Jeanet van der Laan

In this Dutch name, the surname is Van der Laan, not Laan.

Jeanet Maria Petronella van der Laan (pronounced [ʒɑˈnɛt fɑn dər ˈlaːn]; born 20 January 1980) is a Dutch retired footballer, teacher, and politician of the social liberal party Democrats 66 (D66).

Jeanet van der Laan
Van der Laan in 2021
Member of the House of Representatives
In office 31 March 2021 – 5 December 2023
Alderwoman of Lisse
In office 14 May 2018^[1] – 31 March 2021
Succeeded by	Jeffrey van Haaster
Member of the Municipal Council of Lisse
In office 27 March 2014^[2] – 14 May 2018^[1]
Succeeded by	Erik Prins
In office 11 March 2010^[3] – 12 September 2013^[4]
Succeeded by	Michael van der Laan
Personal details
Born	Jeanet Maria Petronella van der Laan (1980-01-20) 20 January 1980 (age 44) Lisse, Netherlands
Political party	Democrats 66 (since 2013)
Other political affiliations	Nieuw Lisse (2010–2013)
Spouse	Kevin Winter ​ (m. 2015)​
Alma mater	Educatieve Faculteit Amsterdam Leiden University
Occupation	Teacher, politician
Association football career Position(s) Right-back, left-back Youth career FC Lisse Senior career* Years Team Apps (Gls) 1997–2007 Ter Leede International career 1996–2003 Netherlands 29 (0) Medal record Universiade 2001 Beijing Team *Club domestic league appearances and goals

A defender of FC Lisse, she became the first girl to be allowed to play in a national boys' competition in 1995. She later played for Ter Leede, winning the women's national championship multiple times, and she appeared in 29 international matches as part of the women's national football team. Van der Laan also worked as a teacher, and she retired from football in 2007.

She was elected to the Lisse municipal council in 2010 and continued serving there with a half-year hiatus until she became an alderwoman in 2018. Van der Laan was elected to the House of Representatives in the 2021 general election.

Early life and education

Van der Laan was born and raised in Lisse, South Holland.^[5] She has an older brother and a younger sister, and her parents worked at a dahlia nursery.^[6][7] In 1998, after having completed her secondary education, Van der Laan started studying Dutch at the Educatieve Faculteit Amsterdam, a cooperation between the Amsterdam and Holland Universities of Applied Sciences to train teachers.^[8][9]

She also studied public administration at Leiden University starting in 2007 and earned a master's degree.^[10][11]

Association football

Van der Laan began playing football at the age of six.^[12] In June 1995, she became the first girl to be allowed to play in a national boys' competition of the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB). FC Lisse's male B1 team, to which Van der Laan belonged, had won a regional league and had been promoted to the national third division.^[13] The KNVB granted the permission to Van der Laan due to her role in the promotion and due to her performance in the women's national youth team.^[14]

She subsequently played as part of the A2 boys' squad and left FC Lisse in 1997 to join the Sassenheim club Ter Leede. There, she was part of the women's squad, which won the national championship for women several times.^[8] Van der Laan had also joined the women's national football team as a right-back, debuting in an August 2001 match against Germany.^[15] As part of the Dutch team, she won the silver medal in women's football at the 2001 Summer Universiade in Beijing. She played in a total of 29 international matches until she left the team in 2003 because of her non-football career.^[16][17] Van der Laan stopped playing football at Ter Leede in 2007, when the Vrouwen Eredivisie was introduced.^[11]

In the early 2000s, she worked for a few years for WK Producties, which was responsible for football broadcasts on the TV channel SBS6.^[17] Van der Laan became a KNVB ambassador in 2016, and she joined the NPO Radio 1 show Langs de Lijn, providing analysis of matches of the 2017 UEFA European Women's Championship and the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup including the final of the 2017 championship.^[15][18][19] In 2020, she became chair of SC Telstar's advisory board, which was established to get their women's team into the Eredivisie.^[20]

Teaching career and politics

Van der Laan started teaching Dutch at the Lisse secondary school Fioretti College in the early 2000s and also became team leader of its first year in 2005.^[17][21] While still working there, she was elected into the municipal council of Lisse in the 2010 municipal election as a member of the local political party Nieuw Lisse.^[22] She left the council in September 2013 in order to join D66 and was succeeded by her brother Michael.^[23] Van der Laan was D66's third candidate in Lisse in the 2014 municipal election, and she became the party's caucus leader in the council after the election.^[24][25]

She was appointed chair of D66's new national thematic department Sport and Exercise in early 2016. Van der Laan had lobbied for its establishment in order to make sport policy more prominent within the party.^[26] She was D66's 32nd candidate in the 2017 general election, receiving 1,588 preference votes, but was not elected due to her party winning nineteen seats.^[27] Van der Laan was re-elected to Lisse's council in 2018, being D66's lead candidate.^[28] She left both the council and the Fioretti College in May 2018 to serve as alderwoman in the new municipal executive.^[29][30] Her portfolio included spatial planning, sustainability, education, culture, youth, and sport affairs.^[30]

