NOC*NSF wants to move towards a healthier country with Sports Agenda 2032

To achieve this, a plan has been drawn up which succeeds the Sports Agenda 2017+. It’s a more ambitious approach, says Anneke van Zanen-Nieberg, president of the NOC*NSF. “In the agenda established five years ago, two objectives were formulated: the ambition to belong to the ten best sporting countries in the world and to encourage 10% more Dutch people to play sport. This new agenda is much more precise.”

It will not be a slogan, but Van den Tweel has set itself the ambition that the Netherlands will become “the most sporting country in the world”. Nine objectives have been formulated within the framework of this ambition. This includes, in addition to the desired growth in the number of Dutch people playing sports and the ambition for the top 10 that has been in effect for some time, also the wish that “100% of young sportspeople have an official, instructor, coach or coach whose competence is demonstrated” and that everyone feels welcome in a socially safe and inclusive sporting environment. Van den Tweel: “We can achieve this not only thanks to the associative structure, but also, for example, thanks to the collaboration with fitness clubs, health organizations or event agencies.”

Pressure

Van den Tweel and Van Zanen reject criticism of the pressure that top 10 ambition seems to entail. The director emphasizes the synergy between high level sport and leisure sport. Van Zanen insists that points for improvement in terms of orientation, which are usually formulated in so-called lines of action, also apply to top-level sport. “Things have certainly gone wrong there, but we shouldn’t underestimate the mobility power of top-level sport. Better performances also get more people into sport.”

Van den Tweel stresses that the Sports Agenda 2032 is not something whose success should only be felt in ten years. “It needs to get off the paper as soon as possible. It’s a ten-year process that is already being worked on and will become visible in the years to come.”