Karel Willem Adriaan Beukema toe Water (4 January 1878 – 8 January 1908) was a Dutch diplomat,

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for

HVV The Hamburger Verkehrsverbund (HVV) () is a transport association coordinating public transport in and around Hamburg, Germany. Its main objectives are to provide a unified fare system, requiring only a single ticket for journeys with transfers ...

, and a

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

player who won the Dutch singles championships in 1899, 1900, and 1902, winning the 1899 doubles with his brother, Frits.

Sporting career

Born in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

on 4 January 1878, Beukema began playing tennis for the Leimonias Club from

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

, winning the first official Dutch Tennis Championship in 1899, which he followed with two more in 1900 and 1902, all in singles, as well as a doubles title in 1899, together with his brother Frits. In 1903, he faced Wimbledon champion

Laurence Doherty Hugh Laurence Doherty (8 October 1875 – 21 August 1919) was a British tennis player and the younger brother of tennis player Reginald Doherty. He was a six-time Grand Slam champion and a double Olympic Gold medalist at the Tennis at the 1900 ...

in the final of an international tournament in

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...

, narrowly losing (6–4, 6–4). Three years later, in 1906, he participated in the tennis events of the

1906 Intercalated Games The 1906 Intercalated Games or 1906 Olympic Games (), held from 22 April 1906 to 2 May 1906, was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated in Athens, Kingdom of Greece. They were at the time considered to be Olympic Games and were re ...

, reaching the quarter finals in both

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

and doubles, partnering up with fellow countryman

Gerard Scheurleer Gerard Scheurleer (29 May 1886 – 11 October 1948), was a Dutch field hockey and tennis player who represented the Netherlands at the Intercalated Games. At the 1906 Intercalated Games he won his first three rounds of the singles event against G ...

, with whom he founded the Dutch interclub tennis competition. He was noted for his physical strength and attacking play, two uncommon qualities at the time. Beukema also played

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

with HCC, and football with HVV, featuring as a right winger. In the 1898–99 season, the Beukema brothers helped HVV reach the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

of the

1898–99 KNVB Cup The 1898–99 KNVB Cup was the 1st staging of the KNVB Cup. The final was originally planned to be played in Utrecht on the Hercules ground, but it was later moved to Heemstede and played there on 7 May 1899. The cup winner was RAP Amsterdam, bea ...

, which ended in a 1–0 loss to

RAP Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates " rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backin ...

after

extra-time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

. The following year, they were members of the HVV team that participated in the first edition of the

Coupe Van der Straeten Ponthoz The Coupe Van der Straeten Ponthoz, also known as Coupe Ponthoz, was an international competition for football clubs from Europe that ran from 1900 to 1907. It was one of the first European club football tournaments and is considered a predecesso ...

1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15 ...

, regarded by many as the first-ever European club trophy, helping their side reach another final, which ended in another loss to RAP.

Diplomatic career

After graduating in law at

Utrecht University Utrecht University (UU; , formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public university, public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2023, it had an enrollment of ...

, Beukema entered diplomatic service and moved to Turkey, becoming acting consul in Constantinople in 1906. where he died on 8 January 1908, at the age of only 30, having developed typhoid fever a few weeks earlier.

Honours

Tennis

* Dutch Tennis Championship (singles) **Champions (3): 1899, 1900, and 1902 * Dutch Tennis Championship (doubles) **Champions (1): 1899

Football

;

* Dutch championship: **Champions (3): 1899–1900, 1900–01, 1901–02 *

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; ), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organised by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside the N ...

: **Runner-up (1): 1898–99 *

: **Runner-up (1):

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beukema, Karel 1878 births 1908 deaths Sportspeople from Tokyo Dutch male tennis players Olympic tennis players for the Netherlands Tennis players at the 1906 Intercalated Games Dutch men's footballers Men's association football forwards HVV Den Haag players 20th-century Dutch sportsmen