by Pim van Nes

After 17 Hoofdklasse seasons with main sponsorship by DOOR, new national champion Neptunus Rotterdam has agreed with another sponsor for a contract lasting three years: 2015, 2016 and 2017. The new sponsor for Neptunus nevertheless is not new for Rotterdam, as Curacao was also sponsoring the older legendary club in the same city Sparta/Feyenoord (*1942 as Sparta). Despite of the generous sponsoring during last two years, the fusion club went bankrupt in 2012.

Neptunus Rotterdam will appear in Dutch major league season 2015 and in European Cup tournament under the new club name of Curacao Neptunus. The product name Curacao has been marketed by the Good Intention Foundation through other sponsorships, such as the late baseball club Sparta/Feyenoord, the International Film Festival Rotterdam, the Curacao version of North Sea Jazz Festival originating from Rotterdam and the Curacao Soccer Academy.

According to Tuesday’s news article on the Neptunus website, the Good Intention Foundation considers Neptunus baseball club as fitting in the total picture of their goals and looks forward to closer cooperation between baseball in Hoofdklasse and baseball on the Caribean Island. Already on the club’s 2014 roster, most Neptunus players have Caribean roots: pitchers Markwell, Yntema and Kelly, catcher Boekhoudt, infielders Legito, Marlin and Dwayne Kemp, outfielders Urving Kemp, Daantji, Anthony, Lopez, Fernandes and professional players Bernadina and Sams, both after transfers from Sparta/Feyenoord and ADO The Hague.