Duivendrecht During the council meeting of November 7, all factions of Ouder-Amstel (Ouder-Amstel Anders, VVD, Natuur Belang, D66, GroenLinks, PvdA and Amstelland Lokaal) submitted a motion aimed at investing in sports facilities in Duivendrecht. In this motion, the factions request attention to enter into discussions with the sports clubs to investigate whether the field and hall capacity of the local sports facilities is still sufficient.
The factions want to map out the current problems and look at future challenges. With the planned new construction in Duivendrecht and the surrounding area, it must be taken into account that more residents will take up sports. This brings the faction to the following motion: “The council requests the council to:
1. Talk to sports clubs in Duivendrecht to identify their needs and wishes, so that the facilities meet the wishes of the clubs and their (future) members.
2. To draw up an investment plan for the expansion and improvement of the sports facilities in Duivendrecht, with special attention to the adaptation and construction of sufficient football and volleyball fields.
3. Submit this plan to the council within 5 months at the latest, so that the required investments can be realized quickly.”
SPORTS OFFER
Duivendrecht has an insightful sports offering and the use of sports facilities, from both sports clubs and social organizations: badminton, darts, Klaverjacks, (indoor) football, volleyball, Tai Chi, walking, senior sports, gymnastics, yoga and walking. You can swim in the Amstelbad. In view of the motion, the football club CTO’70, the volleyball club CTO’70 and the badminton club CTO’70 are in any case included in the picture, to reflect their wishes regarding future facilities. Publications provide some insight into this need, although an up-to-date picture is of course desirable. For the idea: the objective of the sports umbrella organization NOC*NSF is to have 12 million citizens who participate in sports every week by 2032 (2024: 9.7 million). To achieve this (national and local sports policy), sports clubs must grow and have sufficient playing capacity. In 2024, 4.5 million Dutch people will be affiliated with a sports club, which should grow to 5 million by 2032. This requires expansion of sports facilities, and certainly also strong and vital sports clubs.
FOOTBALL
In a recent interview with board members Paul Cramer and Erik Wilders it became clear that football club CTO’70 is already experiencing problems on their training fields. The club plays on the fields of De Hoop sports park: two fields and half a green strip that serves as a training field. Various target groups cannot train in wet weather, this is too dangerous. But training is necessary for competition rhythm. The need has become concrete due to expansion in (youth) teams and last year with Walking Football (seniors 55+). The club hopes that the green strip can be replaced by half an artificial grass field. In addition, last summer the association was busy making changing rooms more sustainable and improving. The question remains whether the field capacity will be sufficient, once the new Entrada districts, the Amstel Design District (ADD) and De Nieuwe Kern are all completed. Field capacity will also be added to the SMH (Smart Mobility Hub) in due course.
OTHER SPORTS
The badminton club has room for new members, and this also applies to the Klaverjas club. There have been calls for this recently. The badminton club is active on Wednesday evenings in the sports hall of the Village Hall. These sports clubs would also like to see improvements to their accommodation. It is known that the bright light in the hall occasionally hinders the shuttlers in their shots. Volleyball club CTO’70 wants playing fields that meet the competition standards. The room is too small in height and width. The exact needs will be included in the upcoming inventory.
GROWTH
The focus remains on strong and vital sports clubs, but also on new sports and exercise associations. Nationally, research by the RVVB (Register of Association Directors) has revealed that sports clubs experience problems with: volunteer shortages, finances, insufficient or overly burdened directors and too many laws and regulations. In addition to an inventory of facilities, continuation and growth of sports clubs (and total sports offering) is necessary for a sporting society in Duivendrecht.
Henk P. Blok
