This past weekend, at The Dutch Masters, a special ceremony took place as Willem Luiten (NED) received the IJOC Award from the International Jumping Officials Club for his outstanding contribution to the IJOC as well as the sport. The award was presented to Luiten by Stephan Ellenbruch (GER), Chairman of the FEI Jumping Committee, Glenn Maes (BEL), President of the International Jumping Officials Club (IJOC) and Laura van de Graaf (NED), IJOC Board Treasurer.

Willem Luiten, a former president of the IJOC, has been involved in the sport in many ways, including but not limited to his management role in the Dutch NF, national and international judging, as well as breeding. 

Following his presidential election in the IJOC in 2018, Luiten focused on key areas for the development of the Club. The “President’s Blog”, as he called it, was his invention to develop communication with the Club's members. To this day, the tradition continues. Luiten further strengthened the position of the Club via the Memorandum of Understanding signed with the FEI. Bringing the positive engagement, The Club propelled to a wider member network, developed an active collaboration with the FEI and has become a stronger advocate for the FEI jumping officials.

Luiten continued his position in the IJOC until an unfortunate health status halted these duties in 2021. In a statement, the current president of the IJOC, Glenn Maes, said: “It is with great respect that I can honour Willem for his career on behalf of the IJOC Board and the member officials of our club around the world. Years ago, Willem and I started our international judging careers together and since then I have highly respected Willem for his commitment and engagement for our sport and for the IJOC."