Soccer lifer on the ball for Dayton pro team

Derek van der Sluijs is the business manager for the Dayton Dutch Lions soccer team. He is also a former soccer standout at Carroll High School and Wilmington University.

Lisa Powell Derek van der Sluijs is the business manager for the Dayton Dutch Lions soccer team. He is also a former soccer standout at Carroll High School and Wilmington University.

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By Kyle Nagel, Staff Writer 10:30 PM Saturday, March 6, 2010

Derek van der Sluijs and his brother, Alex, might have held a slight advantage when they began their youth soccer careers at around age 5.

“We had the Dutch background,” van der Sluijs said. “It was already in the blood.”

His grandparents — “we called them Oma and Opa” — traveled to the United States from Holland in the 1950s, moving near relatives and establishing the family in east Dayton. With that background and his own work since, van der Sluijs was a strong fit for a new soccer venture in the Miami Valley.

After successful playing stints at Carroll High School and Wilmington College, van der Sluijs became the business manager for the Dayton Dutch Lions, a professional soccer team that will begin play at Bellbrook High School next month.

Van der Sluijs runs the team’s new Kettering office while its owners, Mike Mossel and Erik Tammer, are in Holland. He coordinates the team’s activities in the area as it prepares to begin play in the United Soccer Leagues Premier Development League with a roster of about 22.

The 26-year-old had emergency surgery to remove his appendix last week, but now he’s back on the job, ready for another challenge.

As younger brother Alex begins his head coaching career at Defiance College, van der Sluijs hopes to grow the sport he loves in the Miami Valley, despite the hurdles that often exist for soccer in the U.S.

In his words

“At Wilmington, we did a two-week Europe tour through Holland and Belgium. The guy showing us around and helping us out, actually, was Mike (Mossel). So, we’ve known each other six or seven years now, and it’s funny how things come together. So I saw an article about (the Dutch Lions) coming in, and I immediately sent an e-mail, right then and there.

“It’s such a big soccer community here, a lot of people from 3- and 4-year-olds to adult leagues, and there are a lot of divisions in adult leagues. This area is ready for a professional team. Making the trip up on a Wednesday night to a (Columbus) Crew game at 7:30, you get back too late.

“We were always very competitive, but we (Derek and his brother) had more chemistry on the field than competitiveness. There was an article written in the Daily News once about us having so many goals and so many assists with each other. We had such a great chemistry on the field.

“(Mossel and Tammer) are great guys. For example, with the surgery. There’s so much work to be done and with last-minute surgery, their first concern was that I was OK. That’s the sign of a great boss. If I would describe those guys in one word, it would be professional.

“I woke up in the middle of the night with a sharp pain. I went to the restroom and passed out, and luckily my fiancée woke up, and she woke me. She said, ‘I’m taking you to the hospital.’ I had appendicitis, a stone on the appendix and some internal bleeding. That was (March 1), and it’s still very sore.

“In selling soccer, we know there’s plenty of work to do. We’re ready.”

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-7389 or knagel@DaytonDailyNews.com

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