House of Representatives

Van der Laan ran for member of parliament again in the 2021 general election, being placed thirteenth on D66's party list.^[31] During the campaign, she said that politics should pay more attention to sports, calling it neglected and important for fighting obesity.^[11][32] Van der Laan was elected into the House of Representatives with 10,489 preference votes, and she was installed on 31 March.^[5][33] Her specialities within D66 were higher education, science, emancipation, sports, health care prevention, and long-term care, and she is on the Committees for Education, Culture and Science; for Health, Welfare and Sport; for Justice and Security; and for Social Affairs and Employment. She is also a member of the Dutch parliamentary delegation to the Council of Europe.^[7][34]

A few months after her election, Van der Laan started writing a bill to ban conversion therapy together with politicians from other parties. This followed inaction by the cabinet on the issue after a House majority had indicated the desire for such a ban.^[35] The Council of State advised against the law in early 2023, saying that its added value had to be elaborated on. The governmental body stated that discrimination and coercion were already forbidden, while a total ban would be in conflict with the freedom of religion.^[36] Van der Laan also successfully called for an investigation into abuse in competitive dancing following news reports, and she introduced a motion to explicitly prohibit match fixing, which passed the House.^[37][38]

She was D66's lijstduwer in Lisse in the 2022 municipal elections.^[39]

Personal life

Van der Laan resides in Lisse and has also lived in the nearby town of Noordwijk.^[34][40] She has been married to Kevin Winter, a retired amateur football player for FC Lisse, IJsselmeervogels, and Rijnsburgse Boys, since 2015. They have three sons, two of which are twins.^[41][42]

