Whodunit Wednesday: The ladies of sport

This will be quite the summer of sport. The European Cup (men’s soccer) is being held in Germany in from the middle of June to the middle of July. About two weeks later the Olympics start in Paris. And of course the normal summer sports are also taking place: the Tour de France, Wimbledon and more. 

Women’s basketball is big news in the US recently with Caitlin Clark, but it has also been big news in Belgium for the last few years. The Belgian Cats (the woman’s national basketball team) grabbed the bronze medal at the European Championships in 2021 and then won the European championships last year, beating favorite Spain. 

In the last Olympics in Tokyo, the Cats lost out to Japan. This year they are also in the group with the US, Japan and Germany. But they will depend on two players who have also been making a name for themselves in the WNBA: Emma Meesseman and Julie Vanloo. 

Emma was crowned WNBA champion with the Washington Mystics in 2019. Since 2022 she has played for Chicago Sky. Julia Vanloo, a 3-point specialist, has joined the Washington Mystics this year and has already made her mark. 

In athletics, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone has been making recent news in the 400 meter and 400 meter hurdles. She is the reigning Olympic champion in the hurdles. But she will have to deal with Femke Bol who has taken the spotlight more recently. Bol won the bronze medal in Tokyo to Machlaughlin’s gold. But in 2023 Bol has taken all of the indoor medals and records, leading up to an exciting showdown at the Olympics this summer. 

In gymnastics, all eyes will of course continue to be on Simone Biles. But in Belgium,

everyone still knows Nina Derwael. She has taken gold medals (even from Simone Biles) on the beam and especially on the bars. She was world champion in 2018 and 2019 and took the first gold medal for Belgium in gymnastics in Tokyo. She even has a new element named after her. 

Ladies on top of the mountain

This past week was another wonderful opportunity for international cooperation and growth. Every year the ladies in Europe plan a Ladies retreat at the beginning of March. Different groups do the organizing, but ladies come from around Europe: Benelux, Germany, France, Switzerland and Great Britain. Because of refugees in Europe, there are also ladies from Ukraine who attend. 

Shirley went with a group from the congregation in Maastricht which included our young Ukrainian sister for the first time. She mentioned when we picked her up on the way to join the car going to the retreat that as she had been worrying about it. But then she was talking with a therapist she has (as a refugee) and mentioned what the theme was: Questions from Jesus. Questions like: Why are you afraid? Why do you not trust? And she realized that she didn’t have to be afraid. 

It was exciting to hear afterwards how well it went for her. There were other Ukrainians present for the weekend and she was able to translate for them from English. This from a young lady who, when she arrived, could barely say anything in English. Now she speaks English quite well and can understand a good bit of Dutch as well. She saw how God was using her in the weekend, assisting and encouraging others. 

The weekend, held at a youth hostel in Germany, starts on a Thursday evening and goes through to Sunday afternoon, with the ladies getting home just before dinner on Sunday evening. This gives the husbands enough time to get the house cleaned up and dinner ready before the wife returns (or at least that is always my plan). I am always thankful that Shirley has always arranged for food while she is gone, showing me what is in the refrigerator and explaining again how to do things (I do not cook very often). 

We are thankful for these kinds of opportunities. Shirley was with her sisters from Maastricht, but was also able to see others from around Europe. There was also one of the ladies we have had contact with in the past who lives in Brussels and seeks guidance and assistance from Christian brothers and sisters. That is what we are all about as a family, a body. We are thankful this year for the sisters from Switzerland who organized the retreat. Next year will be organized by sisters from Germany and France.