Leaders of Unites #143 - Daan Dappers

28 October, 2026

"During the 3X3 Leader Course, I learned how to take the lead."

As a child, I played a lot of video games. Minecraft was my favourite game

My name is Daan Dappers. I am 18 years old and was born and raised in Oss. I have an older sister, and when we were young, we enjoyed playing games together as a family in the evenings. I have to be honest and say that I didn’t really excel at anything, but I really enjoyed playing the card game Pesten. Besides that, I played a lot of video games as a child. Minecraft was my favourite game.

I was eight when I was first introduced to sports through school. We were given a flyer with different sports that we could try. I chose volleyball. I did enjoy the sport itself, but the level in our region was very low and the opponents were simply not very good. We won everything easily, so I quickly lost my motivation.

Basketball was also on the flyer, so I started playing that with a friend. I immediately enjoyed it, although I find it difficult to explain exactly what I like so much about basketball. I think it is the freedom I experience on the court. I feel that with the ball in your hands, you can make all kinds of decisions yourself and really express your creativity.

I play basketball because I really enjoy it, but nowadays I also have other responsibilities

As a child, I had the dream of becoming a professional basketball player for a long time. I have always played for OBC in Oss, but over the years I trained several times with Heroes in Den Bosch. I would have loved to play basketball there, but each time they felt I was just not quite good enough. That was a shame. I was curious to see whether I would have been able to handle the level.

By now, I play for the second team at EBBC, another club in Den Bosch. I went there together with a few friends because we couldn’t really find the level we were looking for at OBC. That doesn’t take anything away from the club, because I am still a member and I still really enjoy coming there. At EBBC, my goal is to make it into the first team.

But I am a bit older now and I also have to think about other responsibilities. I am in the third year of my Sport and Exercise Coordinator programme and I have a girlfriend with whom I like to do fun things. I still give everything when I am on the court, but I mainly play basketball because I really enjoy it and have a lot of fun playing it.

During the 3X3 Leader Course, I learned how to take the lead

One of my friends who I play with at EBBC told me about the 3X3 Leader Course. I wasn’t familiar with it yet, but I thought it would be fun to take a course, develop myself as a leader and play basketball. I thought: cool, why not? I generally like a challenge and enjoy learning new things.

The Leader Course was not only fun, but also very educational. Above all, I learned how to take the lead. I was never very good at approaching people, but I find that much easier now. I am more willing to take the initiative and approach people or tell them what we are going to do. I am now the one saying: “Come on guys, let’s get started.”

My friends and I love cooking and baking

Besides basketball, I have other hobbies as well. I enjoy listening to music and making music myself. I practise on an acoustic guitar. I think I got my love of music from my father, although I am nowhere near as good as he is. My father is in a band and plays the bass guitar. My girlfriend also plays guitar, so we regularly practise and play together.

My girlfriend and I also enjoy baking and cooking, which is why I brought the whisk and spatula for the photo. In secondary school, we had to choose a study direction in our third and fourth years. I chose Hospitality, Bakery and Recreation, and cooking and baking have been a hobby of mine ever since. Quesadillas are my favourite thing to make. A Mexican dish made with tortillas. Very tasty.

I want to get as many children as possible onto the courts and further grow the 3x3 community in Oss

I am in the final year of my Sport and Exercise Coordinator programme, and I currently give a lot of training sessions and boot camps at Mouvements in Oss. I don’t know yet what I will do after that, although there is a good chance that I will end up working in sports in some way. I would also love to take a big trip one day or, for example, build my own house. I want to create great memories.

For 3X3 Unites, I run activations in Oss on Sundays, which I really enjoy. I really like helping others and coming up with exercises that get the children excited. My goal is to get as many children as possible onto the courts and further grow the 3x3 community in Oss.