Johannes Jan "Joop" Atsma (born 6 July 1956) is a Dutch politician of the

Christian Democratic Appeal The Christian Democratic Appeal ( nl, Christen-Democratisch Appèl, ; CDA) is a Christian-democratic political party in the Netherlands. It was originally formed in 1977 from a confederation of the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolution ...

(CDA) party and sport administrator. He has been a Member of the Senate since 9 June 2015.

Biography

Joop Atsma is the son of dairy farmer Pieter Atsma and Tjitske van der Meer. After secondary school, he began to study history to the

University of Groningen The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; nl, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, abbreviated as RUG) is a public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen in the Netherlands. Founded in 1614, the university is th ...

, but he did not complete his studies. In 1978 he began his career as a journalist, he worked for the Netherlands Broadcasting Foundation (NOS), Friesch Dagblad,

News of the North ''News/North'' (originally the ''News of the North'') is a newspaper based in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, with offices in Fort Smith, Hay River, Fort Providence and Norman Wells, Northwest Territories, as well as Iqaluit and Rankin I ...

and

Omrop Fryslân Omrop Fryslân is a broadcaster on the NPO which serves the Frisian community. Because West Frisian is an official language of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the NPO is also responsible for broadcasts in the West Frisian language. Omrop Frysl ...

. From 1989 worked at the KNWU Straatsma, first as an amateur cycling section president and later as chairman. In the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

in Seoul (1988) Barcelona (1992) Atlanta (1996) and Sydney (2000) Atsma was chef d'equipe of cycling. In 2009, Joop Atsma appointed chairman of the Road Committee of the International cycling body UCI. This committee is responsible for such regulation of wegsport, admitting teams, fixture lists and qualification criteria for World Championships and Olympic Games. Atsma 178ste during the meeting of the International Cycling Union in Lugano in 2009 again elected to the Board of the

Union Cycliste Internationale The ''Union Cycliste Internationale'' (UCI; ; en, International Cycling Union) is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland. The UCI issues raci ...

. From 1994 to 2006 he was chairman of the Royal Dutch Cycling Union. Atsma began his political career as a member of the Provincial States of Friesland. In 1998, Atsma was elected to the House. He took his oath in the West Frisian language. In parliament he was involved with sports, agriculture, food, media and mining. He was also chairman of the Standing Committee for Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality and vice chair of the standing committee on Health, Welfare and Sports. On 14 October 2010 Atsma was appointed State Secretary for Infrastructure and Environment in the government-Rutte. Because of this appointment Atsma at that date resigned all paid and unpaid (side) functions and took distance from relevant business and financial interests.

Decorations

References

External links

;Official *
J.J. (Joop) Atsma
Parlement & Politiek *
J.J. Atsma (CDA)
Eerste Kamer der Staten-Generaal {{DEFAULTSORT:Atsma, Joop 1956 births Living people Christian Democratic Appeal politicians Dutch columnists Dutch male cyclists Dutch newspaper editors Dutch political writers Dutch sports executives and administrators Dutch sports journalists Knights of the Order of Orange-Nassau Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Members of the Provincial Council of Friesland Members of the Senate (Netherlands) People from Achtkarspelen Protestant Church Christians from the Netherlands Reformed Churches Christians from the Netherlands State Secretaries for Infrastructure of the Netherlands Cyclists from Friesland University of Groningen alumni 20th-century Dutch journalists 20th-century Dutch male writers 20th-century Dutch politicians 21st-century Dutch journalists 21st-century Dutch male writers 21st-century Dutch politicians