In Memoriam: Marcel Scholtes

After a long struggle, Marcel Scholtes passed away on Friday 14 February. He had been a board member of the Vechtsportautoriteit (Dutch Martial Arts Authority) since its founding. He was regarded as the father of the audit team, which he helped to assemble and supervised with great dedication. Alongside his commitment and expertise, it is above all his warmth that will be missed.

Marcel's professional life was devoted to tackling serious crime. For twenty-five years he worked for the police, among other roles as a detective. Later he passed on his expertise and experience to new cohorts of investigators at the Police Academy (Politieacademie). In the final phase of his career he focused on strategic research.

In 2017 he became involved in the working group that turned out to be the forerunner of the Vechtsportautoriteit. His love of martial arts, he practised kickboxing and aikido recreationally himself, led him to join the VA board. From then on he devoted countless days to this work, without pay. VA chair Herbert Dekkers: “Marcel was broad in every sense of the word. Certainly in the way he positioned himself whenever injustice came into view. But also broad in his interests and attention. Last but not least broad in his interest in culinary highlights. We already miss this courageous, intelligent observer.”

As a board member Marcel helped shape policy, but what he liked most was to be involved in the practical work as well. He was a highly sociable person and often went to events and gyms with ‘his people’ from the audit team. This made him a familiar face of the VA within the sector too.

Marcel Scholtes (left) with fellow board member Alexander Scholtes and kickboxing official Joop Ubeda during an audit

The audit team was largely formed by him and enthusiastically supervised by him, which is why he was soon seen as the father of this group. Auditor Ben Ketelaar: “I had known Marcel for years through our work. After we had been in professional contact on one occasion, Marcel persuaded me with an inspired account to become an auditor as well. I learned a great deal from him. He knew what he was talking about, but above all he was an amiable person. You could tell that everyone was glad to see him.”

Just over two years ago Marcel was diagnosed with a brain tumour. A period of prolonged treatment followed, and a struggle that demanded a great deal of him. Even so, he always remained involved with the VA. For as long as he was able, he joined meetings. Thanks in part to the unconditional support and dedication of his partner Miriam, he was able to keep up the fight until this week. On Friday he passed away peacefully in his sleep.

Marcel's significance for the Nederlandse Vechtsportautoriteit was enormous. His dedication and expertise will be greatly missed. But above all we will look back with sadness on the kindness and warmth with which he enriched the world.