The Young Ham of the Year for 2023
Kees Van Oosbree, W0AAE

June 30, 2023

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Mark Abramowicz, NT3V, YHOTY Chairman, Amateur Radio Newsline (newsline@arnewsline.org)

Rich Moseson, W2VU, CQ magazine (w2vu@cq-amateur-radio.com)

NEW YORK – Kees Van Oosbree, W0AAE, of Maple Grove, MN, has been selected as the 2023 Bill Pasternak WA6ITF Memorial Amateur Radio Newsline Young Ham of the Year.

Kees, 19. is the son of Mark and Jeanne Van Oosbree.

Kees holds a General Class license earned in August 2018.

He is recent graduate of Heritage Christian Academy in Maple Grove, MN where he was a member of the National Honor Society. He was the valedictorian of his class.

He said a museum visit at the age of 12 exposed him to an amateur radio station sparking his curiosity about the hobby.

Kees said he went online to buy study materials and quickly earned his Technician- and General-Class licenses without the help of an Elmer. He eventually joined the Minnesota Wireless Association.

Kees recalled being drawn to the sound of HF communications and developed an interest in contesting.

“HF was my life,” Kees said. “Contesting is pretty much my main thing in Amateur Radio although I do branch out and do other things.”

Kees made connections with the Youth on the Air – Americas program and stepped up to take on a variety of leadership roles including the training of youth operators, serving as QSL manager for W8Y contacts made with YOTA campers and sharing his interest in remote operating.

Kees said it was on-line research on remote operating that led him to a mentor – Ray Higgins W2RE – who opened the door to a whole new world.

“He gives us unlimited access to these highly-competitive stations that use FlexRadios,” Kees explained. “I was able to do very, very well through that and contesting through DX contesting.” 

Kees said he was one of five youth who were involved in the remote operating program. Now, he said, the ranks of youth remote operators have grown to near 100.

He has earned several awards for his DX and domestic contest activity on SSB and CW over his five short years in amateur radio.

Kees begins college this August at Iowa State University where he will study aerospace engineering. He said ham radio will go with him as he embarks on a research project on satellites.

The YHOTY award will be presented to Kees during a ceremony at the Huntsville Hamfest on Saturday, Aug. 19, 2023 at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

Amateur Radio Newsline, CQ magazine, and Yaesu USA are primary sponsors of the award, along with Heil Sound Ltd. and Radiowavz Antenna Company.

The Young Ham of the Year Award was inaugurated by William Pasternak, WA6ITF, in 1986. Upon his passing in 2015, Bill’s name was added to the award as a memorial to his commitment to recognizing the accomplishments of young people to the Amateur Radio Service.