A remarkable 1,200 children experienced a sports paradise at the Olympic Stadium today, trying out more than 25 different sports. This event helps children discover which sport fits them best and which ones they can practice at home.
Playing wheelchair basketball with Edwin van der Sar, racing with Frank Rijkaard, playing field hockey with Sarina Wiegman and Jorrit Croon, judo with Carlos Platier and climbing with Kira Toussaint.... It was all possible in the Olympic Stadium today! It was a joy to see all these 1,200 children and our ambassadors in action.
Impactful field day
“Find what you like” is the motto of the Open Day: with this day, the Cruyff Foundation wants to make children permanently enthusiastic about sports. Through a collaboration with Uniek Sporten, the children can immediately explore during the Open Day whether they can also do that sport in their own neighborhood. Jeugdfonds Sport & Cultuur helps these children with the financial means if there are none. In this way we hope that the children find a sport that they can practice permanently, which helps them in their growth and development. This way we want to make a real difference for the children.
Honoring Paralympic and Olympic players
The Open Day is especially for children with disabilities so they can find what they love. Last sports summer they saw their heroes in action and today we are putting these Paralympic and Olympic athletes in the spotlight once again at the official opening of the Open Day.
Children exercise too little
1 in 10 children has a physical or mental disability, which makes sports or exercise not self-evident. Obstacles such as fear or no suitable offer play a role.
In the Netherlands we work with the movement norm, which is even less often achieved by children with disabilities. For example, 60% of children with a mental disability do not exercise every week, for children with a motor disability this is even 83%.
Because of their disability, they often move significantly less in daily life as well. Lack of movement and sitting still too much has enormous consequences for their health. Especially for children with disabilities, exercise is essential! Being fitter and stronger helps them function better despite their obstacles.
This is why we feel it is so important to be of significance for disabled sports and our Open Day is an important moment for this.
Networking Lunch
During the Open Day we also held our Networking Lunch for our relations from the sponsorship house. This day is the perfect opportunity to update them on our recent work and the great projects coming up.
This day was fantastically captured by our photographers:
Jules Pruijn, Bullet-Ray, Marielle van Opbergen, Sebastiaan Nederhoed, Ilse Schaffers & Karin Deraedt.