VZW Maarten was named after ex-Red Devil and Basseveld resident Maarten Martens.
Maarten started his career at KVVK Bassevelde where he was soon spotted by RSC Anderlecht and continued his education there. From that transfer and the friend match between KVVK Bassevelde and RSC Anderlecht that followed, the first “International Miniemen Tournament” was born, which would later be known as the U13Cup. It started with 8 teams, later it became 12 and now there have been 16 participants in the world famous U13Cup for several years now. The organization that has to manage the tournament is housed in a non-profit organization, the VZW Maarten. For many years Patrick Martens, father of, was the chairman of this organization, but due to health problems, he passed the torch a few years ago to John De Pauw, ex-football scout at Celtic FC and football expert par excellence. John De Pauw has since also stepped down and, since 2025, Joeri Hertleer is the new president.
The president is assisted in his task by no fewer than 300 employees, a mix of professionals and volunteers, but above all people with a heart for the organization. That is the great asset of the U13Cup.
VZW MAARTEN
THE CHAIRMAN
After 28 years, the U13Cup has a new president with Joeri Hertleer.
“Realizing youth soccer dreams remains our main goal,” says Joeri Hertleer, who takes over the torch from John De Pauw. The latter stepped down two years ago, but a successor was not immediately found. “Thanks to our years of experience, we worked without a chairman for a year last year, but we missed a point of contact. Volunteers, sponsors and teams want someone they can turn to and that person was not there. Hence, at the request of the board, I jumped into the gap full of enthusiasm.”
Hertleer owns a transport company in Bassevelde, for the U13Cup he was mainly the Spanish connection of the tournament. So he has very good connections at the Spanish top clubs. He was also the permanent supervisor of Real Madrid at the tournament for many years. “The connection with Real Madrid is very good, but also with a lot of other clubs. We have to make really hard choices sometimes. If we want to we can bring the whole Champions League to Bassevelde, but as an organization you sometimes have to make financial and sporting choices. In doing so, we go for a mix of established values and exciting names.”
THE BOARD TEAM
Nadine Van Hamme
Responsible for the sports secretariat. For the general secretariat, turn to Suzy.
tel: +32 478 62 96 67
email: nadine.van.hamme@u13cup.be
Danny Rabaeys
Secretariat on tournament, match schedule,security, team administration and match balls.
tel: +32 475 94 70 39
email: danny.rabaeys@u13cup.be
Danny Haers
Responsible shift supervisor and contact person for host families.
tel: +32 473 41 08 52
email: danny.haers@u13cup.be
Marc Bassier
Responsible for accounting, finance, invoicing, VAT, as well as entries at the event itself.
tel: +32 478 22 02 73
email: marc.bassier@u13cup.be
Jurgen Pijcke
Responsible transport vans,working on site.
tel: +32 476 02 67 38
email: jurgen.pijcke@u13cup.be
Luc Boelaert
In charge of site works, electricity
tel: +32 478 42 91 65
email: luc.boelaert@u13cup.be
Suzy Van Vooren
Responsible for general secretariat.
tel: +32 496 14 17 30
email: suzy@u13cup.be
Cindy Van Hyfte
Responsible vip & socials
tel: +32 478 20 18 87
email: cindy@u13cup.be
Tom Van Vooren
Responsible for building and dismantling infrastructure
tel: +32 494 17 56 40
email: tom@u13cup.be
WHO DOES WHAT?
OUR PARTNERS
