Deserving praise by both candidates, participants, businesses and schools for a smoothly organized EBC*L’s Champions League first round, six Dutch contestants won a ticket  to participate in January’s Champions League finals in Vienna. Holland kicked off a number of national contests in eleven countries in the run up to the competition in Austria. Other countries are to follow in Hollands footsteps over the coming weeks.

Bert Wissink, Dutch representative for EBC*L, was applauded for the event in Zwolle-based Deltion College by the highly motivated EBC*L level A-holders. “Our goal was to be able to represent the Netherlands with powerful contestants in Vienna – and we clearly succeeded in that” Wissink states very content

The Dutch representative rounded up the event by answering some severe business questions. Moreover interesting contacts were established during the day between businesses and schools, hence the intermediary function of the EBC*L between knowledge and practice was emphasized..

Candidates passing their EBC*L exam between September 2009 and September 2010 with top scores were invited to this first (national) round of the EBC*L Champions League. The Champions League exam included mostly ECB*L Level A topics, namely Business Administration, with some components from the ECB*L Level B curriculum, which teaches Business Planning. National leagues are held in their own respective languages, while the International Champions League exam is conducted in English.

The EBC*L was supported by a representative of the Dutch Education Ministry, Mr. Rinke Zonneveld. He stressed the importance of the exam, providing students with a major knowledge of how to run a business. “This will mean a quality-enhancing boost to Dutch entrepreneurs. In the initial phase they tend to run into trouble lacking the necessary business skills. EBC*L ‘injects’ them with this knowledge.”

Zonnevelds words were inhaled with pleasure by Deltion College manager Michiel Bilstra. “We provide a business environment for the students, educating them as good as we can to become entrepreneurs. We embrace the EBC*L initiative, because at Deltion College we believe that business courage alone is not sufficient to become a successful entrepreneur. Additional knowledge is crucial to survive in business.”.

But finally: what about the six contestants who will be packing their bags in a few weeks’ time? They were exuberant being given the opportunity to become Europe’s champion! “It won’t be easy, especially because the exam is conducted in English but I certainly give my very best go for it”, one of them said.

These are the business-competence champions from the Netherlands.