Onze Club Is Van Iedereen (Our Club Belongs to Everyone): more than a slogan

Martial arts bring together people from many different cultural backgrounds. That does not mean, however, that we can stand aside in public discussions about inclusion. This is why the VA takes part in the project Onze Club Is Van Iedereen (Our Club Belongs to Everyone) run by NOC*NSF, the Dutch national sports umbrella organisation. The aim is to actively counter racism and other forms of discrimination.

The martial arts community wants everyone to feel at home in the gym and at events. Whatever your background, whatever you look like, whatever your circumstances: everyone has the right to be respected and accepted. Discrimination is unacceptable. That is what is meant by "inclusion": the sport belongs to everyone, and everyone can take part.

The word "everyone" does not only refer to the colour of your skin or the country you or your parents come from. It concerns many more aspects of who a person is: poor or wealthy, with or without a disability, straight or gay, city dweller or country dweller, professor or primary school only, religious or not.

NOC*NSF is the sports umbrella organisation of the Netherlands. This means that virtually all sports federations are members of this organisation. Alongside NOC*NSF, the Netherlands also has the Platform Ondernemende Sportaanbieders (POS, the platform for commercial sports providers), which represents commercial martial arts gyms among others. All these sports have agreed with one another to do their best to welcome everyone. Sports clubs and gyms must be accessible to all. This is why the project Onze Club Is Van Iedereen was launched.

Within Onze Club Is Van Iedereen, clubs can make free use of a tailored training programme to answer the question "How do we treat one another within the club?" together. This gives volunteers and staff of sports clubs practical tools. The theatre performance "Ik wou weer dat het weekend was" (I wish it were the weekend again) by the theatre company Live your story is part of this training programme.

VA director Farid Gamei recently attended the Nationale Sport Vakbeurs 2023 (National Sports Trade Fair 2023) in Gorinchem to tell visitors about the project. "We hope that federations and clubs will seize this opportunity to make real progress on inclusion, because we want to prevent people from being excluded, and that does not always happen by itself."

Onze Club Is Van Iedereen is carried out by NOC*NSF, in cooperation with the POS and actively involved federations, among others: NBB, NHV, Nevobo, NL Actief, Nederlandse Vechtsportautoriteit (the Dutch Martial Arts Authority), KNCB, Badminton Nederland, KNHB, KNLTB and KRNB. It is financially supported by the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (ministerie van VWS).

Would you like to know more? Please contact the VA at info@vechtsportautoriteit.nl