Short Track Harness Race Assendelft

The short track harness race Assendelft is organised by the committee of the Kortebaanvereniging Assendelft (Assendelft Short Track Association) in cooperation with the sponsor committee and the track committee. The Kortebaanvereniging is supported by Stal Assendelft. The NDR is involved in the short track in its capacity as custodian of the harness racing rules, as is the Short Track League as the representative of the short track associations.

In addition, the drivers, trainers, breeders and the carers and owners of the horses are also involved in the short track. One of the owners is Stal Assendelft, an association that has had a horse running in the short track since the early 2000s. For the inhabitants of Assendelft, the short track race is an annual village festival in which the whole village is involved.

The Zaan districts Zaandam and Assendelft both have a tradition of short track harness races that goes back far in the last century. For example, in 1907 the Zaandamsche Harddraverij Vereeniging was founded and on July 20, 1907, the first trotting was organised on the Stationsstraat in Zaandam. These races were organised annually until the Second World War (1942).

In Assendelft a Harness Race Association has been active from 1909 to 1921 and in 1946-1947. The harness races in Assendelft took place on the Zaandammerweg near Café Hos and during the harsh winter of 1947 the race was held with horse-drawn sleighs on the North Sea Canal.

The link between the races of Assendelft and Zaandam was made by the Rotary Club Zaanstad. Within this club, in the 80s, a number of enthusiastic horse lovers were active. Fascinated by the tradition of the short track harness race, they revitalised the harness race, after a period after the war when it had been hardly possible to organise a harness race.

Contacts between the Assendelft Drivers Association and the Rotary ensured that, after the harness race was once held in Zaandam in 1987, it returned to Assendelft in 1988. In fact, a merger took place in the organisation of a short track race between these districts.

In Assendelft, from 1988 the harness race was held at three locations on the village street. In 1988-1989 the track was at the height of Café de Boer, near the centre of the village. Then, in 1990, the track was moved to 'de Noord', where the track was located near the premises of construction company Van der Gragt. Because the people of Assendelft wanted the harness race to be more in the centre of the village again, the race moved in 2004 to the current location near the RK church and the Assendelft Castle.

In 2019, the Rotary Club Zaanstad indicated that it wanted to stop the organisation of the harness race in Assendelft, after which members of the association Stal Assendelft made a strong case for the preservation of the short track race. In 2020, the organisation was taken over by the newly founded Harddraverij Vereniging Assendelft.

Safeguard actions

2020-2023

• New residents of the Zaan region are approached and enthused by means of publications in door-to-door magazines such as Het Lint, de Krommenieër and the Zaans Stadsblad.
• Because the administrative knowledge is now only present among older board members (50+), young people are more involved in the board and the organisation.
• Cooperation with the Historical Society Assendelft, because they have the ability and interest to preserve the scripts, safety plans, competition regulations and association documents, so the history of the short track can be properly archived.
• Contacts are maintained with other associations in the village. Think of football clubs, ice clubs, scouting, Historical Society Assendelft, etc.
• Contacts are made with the boards of other short track associations by, for example, inviting them to the Short Track Day.
• The short track is particularly well-known in Old Assendelft. (There is a difference between the old neighbourhoods in Assendelft and the new-build neighbourhood of Saendelft). New neighbourhoods are therefore informed of the Short Track Day by means of publications in both traditional and social media.
• Contacts with the aforementioned door-to-door newspapers are being improved, so that pieces containing information on the short track association and the event can be published on a regular basis.
• By giving young people the opportunity to experience the short track at close quarters, engaging them as volunteers or having them become members of the association, young people can be involved in the organisation of the race.
• Contacts with the municipality must become structural, with, if possible, a permanent official as the point of contact.
• Members are actively recruited during Short Track Day, which helps the association to grow.
• The Short Track League has laid down high quality standard that must be met by the harness race. These are monitored before and during the race. Safety for trotters, participants and visitors is a top priority.