Top-level sport: football, cycling and skating
The Dutch love to cycle, for pleasure as well as to get from A to B. The bicycle is practically a national means of transport. They also enjoy water sports. And when the country’s lakes and ditches freeze over, many Dutch people put on their skates.

Sport is an important part of life in the Netherlands. Hardly surprisingly, therefore, there are thousands of sports clubs in the Netherlands, with a total membership of about 5.7 million. Many other people take part in sport informally. In total, some 7 million people practise a sport in the Netherlands. Around 400,000 volunteers and 20,000 professionals work in sport clubs.

From football to waterpolo
The national game is football. The Dutch football association, KNVB, has a million members, making it the country’s largest sporting organisation. Teams, both professional and amateur, play at various levels every weekend.

Many professional teams have their own modern stadiums - the Amsterdam ArenA, where Ajax play, and the Gelredome in Arnhem, Vitesse’s home base, are among the world’s finest. The Feyenoord stadium in Rotterdam (De Kuip) and PSV Philips stadium in Eindhoven have also made their mark on the game.

As a keen skating country, the Netherlands has dozens of ice rinks with 400-metre tracks and separate areas for ice hockey, figure skating, and short track events. The most famous skating event is Friesland’s 220-kilometre-long Elfstedentocht (“eleven-town tour”), won in 1997 by market gardener Henk Angenent. International skating competitions are regularly held at the Thialf indoor ice stadium in Heerenveen.

Tennis has become very popular in the past decade. With 700,000 members, the KNLTB tennis association is the country’s second largest sporting organisation. Other popular sports include swimming, gymnastics, volleyball, cycling, judo, hockey, golf, handball and korfball.

The Netherlands has long had the world’s foremost water polo league. And golf is gaining in popularity.

Sport and solidarity
Central government holds the view that sport is valuable to society as a whole. It therefore subsidises sports clubs not only to promote healthy living, but also because it recognises their social role. In the large cities, special sporting activities are organised for ethnic minorities to help them integrate into Dutch society.

Sports clubs receive most of their income from membership fees, admission charges and profits from the country’s various lotteries. Top-level sport benefits from commercial sponsorship.

Sports policy is shaped mainly by the national federation of sporting organisations, the NOC*NSF. The top-level sports sector of the NOC*NSF provides social and medical support for men and women who excel in their sports. And the Top-level Sports Fund provides them with funding to enable them to train properly for important events. The elderly, the disabled and the long-term sick also have opportunities to take part in sport.

Sporting excellence
The Netherlands always sends teams to the Olympic Games, the Paralympic Games and the World Games for the Deaf. It also qualifies for European and world championships in various fields of sport.

The Netherlands has a long and vibrant tradition of excellence in many sports. The national football team is renowned worldwide - as are some local teams such as Ajax, Feijenoord and PSV. But the Dutch excel in other sports, too. Jochem Uytdehaage, Gianni Romme, Erben Wennemars and Rintje Ritsma have collected scores of speed skating medals.

And the national men and women’s hockey teams have collected Olympic and world titles. Richard Krajicek (Wimbledon champion in 1996) was a highly successful tennis player, and Anky van Grunsven was a big name in show jumping. Pieter van den Hoogenband and Inge de Bruijn picked up gold medals at the Sydney Olympics in swimming, as did Leontien van Moorsel in cycling.

The national men’s volleyball team were Olympic champions in 1996. And in 2003, Raymond van Barneveld was the world darts champion for the third time, becoming the world’s leading figure in the sport of darts.