AMSTERDAM (2012 FIBA U17 World Championship for Women) – Three years ago, the wheels were set in motion to create a new juggernaut in women’s basketball. But little did the organisers in the Netherlands realise back then that the fruits of that labor would ripen so quickly as the host nation is witnessing at the 2012 FIBA U17 World Championship for Women.

The Netherlands Basketball Federation (NBB), the Dutch Olympic Committee, the Ministry of Health and the city of Amsterdam came together in 2009 to form the Centre for Top Sport and Education (CTO) with the goal of reaching the top level of women’s hoops in Europe.

“I think together with the Dutch clubs, we are doing really well and still improving. We didn’t expect that it would pay off this quickly. But we are really proud of the girls and really proud of the organisation,” said Remy de Wit, the CTO coach who is an assistant on Meindert van Veen's Dutch U17 team which has reached the Quarter-Finals in Amsterdam after finishing group play in second place.

Considering the age group of 15 to 21 years old and the drastic change in approach, it’s easy to see how much impact the program has had on Dutch basketball.

In 2009, the Dutch U16, U18 and U20 teams were all playing in Division B of the annual European Championships. In 2009, the U16s and U20s both made the jump to Division, A while the U18 women followed in 2010.

And the teams are performing better on the international scene.

The U16 Dutch team finished seventh at the 2010 European Championship. The U18s were fifth in 2011 and took fourth place earlier this month, while the U20 team has reached the Semi-Finals in the on-going 2012 tournament in Hungary.

In fact, the U18s' fourth-placed finish in Romania qualified the Netherlands for the 2013 FIBA U19 World Championship for Women.

And the CTO program has played an enormous role in those successes. Five CTO players were on the 2012 U16 and U17 teams - Laura Cornelius, Esther Fokke, Emese Hof, Isabella Slim and Britt Zappeij. The U18 team included Cornelius, Hof, Slim, Zappeij and the 1994-born Lisa Schoen. The U20 side includes six current or former CTO players in Jill Bettonvil, Loyce Bettonvil, Zera Butter, Maxime Essenstam, Richelle van der Keijl and Marlou de Kleijn.

The biggest switch in philosophy the program has instituted is to have players practice twice daily in a professional manner while having the team play in the highest Dutch women’s league, the Eredivisie, and safe from being relegated.

“It’s a good situation that the girls practice two times a day at least five days a week. And we can teach them what it’s like to be a professional player in the future,” said de Wit.

“We practice twice a day so it really helps us become more physical. Because of the CTO, women’s basketball in the Netherlands is becoming better,” said Slim.

The Dutch league clubs even took an example from the CTO.

“The clubs are also improving in professionalism. For example, four years ago, average first division clubs would practice three times a week. Now almost every first division club is practicing at least five times a week, including fitness and physio,” de Wit pointed out.

The organisers said they looked at other similar academy type programs such as the National Institue of Sport and Physical Education (INSEP) in France and the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in Australia and then adapted them to the Dutch landscape.

One difference is that the CTO has players ranging in age from 15 to 21 – much older than the other programs.

“We would like to drop down in age group in the future. But at first we had to set the program so we took all the talents that wanted to play and now we’ve become so professional that we can choose the big talents from the Netherlands,” said de Wit.

“I really like the fact that the girls who are in the program longer can help the young players. I think that’s a successful formula.”

Despite all the success the program has had thus far, de Wit said the organisers are aware they cannot rest on their laurels.

“I think we really have to take care of the success that we are having now. And we have to take the lessons. You have to develop your program and be really critical with each other to make the next step,” said de Wit.

“To get to the top, top level for us was hard work and a lot of discussing and learning. But now we want to establish ourselves at the top level. And that’s the big challenge for us in the up-coming years.”

One thing is certain, the wheels are well in motion.

FIBA