The foundation of All In
On the green strip between the residential areas Het Look and Zonderwijk, young people and a fanatical baseball family played the game. Soon, this spread among the schoolchildren. Partly because of this, a parent inquired whether there was a club in Veldhoven. If not, whether we wanted to establish one. So it came to pass that Jan Hendrickx had allies in Henny and Rob Wabnitz after which the search for the possibilities began. The inaugural meeting of the association took place on Monday evening 26 November 1979 at eight o’clock. There were 45 people present, including 34 future members.
The first 10 years (1979-1989)
In the year of its establishment, the club trained as many as four teams, Seniors Baseball, Juniors Baseball, Seniors Softball and Juniors Softball, not yet on a field, but in the gym at Lange Kruisweg. On Sunday, September 29, 1979, we played our first baseball-game against PSV (13-14) at the Heihoef in Eindhoven. On 11 April 1980 the club heard that we were allowed to make use of the field for sportive recreation situated on the complex “De Berkt” together with the foundation “De Berkt” and users. We were given a mobile home as changing facilities after a while. We were allowed to rebuild the caravan as we saw fit at SPORES’ expense into two changing rooms, a storage room and a toilet room in which a chemical toilet was installed. On 14 May 1981, we were informed that B&W had decided to make an amount of 70,000 guilders available for summary accommodation. Construction began in the autumn. The club magazine was printed in-house on an offset printing press.
1982: We took advantage of the scanty changing facilities. It was indeed summary, it consisted of two toilets with taps but no sinks and a storage room that could be locked. The dressing room was a large bare room with benches all around and no clothes hooks. A washbasin with four taps with cold water only was placed at the entrance as a washing facility.
In 1983 The Junior Softball team became undefeated champions in their league.
In 1984 All In celebrated its fifth anniversary. This first lustrum was celebrated. We started on 29 September at 10 o’clock with the mixed tournament (the tournament that by the way still is played in recent years), in the evening we had a coffee table for everyone who had registered for it and then we played cards for all members and guests. This year, the Jugs Combo pitching machine was ordered.
In 1985 there was another championship, namely the juniors. On Saturday 30 May 1987 the new accommodation on sports park De Heikant was officially opened. We had asked Driek van de Vondevoort (as alderman of sports affairs) to throw the first ball. However, he was unable to attend. The first ball was thrown by his substitute alderman Gresel prior to the junior softball game against D.V.S. from Waalre.
In 1988 The accommodation was expanded to include a shed. It was a four by four metre log cabin that would serve for many years to come. In the month of August, to everyone’s surprise, the Dug Outs All In promised by alderman Gresel in 1987 during the opening of the new accommodation were suddenly there again! With two youth baseball teams and a recreational team, we were on the rise again. This year, we got as far as putting up billboards, there were four of them. In this year, we also celebrated our 10-year anniversary. Our senior softball team became champion and started to play promotion/relegation games. The 10th anniversary was celebrated on Saturday, September 23 with a mixtoernooi and a nice evening. On Sunday, September 24, a propaganda game was played between the Dutch Junior Team and Tex Town Tigers.
From 1989 onwards
Over the years, All In changed its image with the municipality. At first, we were depicted as a one-day wonder without long-term viability. Now, however, it appeared that we could indeed play a lasting role in recreational sports within Veldhoven municipality. In the nineties, our club went through a rejuvenation cure. The senior softball team fell apart and that was the reason to focus on the youth. There was a lot of interest for peanutball and also arose there is a junior softball team again.
The junior baseball team of that time later became a senior team. The policy was all those years aimed at a lot of playing pleasure without performance drive for everyone. This had created an atmosphere within the club whereby more people became involved in coaching, training and management. Due to the increasing flow of youth, however, we ran into problems with the necessary facilities on and around the pitch. The first of these was the toilet facilities. Thanks to the assistance of the municipality, the accommodation now has its own toilet facilities. Recognition from the municipality for our maturity came with the request to consider participating in the Campus plan of the Sondervick College. The intention is to offer our association a place within the school’s sports complex. This offers us the possibility to become more accessible for the youth at the school. The junior softball team had grown through the years to a senior team. In the first year they even played a promotion game. Unfortunately, the opponent turned out to be too strong.
In 2001 finding volunteers to keep an association going was difficult. The board members started looking for solutions and enlisted the help of the club supporter and Sportsupport. As many senior members and volunteers as possible spent an afternoon on “How to make All In stronger”. It turned out that the club was run by a very small group and that tasks and responsibilities needed to be divided among more people. This led to an appeal to all parents and senior members to sign up for various tasks. In addition to the board, several committees were formed that would take on subtasks. The board could then concentrate on the administrative tasks. The new way of working started enthusiastically and this led to new matters such as a sports technical policy plan, a field management committee, a new start for the club magazine and an energetic activities committee.
Because the new location on the Kempen Campus kept being postponed, the board negotiated with the municipality of Veldhoven about the current accommodation. The field was stripped and levelled and we got our own base. De Volle Bak is mainly there for the teams and as a meeting place. With the help of many volunteers, we have a splendid accommodation.
In april 2003 Alderman De Lepper officially opened the Volle Bak.
In 2003 For the first time in years, there was a champion team, namely the pupils. The team, led by Hans de Vrieze, received (chocolate) medals and champagne after the championship match. Of course, they were also put in the limelight during the festive evening.
In 2004 The 25th anniversary was celebrated. A whole year full of activities. For the youth, a whole weekend was organised on their own field with a real American coach. The men were trained by HCAW and the women by Anouk Mels, a top softball player.
In 2006 became the women’s softball team Focus Team of our club. They ended their learning year with a meritorious third position in the pool. The senior baseball team finished the year in fourth place.
2007 Initially, All In would be able to use the new pitches on the Kempen Campus in the second half of the 2006 competition. Unfortunately the accommodation was not finished in time. The 2007 season actually started on the new fields!!!
2010: Senior men’s baseball champion for the first time !!!
Present
Meanwhile, we are growing as a club and have teams in all age classes. The only thing missing is a (women’s) softball team.
