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**Mediconlinee** · 06-01-2009, 03:11 PM

Almost uniformly, the coverage of Lei's death has been presented as the passing of "the father of tennis pro Kim Clijsters".

Lei was an accomplished athlete in his own right. Led Mechelen (his club) to the country's last huge international title. And was very highly regarded in his homeland. This article appeared this morning, and wanted to share it:

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When Lei Clijsters died, the headline that bounced around the world networks was: "Father of Kim Clijsters dies at 52."

He deserves more than that. "Leo" Clijsters certainly was the proud papa who managed the careers of his daughters, the former tennis No. 1, Kim Clijsters, and her sister, Elke. But it is disingenuous to leave the impression of him as a tennis father.

First and foremost, Clijsters was a soccer player who led a modest club, Mechelen, to the last major European trophy any Belgian team has won in 20 years. He was a defender, a libero, in his nation's finest soccer hours, its World Cup semifinal in 1986 and the World Cup second round in 1990.

"He brought tranquillity to the field," Bruno Versavel, a younger teammate said Monday. "He was like a protective father to me when I came into the team. We roomed together, and he taught me at times when to be modest."

Modest, tranquil, private - yet visibly proud, competitive, communicative in action. During the 1990 World Cup, he stepped out of character to score Belgium's first goal against Uruguay in Verona - a bullet of a header - and it said much about him that the two other scorers, Enzo Scifo and Jan Ceulemans, followed his lead.

Rest of article:http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/01/...rts/robweb.php

He was, according to this article, quite the man. And it gives you a much better picture that when we all cringed at times hearing Kim saying that family was so much more important than tennis, it was a lesson imparted to her from her father.

06-01-2009, 03:11 PM	#7
Mediconlinee Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 433 Senior Member	Almost uniformly, the coverage of Lei's death has been presented as the passing of "the father of tennis pro Kim Clijsters". Lei was an accomplished athlete in his own right. Led Mechelen (his club) to the country's last huge international title. And was very highly regarded in his homeland. This article appeared this morning, and wanted to share it: _______________________________________ When Lei Clijsters died, the headline that bounced around the world networks was: "Father of Kim Clijsters dies at 52." He deserves more than that. "Leo" Clijsters certainly was the proud papa who managed the careers of his daughters, the former tennis No. 1, Kim Clijsters, and her sister, Elke. But it is disingenuous to leave the impression of him as a tennis father. First and foremost, Clijsters was a soccer player who led a modest club, Mechelen, to the last major European trophy any Belgian team has won in 20 years. He was a defender, a libero, in his nation's finest soccer hours, its World Cup semifinal in 1986 and the World Cup second round in 1990. "He brought tranquillity to the field," Bruno Versavel, a younger teammate said Monday. "He was like a protective father to me when I came into the team. We roomed together, and he taught me at times when to be modest." Modest, tranquil, private - yet visibly proud, competitive, communicative in action. During the 1990 World Cup, he stepped out of character to score Belgium's first goal against Uruguay in Verona - a bullet of a header - and it said much about him that the two other scorers, Enzo Scifo and Jan Ceulemans, followed his lead. Rest of article:http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/01/...rts/robweb.php He was, according to this article, quite the man. And it gives you a much better picture that when we all cringed at times hearing Kim saying that family was so much more important than tennis, it was a lesson imparted to her from her father.
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