Have you seen the Orange? Netherlands fans unite in Kansas City for World Cup

Enough orange to fill a sunset shone through Revel Sports Tavern Sunday evening as Netherlands fans from throughout the Kansas City area packed the house.

True to its name, the pub in Overland Park housed more than 100 passionate and prideful Dutch supporters who came together to watch the Netherlands face Japan in what some are calling the game of the World Cup so far.

The watch party was held by the Kansas City Dutch Club, an ever-growing group of Dutch Americans, their spouses and expats who are using the World Cup to come together and display their nation’s pride and culture.

Before the match, the club conducted a ceremonial “Links Recht” (left, right in English) dance led by president Patrick Bakker and passed around face paint throughout the crowd.

Revel Sports Tavern has become a hot spot for soccer fans to gather and enjoy a cold beer as their teams duke it out for 90 minutes. And the welcoming atmosphere is no accident.

Owner Danney Elmore says he doesn’t charge these groups rental fees or make them hit minimums to use the space.

“We don’t charge anyone. We just want them here,” Elmore said. “... People have responded to that really well.”

The parties started with England fans last year and at times grew to 500 people across the inside and patio areas. Due to that hosting success during the Club World Cup, Elmore had it at the top of his agenda to make his bar the place to be for the influx of soccer fans bound to find their way into Kansas City this summer.

“We contacted almost every team’s local ambassador through Facebook, Instagram or email,” Elmore said. “England rented us out for the entire first one; we have Ecuador and a lot of Dutch. Whatever we have here, we are doing it well and people enjoy it. So I welcome all the teams.

“This is the first time we’ve hosted the Netherlands, and they’re awesome. I’ll be reaching out to Mr. Bakker to make sure we get them back.”

The game didn’t exactly go how fans would’ve liked, as a header from Japan’s Daichi Kamada in the 89th minute leveled the score at 2-2, but the event was a resounding success.

Many of the people in attendance said it was the most Dutch people they’d seen in one room in decades. A bulk of the population migrated to America after World War II seeking a better life.

The initial generation of immigrants made it a priority to keep in contact with other Dutch family and friends both in Holland and throughout the United States, but as those people began to pass away, the connections to their roots faltered.

Longtime club member Jack van Dijk sees the resurgence of those connections, largely due to the club, and says it mirrors the growth of soccer itself in America. Van Dijk came to the U.S. in 1977, when the Netherlands was at the peak of its soccer powers. He remembers having to listen to games on the radio because matches weren’t being broadcast globally. He’s seen America grow from a “soccer desert” to embracing the sport throughout the country — especially in Kansas City. “It means the world to me,” van Dijk said about the World Cup being hosted in Kansas City. “The Dutch community isn’t as prevalent in Kansas City as in other places. This is about what it is, the numbers that you see today, but a gathering like this provides an opportunity for us to come together and allows other Dutch people to meet other Dutch people.”

More important than any outcome in the group stage, the World Cup is helping unite young and old, Dutch-born and American-born, with differences in background, profession, race and identity.

For Ashley Dixon, Kansas City metro division police sergeant, that sense of togetherness is what makes events like these so meaningful. Dixon’s mother immigrated to the U.S. from the Netherlands, and she later attended college there, where she met her husband.

Through her family and friendships within what has become a close-knit Dutch community, she has developed a deep appreciation for the cultures and values that continue to bring the club together.

“It’s been great seeing the resurgence,” Dixon said. “When I spoke to my mom and my mom’s generation, they didn’t have the same ties as we do now as far as the Dutch community. The internet has made the world a lot smaller, but that’s not how it was 50 years ago. So she’s experiencing a resurgence in her ability to speak her language, which she hasn’t been able to speak regularly for the past 50 years.

“I’m getting a sight of my culture and heritage that I haven’t had in 20 years since I lived over there.”