Platform for Sport Entrepreneurs gives martial arts gyms a voice too

Update December 2024: the message below is now out of date. The Nederlandse Vechtsportautoriteit (Dutch Martial Arts Authority) was a satisfied member of the POS for almost five years. For a regulator, membership was not self-evident, but in the absence of an umbrella federation able to represent the interests of martial arts entrepreneurs, the VA temporarily took on this task. With the establishment of the NVB there is now a federation that will take over the representation of martial arts entrepreneurs. This is therefore a logical moment for the VA to end its membership of the POS. The VA is grateful to the POS for its efforts on behalf of martial arts entrepreneurs, which proved highly valuable during the coronavirus period in particular.

The Platform Ondernemende Sportaanbieders (POS, Platform for Sport Entrepreneurs) was conceived in 2019 to give commercial sport providers a clear voice. The POS represents, among others, fitness centres, climbing halls, dance schools, riding stables and martial arts gym owners. Last week the organisation was formally established and registered as a foundation. This is an important step in the young life of the platform, of which the VA is also a member.

Where sport is concerned, the Netherlands has traditionally looked to conventional sports clubs with members. They are united in sports federations such as the KNVB (football) and the KNLTB (tennis) and affiliated with NOC*NSF (the Dutch Olympic Committee and Sports Confederation). The VA is an associate member of this important umbrella sports organisation. But in 2021, more than half of all Dutch people play sport in a different way (as well). They have a subscription to a fitness centre or a class card at a kickboxing gym, pay per round of golf or sign up for a Mud Run. Entrepreneurs offering these sports were rarely heard in political and social debates.

The Platform Ondernemende Sportaanbieders was set up to change this. Since 2019, 16 sectors have joined, representing more than six thousand sport providers where over 8 million people play sport. In recent months the POS has represented sport providers in political circles in The Hague. It sat down with the minister, for instance, to argue for a faster reopening of sport. The underlying idea: during the coronavirus period, sport is not part of the problem but part of the solution. The POS also brought issues surrounding the support measures for sport entrepreneurs to the attention of parliament and the government.

Annelies Pleyte, Director of Sport at the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (ministerie van Volksgezondheid, Welzijn en Sport), congratulates the POS on its formal establishment. “It is good that the POS now officially exists. We have seen for some time that commercial sport plays an important role in the total range of sport on offer in the Netherlands.”

Gerard Dielissen, director of NOC*NSF, also responded positively: “Sport entrepreneurs are an indispensable part of the Dutch sports infrastructure. At NOC*NSF we look forward to further intensifying our cooperation with the POS.”

Initiators Haike Blaauw (FNRS), Lodewijk Klootwijk (NVG) and Patrick Rijnbeek (NLActief) will take seats on the board of the POS.

The VA is therefore now a member of both NOC*NSF and the POS in order to represent the interests of the martial arts sector.