A turning point for Dutch sport

In 2021, half of the Netherlands’ population of 17.5 million played sport at least once a week, with 15 per cent of Dutch people exercising more than four times a week, according to a report from the Netherlands national government. The country has 28,000 sports clubs, 23,000 of which are affiliated with one of its 100 sports associations, which have a total of 5.5 million members. It is also home to 11,000 kilometres of hiking trails, 37,000 kilometres of cycle paths, 36,000 hectares of recreational facilities and 6,600 commercial sports providers, including fitness clubs, swimming pools, dance schools and riding schools.

In terms of high-performance sport, the Dutch National Olympic Committee – known as at the NOC*NSF following its merger with the Nederlandse Sport Federatie (NSF) in 1993 – provides support and funding for 4,600 athletes and 26,000 coaches as part of its aim to make the Netherlands one of the world’s top 10 sporting nations. In addition to its efforts to promote sports participation and physical activity at grassroots level, the NOC*NSF devotes its energies to boosting funding for sport, supporting the country’s sports federations, and adding value to high-performance sports development.

Hosting the Olympic Games played a significant role in the promotion and development of competitive and recreational sport in the Netherlands, for several reasons. At the Organising Committee’s invitation, prior to the Games, the country’s sports federations devised and implemented new training methods in exchange for funding. This brought instant dividends in the sporting arena, with Dutch athletes winning 19 medals at Amsterdam 1928, nine more than at Paris 1924. Beyond the sporting arenas, the Dutch artists also came away with 2 gold medals in the Art Olympiad; the combined medal total ranked the Netherlands in third place in the medal ranking.

The Games of the IX Olympiad also helped to shift the public perception of sport and physical activity, making them more acceptable and highlighting their health benefits. Dutch officials and politicians did their part by making more public money available for sport.

Another catalyst in the growth of sport in the Netherlands during the late 1920s and early 1930s – a period marked by a global economic crisis – was the implementation of a job creation programme to fight rising unemployment. Whilst the Dutch economy was not impacted leading up to the 1928 Olympic Games, the country was ultimately hit by the crisis in 1929.  In the years that followed, under the job creation programme, local councils around the country hired workers to build new sports grounds, and as more sports facilities became available, Dutch people began joining clubs in ever greater numbers.

This growth was particularly evident in Amsterdam, where the number of swimming pools and sports club memberships increased after the Games. The Olympic Stadium solidified Amsterdam’s status as the country’s sporting capital by hosting national football team matches and other major events.

The surge in the popularity of sport occurred despite strong opposition from religious and socialist groups. Before the 1928 Games, they protested against the competitive nature of sport, the perceived immorality of men and women wearing little in the way of clothing, sporting events being held on Sundays, the glorification of famous athletes, and mass attendance at sporting events.