Passionate about elite sports medicine

Cees Rein van den Hoogenband has two substantial top-level sports ambitions. As head physician of the Netherlands Olympic Committee, he strives to contribute to keeping our athletes ‘healthy and in one piece’ during the London Olympics. He also wants health professionals in elite sports medicine in the Netherlands to join forces. Cees Rein van den Hoogenband is the founding father of Push braces and proud dad of Olympic swimming champion Pieter.

Van den Hoogenband has been interested in elite sports medicine for decades. It is no coincidence that he laid the foundation for Push braces. “When studying to become a surgeon, I met a taping expert who developed an excellent taping method: a combination of adhesive bandages and tape designed to treat knee and ankle injuries. This was revolutionary because until then knee and ankle injuries were always operated on or fixed in plaster. Now we were able to heal patients while they retained the capability to move.” The taping expert, Frans Coumans from Kerkrade, proved in Van den Hoogenband’s PhD research project that taping is a more effective solution than surgery or casting. Then Leon Melchior joined the team. He was using braces for horses that had been developed in Canada, based on the same principle. This got the ball rolling. After all, if it worked for horses, why shouldn’t it for people? “We started to develop a range of braces that aid and, if necessary, restrict movement. The idea of the Push brace was conceived together with the Maastricht university hospital and Macintosh. That is how it all started.”

Van den Hoogenband was driven by curiosity and ambition: “Every year, 10,000 ankle ligaments were operated on and plastered. Changing that would bring considerable cost savings to health care and would save people from having to have an operation. A worthwhile achievement indeed.” As a member of the steering committee, Van den Hoogenband is still involved in Push braces. The challenge facing him now is to develop sports braces tailored to the specific needs of professional footballers. “In top-level football, tape and bandage materials are used mostly. This costs a lot of money. Clubs stand a lot to gain from replacing some of these materials with braces. So new goals always come up.”
At the request of the Netherlands Olympic Committee, Cees Rein van den Hoogenband is also investigating a possible restructuring of elite sports medicine in the Netherlands. His ideas on the matter are clear. “Five one-stop centres in the whole of the Netherlands for athletes to turn to as a source of knowledge and expertise on elite sports medicine. That would be the best structure. Athletes should be able to get what they need without having to shop around too much.” Van den Hoogenband has already established his first sports medical centre. Topsupport is a subsidiary of the Sint Anna Hospital in Geldrop, the Netherlands, where he worked as a surgeon for many years. “Topsupport offers all medical expertise under one roof. This example should be followed across the Netherlands.” This constitutes Van den Hoogenband’s long-term plan. As far as the shorter term goes, his aim is to get footballers in top shape as PSV football club’s physician. He also has been appointed head physician of the Olympic team representing the Netherlands in the 2012 London Olympics. It is not his first Olympics either. Van den Hoogenband accompanied the Dutch swimming and water polo team on four previous occasions and saw his son become a triple Olympic champion