References

1. Olivier, Ed (15 May 2018). "Nieuw college Lisse aan de slag" [New executive gets to work in Lisse]. Leidsch Dagblad (in Dutch). p. 7.
2. "Vergadering 27-03-2014" [Meeting 27-03-2014]. Lisse (in Dutch). Retrieved 28 June 2021.
3. "Vergadering 11-03-2010" [Meeting 11-03-2010]. Lisse (in Dutch). Retrieved 28 June 2021.
4. "Van der Laan (Nieuw Lisse) gaat naar D66" [Van der Laan (Nieuw Lisse) switches to D66]. Leidsch Dagblad (in Dutch). 29 August 2013.
5. "Drs. J.M.P. (Jeanet) van der Laan". Parlement.com (in Dutch). Retrieved 29 June 2021.
6. Diedrich, Anton (5 February 1999). "Uit de dekking" [Out of the defense]. Leidsch Dagblad (in Dutch). p. 22. Retrieved 29 June 2021 – via Historische Kranten, Erfgoed Leiden en Omstreken.
7. "Jeanet van der Laan". D66 (in Dutch). Retrieved 17 January 2022.
8. "In het voetbal één van de jongens" [In football, one of the boys]. de Volkskrant (in Dutch). 11 December 1999. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
9. Leefmans, Loman (22 December 1998). "De verandering" [The change]. Leidsch Dagblad (in Dutch). p. 21. Retrieved 29 June 2021 – via Historische Kranten, Erfgoed Leiden en Omstreken.
10. "Wie zijn de Leidse alumni in de Tweede Kamer?" [Who are the alumni of Leiden in the House of Representatives?]. Universiteit Leiden (Press release) (in Dutch). 1 April 2021. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
11. Van der Laan, Jeanet (15 March 2021). "Jeanet van der Laan (41) hoopt een Kamerzetel te veroveren en gaat zich dan hardmaken voor sportbeleid. Plus: een overzicht van andere topsporters in de politiek [video]" [Jeanet van der Laan (41) hopes to conquer a House seat and will fight for sport policy. Plus: an overview of other professional sportspeople in politics [video]]. Noordhollands Dagblad (Interview) (in Dutch). Interviewed by Robert Berkely. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
12. "Jeanet voetbalt in de jongenscompetitie" [Jeanet plays football in the boys' competition]. Trouw (in Dutch). 10 June 1995. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
13. Brouwer de Koning, Tim (8 June 1995). "Jeanet mag bij de jongens van B1" [Jeanet is allowed to join the boys of B1]. Leidsch Dagblad (in Dutch). p. 1. Retrieved 29 June 2021 – via Historische Kranten, Erfgoed Leiden en Omstreken.
14. "Meisje toegelaten tot landelijke jongenscompetitie" [Girl allowed in the national league for boys]. de Volkskrant (in Dutch). 8 June 1995. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
15. "Jeanet van der Laan eerste voormalige Oranje-international in Tweede Kamer" [Jeanet van der Laan first former Dutch international football player in the House of Representatives]. NU.nl (in Dutch). 17 March 2021. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
16. Hoedeman, Jan (11 November 2020). "Ex-international op D66-lijst: 'Het is vervelend als anders gezien te worden'" [Ex-international on D66 party list: 'It is annoying to be seen as different']. AD (in Dutch). Retrieved 27 June 2021.
17. Van der Hulst, Peter (17 September 2003). "Van der Laan neemt afscheid van Oranje" [Van der Laan leaves Dutch football team]. Leidsch Dagblad (in Dutch). p. 23. Retrieved 29 June 2021 – via Historische Kranten, Erfgoed Leiden en Omstreken.
18. Kriek, Jaco (5 August 2017). "Oranjeleeuwinnen in EK voetbalfinale tegen Denemarken live op tv en radio" [Dutch women's team in UEFA Final against Denmark live on TV and radio]. Totaal TV (in Dutch). Retrieved 28 June 2021.
19. "De sport van zondag bij de NOS" [Sundays sport at NOS]. NOS (in Dutch). 7 July 2019. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
20. "Vera Pauw, Michael van Praag en Leonne Stentler moeten vrouwenploeg Telstar naar eredivisie helpen" [Vera Pauw, Michael van der Praag, and Leonne Stentler have to help Telstar's women's team into Eredivisie]. IJmuider Courant (in Dutch). 12 October 2020.
21. "Jeanet van der Laan". D66 Lisse (in Dutch). Retrieved 28 June 2021.
22. "Een fenomeen: politieke winkeltjes" [A phenomenon: campaign stores]. Leidsch Dagblad (in Dutch). 26 January 2010.
23. "Broer lost zus af in raad Lisse" [Brother succeeds sister in Lisse council]. Leidsch Dagblad (in Dutch). 14 September 2013.
24. "De Roon trekt lijst D66 Lisse" [De Roon on top of party list Lisse D66]. Leidsch Dagblad (in Dutch). 20 November 2013.
25. "Van der Laan voert D66 aan" [Van der Laan leads D66]. Leidsch Dagblad (in Dutch). 8 April 2014.
26. "Politieke ster Van der Laan rijst" [Political talent Van der Laan is rising]. Leidsch Dagblad (in Dutch). 28 January 2016.
27. "Uitslag Tweede Kamerverkiezing 2017 (getekend exemplaar)" [Results 2017 general election (signed example)] (PDF). Kiesraad (in Dutch). 21 March 2017. pp. 114 and 115. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
28. "Van der Laan trekt lijst D66" [Van der Laan on top of D66 party list]. Leidsch Dagblad (in Dutch). 4 January 2018.
29. [Other activities of Jeanet van der Laan]. Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 1 July 2021. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
30. In 't Veld, Arie (1 May 2018). "Coalitieakkoord gepresenteerd door trio nieuwe wethouders" [Coalition agreement presented by three new aldermen]. LisserNieuws (in Dutch). Retrieved 29 June 2021.
31. "Leden D66 schudden top kandidatenlijst Tweede Kamer op" [D66 members shake up top of general election party list]. Leeuwarder Courant (in Dutch). 2 December 2020. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
32. Hommes, Kick (14 April 2021). "Sport in de kabinetsformatie: wat is haalbaar?" [Sport in the cabinet formation: what is achievable?]. Trouw (in Dutch). Retrieved 27 June 2021.
33. "Tweede Kamer 17 maart 2021" [House of Representatives 17 March 2021]. Databank Verkiezingsuitslagen (in Dutch). Kiesraad. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
34. "Jeanet van der Laan". Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal. 19 November 2023. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
35. Hoedeman, Jan (4 June 2021). "Kamer maakt zelf wet tegen 'homogenezing'" [House makes its own law against conversion therapy]. Het Parool (in Dutch). Retrieved 27 June 2021.
36. "Raad van State kritisch over wetsvoorstel om 'homogenezing' te verbieden" [Council of State critical of bill to ban conversion therapy]. NOS (in Dutch). 30 January 2023. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
37. "Groot onderzoek naar misstanden en misbruik in danswereld: 'Decennia lang stil geweest'" [Large inquiry into abuse in dancing world: 'It has been quite for decades']. AD (in Dutch). 1 December 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
38. "Tweede Kamer: maak matchfixing strafbaar" [House of Representatives: prohibit match fixing]. Friesch Dagblad (in Dutch). 3 December 2021. p. 20.
39. Olivier, Ed (13 January 2022). "Veel bekende gezichten op Lissese kandidatenlijsten" [Many well-known faces on Lisse party lists]. Leidsch Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 17 January 2022.
40. "Alsof hij niet weg is geweest" [As if he had not left]. Leidsch Dagblad (in Dutch). 3 November 2007.
41. Olivier, Ed (11 November 2020). "Lissese wethouder Jeanet van der Laan hoog op D66-kieslijst: vervulling droom lijkt nabij" [Lisse alderwoman Jeanet van der Laan high on D66 party list: realization of dream seems close]. Leidsch Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 27 June 2021.
42. Oostdam, Gerben (27 March 2012). "Bloedverwanten en rivalen op het veld" [Relatives and rivals on the field]. Leidsch Dagblad (in Dutch).