2 February 2018
In memoriam of Joop Brink
After a short illness, international course designer Joop Brink (70) passed away on January 20th. The cremation was a closed affair with close family and friends.
Teamwork and Fun
Joop was already an active course designer in the early 1970’s when the driving sport in the Netherlands was just beginning to take off. Joop, along with his father Jan Groenewoud and a number of other renowned driving personalities from Midden-Heuven in Rheden, NL were building the foundation of the driving sport.
Joop learned everything there was to know about driving from Harry Buurman and the two formed a close team. Together with his son, Jan, and his uncle, Joop and Harry had a lot of adventures together. The foursome were often found together building obstacles; always with the perfect combination of teamwork and fun.
It was via Tjeerd Velstra that Joop travelled to Compiègne to make his debut as an international course designer. Joop was able to combine his job as a self-employed plumber with his passion for travel and course design. He was always full of new ideas and was certainly not afraid to test them out at shows. Joop and Harry were invited by Sem Groenewoud (also from Midden-Heuven), to travel to America to build training obstacles for the Rockefeller family. The team felt like royalty being flown in and given carte blanche to design and build whatever they liked.
No circus acts
Joop found the evolution of the driving sport difficult to stomach, especially the changes in the marathon. Joop always had safety as his priority and always took it into account in his marathon design of both indoor and outdoor courses. With the start of the World Cup competitions, Joop was one of only a few course designers qualified to build this new format. But his heart always stayed with the traditional marathons – safe and not a circus act! Triangles, multiple options and long lines were the distinguishing features of a course designed by Joop Brink. He continually found it a shame when drivers did not realize that the long lines were much faster than the shortest route. Even his cones courses contained flowing lines, and the attent driver could see that Joop always used dressage figures as his basis.
More than 100 competitions
Highlights of his career included building the 1999 European Championships for four-in-hand ponies in Saumur, and the 2001 Pair World Championships in Riesenbeck. But these large competitions were not necessarly to be outdone by the obstacles and practice obstacles built over the whole world, such as those in Gladstone, USA. Joop built for over 100 competitions including Zelhem, Beekbergen, Deurne, Poznan, Live Oak, Outdoor Gelderland, Indoor Brabant and Jumping Amsterdam.
Family support
Without his wife Stieny, it was never possible for Joop to be so active in the driving world, where he was often away from home more than 44 weekends per year. She cared not only for their children but also for the horses. The family never went on vacation, but often piled into the caravan to travel to the shows with Joop. This led to some pretty special moments such as camping out in Princess Margriet’s backyard for the 1982 Four-in-hand World Championships in Apeldoorn. Joop’s children Jan and Christien alternated as both their fathers assistant and as enthusiastic supporters and volunteers. Joop’s younger brother Arjan like his brother established his own career as an international course designer.
Joop passed away at home surrounded by loved ones after a short battle with lung cancer.
We send our deepest condolences to the family with this great loss.
The Editors & Employees of Hoefnet
