Equal opportunities for all children while playing outside are unfortunately not yet a given, even though it is so important for their development. Today, at the first Cruyff Foundation Conference, we explored this important theme with sports professionals.
This conference is organised by the SAGE-Erasmus+ program, co-funded by the European Union, which is now coming to an end. Partners in this program were the Fundación Cruyff (Spain), Utrecht University, and IFK Göteborg (Sweden).
Currently, the percentage of girls who exercise daily is significantly lower than that of boys. For our Cruyff Courts, 80% of the participants boys compared to 20% girls. Research shows that girls in puberty are also more vulnerable to quitting sports compared to boys. This trend could lead to an increase in physical and mental health issues in the long term, a decrease in social interactions, and lower productivity in the workplace.
First Cruyff Foundation Conference
Today was the first Cruyff Foundation Conference, where we collaborated with sports professionals to seek solutions to important questions. Ambassador Kira Toussaint was the chairwoman and guided us through the program. Women Win, led by Alexandra Bozuwa, gave a presentation about their approach to improving rights for girls through sports, making women more economically resilient, and enabling philanthropy for everyone.
Ambassador Barbara Barend took over with a presentation about Hera United – the very first women's professional football club in the Netherlands.
Active workshops
Participants could then choose from a variety of workshops. Dr. Inge Claringbould and Chris Nooij of Utrecht University took us through their interactive workshop on how girls participate in street sports and the obstacles they encounter. Karlijn van den Boon and Luka Merlijn from the Anne Frank Foundation taught us to think about attitudes and choices around the themes of discrimination and inclusion during their Fair Play workshop. Linda Hooijer, Jose van Rijswijk and Anne Leeflang from the municipality of Apeldoorn presented their project on creating inclusive public spaces for girls and the willingness to change these spaces by getting girls actively involved, in collaboration with HAN University. Axel Boomgaard and the Foundation Champions shared the results of the SAGE-project, and taught us about the toolkit that was specially developed for coaches and youth workers who should be actively involved. The last two workshop components were the final results of the SAGE-Erasmus+ project.
With a wealth of new insights, the professionals went home:
- More female sports coaches as role models
- Safe and inclusive play spaces where the coach must utilise specific skills
- Stronger collaboration between schools, clubs, and other organisations
- Give girls the opportunity to contribute with their input