admirals and he and friends drove the 44 kilometers from Utrecht to watch the NFL Europe game. Later that year during an exchange visit to the United States, he wound up earning all-state honors as a kicker and also lined up at receiver at Grant High School in the most unlikely of places, the small mid-Louisiana town of Dry Prong, population 421.
After a brief spell at McNeese State, Ilja returned home and having played with the Amsterdam Crusaders, co-founded the Utrecht Dominators in 2004 from a plan he and a teammate devised on the back of a napkin. Ilja convinced the Admirals to relocate their practice facility to Utrecht for two seasons, increasing the focus on American football in the city.
Then the football discipline he champions today came calling.
“I first played flag football on the beach in Long Island,” Ilja explains. “When I was back in the Netherlands, I started playing flag football more than tackle and once I started playing more seriously, I realized it was its own sport.
“There were not many tournaments then and we had to travel all over the country to play one 20-minute game, and then further away to games in the German league. That was around the same time I decided to start King Bowl. It meant we could give our members an opportunity to play different teams without having to travel all the time.
“We wanted to keep people excited and have a positive effect on flag football in the Netherlands. That was in 2017 and looking back I laugh at myself for making it a two-day tournament with only 16 teams. Trying to get people to come along to a non-established tournament was difficult at first, but now here we are on the back of a two-day 65-team tournament!”
That number of entries increased to 24 after the initial year and then Ilja decided to introduce a women’s event to the format.
“I recognized that women’s teams were not getting the same opportunities as men’s teams,” he says. “I’m forever grateful to the four teams that showed up because that kickstarted things. The last women’s competition had 24 women’s teams signed up. It motivated me to try harder. We went from 4 to 8 and then Covid hit, so eventually we got to 12 teams participating and 20 of the 24 who signed up played this year. So, I’m very proud of that achievement along with the event in general.”
Word of King Bowl has spread far and wide and the winners of the 2023 women’s bracket were the team that had to travel the farthest to Utrecht, WFNN from the United States. They beat The Lions, a team from Great Britain, by a single point with both teams unbeaten heading into the final. The men’s final was also a close affair, settled when the Antarctic Flamingos from Germany executed a two-point play to edge the Silver Lions from Great Britain.
Regarding the sport’s bigger picture, Ilja says: “For me, I’m happy to play my part to help that happen if I can, just by making flag football more visible and provide an opportunity not only for high quality international competition but also fostering the spirit of friendship between players from across the globe.”
The status of players such as Mexico and United States quarterbacks Diana Flores and Vanita Krouch has proven invaluable in engaging more girls in the sport and Ilja is himself following that route.
“I’ve been trying to get more Dutch girls to join, particularly those who are local,” he says. “I’d like to get them more involved by having the event that they can come and experience, understand the sport and then see it as a possibility for them to participate.
“I’ve always had the support of the club, which is the main source of volunteers. They’re really dedicated, love the event and keep coming back.
“Hopefully we can attract more income too, so we can think about lowering entry fees as I want King Bowl to be accessible for everybody and not have it that only rich teams can come. I want teams from countries that have a lower income to come to King Bowl to make it even more inclusive.”
The 2024 edition of King Bowl will be played in Utrecht on 4-5 May and expect Ilja to create even more elements between now and then to enhance the quality of the tournament.
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