Dutch sports associations have difficulty enthusing young people for sports activities. That according to research published Thursday that was carried out by research agency Kantar Public on behalf of sports umbrella organization NOC*NSF. A strong outflow from sports clubs has been noticeable for years, especially among 13 to 18-year-olds.
Among adolescents, between the ages of 13 and 18, a quarter do not participate in any sport at all. For younger children aged 5 to 12 this is 13 percent. As soon as young people enter puberty, their sports activities often decrease. For example, 62 percent of ten-year-olds in the Netherlands were members of a sports club, while for eighteen-year-olds this was only 28 percent. Two-thirds of thirteen-year-old Dutch people do sport weekly. Among primary school students, that figure is 79 percent.
There are several reasons why young people are less inclined to join a sports club. Fixed training times, other hobbies and not being able to pay contributions are perceived as barriers. By way of comparison: among Dutch people between the ages of 19 and 44, the sports umbrella organization sees a lack of time as a major factor in not exercising. A busy job and having children make it more difficult for this group to plan sports activities.
The NOC*NSF wanted to use the survey, in which it questioned about six thousand respondents between the ages of 5 and 80, to examine sports behavior in the Netherlands. Participation in sports in general has increased slightly in recent years, while the number of members in a sports club has decreased slightly in recent years.
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