On Wednesday 1 November, the third Cruyff Court Plus in Apeldoorn was officially opened. By agreement with the Municipality of Apeldoorn, there were to be three 'Plus' Courts and this has now been realised with the latest opening of Cruyff Court Plus Sprenkelaar. So this is Apeldoorn's third Cruyff Court Plus, but only the fourth worldwide. Pretty special!
''Alone you can't do anything, you have to do it together''. A famous quote by Johan Cruyff which, according to Desmond Post, Project Manager at the Cruyff Foundation, best describes the cooperation with the Municipality of Apeldoorn. This applies both to the cooperation with the municipality itself as well as with the local residents of Apeldoorn. Because what makes a Cruyff Court 'Plus' so special is that, for these Courts, the needs of children, youngsters and local parties from the neighbourhood are included.
This resulted in a fantastic multifunctional Cruyff Court that not only featured a football pitch, but also a volleyball court, 3X3 basketball court, teqball table (teqball is a combination of football, table tennis and footvolley), chess tables and play elements. The basketball court will get another beautiful, colourful graphic of Johan Cruyff on the asphalt. During the opening, the children present were the first to admire the design.
Niels Meijer, director of the Cruyff Foundation, said he was also very happy with the cooperation: ''The Cruyff Foundation focuses on children and youngster for whom sport is not a matter of course. We notice a need among municipalities for this new concept where our outdoor sport facilities are designed and used together and the wishes of young and old are included."
"Places like this to play, play sports and also meet each other are really important in a neighbourhood. Exercise and sports are fun and healthy in the first place, but the social side is also very valuable. A place like this encourages children and adults from the neighbourhood to meet here and also get to know each other better." indicated alderman sport Sunita Biharie from Apeldoorn municipality very enthusiastically.
Apeldoorn's alderman opened the new Cruyff Court together with the local children by cutting the ribbon. Sportservice Apeldoorn, with the help of youth workers from Stimenz and local top youth footballer Geronimo Londar, then organised a fun afternoon for the children by means of all kinds of activities. The children played a football tournament fanatically, played basketball with great enthusiasm, enjoyed a volleyball match and were introduced to a teqball table. All this made for a great opening of a Court that the neighbourhood is going to enjoy!
