It is no longer possible for many children and young people in the Netherlands to play sports at the club of their choice. Especially in larger cities, a growing number of amateur sports clubs have a waiting list or membership freeze, especially for the youngest generations, because they have too little space for new members or too few volunteers to keep the club running.
This can be concluded from a new study by the Mulier Institute, a research agency in sports, commissioned by the umbrella organization of sports associations NOC-NSF, the results of which NRC have been shared. One in ten amateur sports clubs in the Netherlands no longer accepts new members because there is no room for them. In highly urban areas, especially the Randstad, this is the case with twenty percent of the clubs.
In total, around 3,000 amateur sports clubs have a waiting list or membership freeze. Adults face waiting lists, but not as often as children and youth. In almost a third of cases it affects the youngest youth, and in more than 20 percent of the clubs that have a waiting list, young people between the ages of 12 and 17 can no longer go.
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The largest sports association in the Netherlands, the KNVB football association (more than 1.2 million members), does not respond when asked NRC know that the problem in that sport is big. A quarter of the football clubs have a waiting list. A shortage of fields (37 percent) and a lack of changing rooms (19 percent) are the main causes of this. There are football clubs with a waiting list of a handful of people, but sometimes there are more than 900 people waiting.
Physical and mental health
It has been becoming increasingly clear for some time now that amateur sports clubs are reaching their limits. At the beginning of this year it became apparent that there are waiting lists at several thousand associations and the lack of volunteers is also known. The new research makes the problems even more concrete. In January, the sports umbrella organization NOC-NSF, the KNVB football association and many medical and youth organizations presented a manifesto calling on the cabinet to invest in space for sports. Two ministers accepted it, but nothing concrete happened. In fact, the now outgoing government has planned major cuts in sports facilities – which are often outdated.
We must make firm agreements about reserving sports space in existing and new residential areas
General director Marc van den Tweel of NOC-NSF is very concerned, he said by telephone. “You want to give children and young people, even in larger cities, the opportunity to play sports and exercise. We must make firm agreements about reserving sports space in existing and new residential areas. If we do not do this, it will have a negative effect on physical and mental health and on social cohesion in neighborhoods,” he says.
Van den Tweel is afraid that membership stops and waiting lists will lead to fewer people joining an association and then not exercising at all. This is not yet the case: approximately half of children and young people under the age of 18 are members of a sports club and that share is relatively stable since 2016. In adults it has fluctuated around 19 percent for years.
However, half of all Dutch people do not exercise enough to live a healthy life. This leads to cardiovascular disease and conditions such as type 2 diabetes and around 5,800 preventable deaths per year. Being overweight is according to the latter Public Health Future Outlook (2024) from the RIVM is an increasingly serious problem. It is expected that 64 percent of Dutch people will be overweight in 2050.
The right to exercise
The central government, provinces and municipalities are not legally obliged to facilitate sports and accommodations such as fields and halls. Traditionally, the Netherlands has had many opportunities for sports and a flourishing club life, but according to Marc van den Tweel, the new figures show that the supply is under pressure. He therefore advocates a legal obligation for governments to organize sports: a Sports Act. A number of political parties want such a law and government advisor the Dutch Sports Council previously also advocated it.
NOC-NSF was always reluctant, afraid of bureaucracy. That is different now, says Van den Tweel: “Sport is vulnerable in the battle for space because the right to it is not legally established. That is the underlying problem of waiting lists and membership stops, especially in the cities. Just like with libraries, we therefore want governments to have an obligation to ensure there are enough sports facilities for everyone.”
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The waiting lists, membership stops and the lack of volunteers are felt by associations every weekend. There are clubs where people register their children before they are born, just to get a spot. Board members often have the greatest difficulty making layouts for training, competitions and changing rooms, so that all members can exercise. Of the clubs that have waiting lists, 64 percent say in the Mulier survey that there is an overall lack of space.
It sometimes leads to strange situations. For example, the triathlon association (running, cycling, swimming) would like to have more than the current 11,000 members, but is hesitant about a membership recruitment campaign, because many associations no longer have the capacity for swimming. It is still possible to become a youth member of triathlon clubs, but children are not allowed to swim.
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