Sport in the Netherlands

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As in most countries, sport is practised by many inhabitants of the Netherlands, mostly at recreational level. About 4.5 million of the 16 million people are registered to one of the 35,000 sports clubs in the country. About two thirds of the population older than 15 years participates in sports weekly. Additionally, many Dutch enjoy watching sports events from the stands or on television. Passionate supporters of their national teams, Dutch fans are well-known for wearing bright orange, often-extravagant clothing and accessories to sports events, and whole blocks of stadia may be dominated by orange-clad Dutch supporters.

The most popular sports, both for active participation and audience are football, cycling, speed skating, field hockey and tennis.^{[citation needed]}

Like in most European countries, organisation of sports began at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. Federations for sports were established (such as the speed skating federation in 1882), rules were unified and clubs for sports came into existence. A Dutch National Olympic Committee was established in 1912.

In the four most popular sports, international successes vary. In football, the Dutch won three Olympic bronze medals in 1908, 1912 and 1920. Other successes came in the 1970s, when the national team played in the 1974 and 1978 Football World Cup finals, losing to the tournament's host on both occasions. In the same period, Dutch league sides Ajax Amsterdam and Feyenoord Rotterdam won European Cups from 1970 to 1973. In 1988, the national team won the only international title so far at the European Championships. PSV Eindhoven won the European Cup that year too. Ajax again won the European Cup in 1995. Many Dutch football players have gained international fame, such as Johan Cruijff, Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit, Dennis Bergkamp, Edwin van der Sar and Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Rugby union is also played in the Netherlands, the Netherlands national rugby union team have been playing since 1930.

Cycling is a major form of transportation in the Netherlands, and Dutch cyclists have had some international successes. Two Dutchmen have won the Tour de France, and seven have been World Champion on the road. On the track, several Olympic titles have been won, although most not in recent years. Leontien van Moorsel won three Olympic gold medals at the 2000 Sydney Games, while Erik Dekker won the 2001 Cycling World Cup.

After a successful period around 1900, with Jaap Eden and Coen de Koning as World Champions, Dutch speed skating successes became numerous in the 1960s. Champions Kees Verkerk and Ard Schenk were immensely popular, causing a real speed skating hype in the country. Successes continue up to today, with the likes of Yvonne van Gennip (3 Olympic golds in 1988), Rintje Ritsma (4-time World Champion) and Jochem Uytdehaage (2 Olympic golds in 2002). Thialf Stadium in Heerenveen was the first indoor 400m speedskating oval in the world and remains a world-class facility today.

Tennis, while popular, has never produced many champions. Most successful were Richard Krajicek, who won Wimbledon in 1996, and the Paul Haarhuis/Jacco Eltingh doubles team, which won many Grand Slam titles.

The Netherlands boasts the most successful national baseball team in Europe, winning the European Baseball Championship nineteen times and frequently representing the continent in international competitions such as the World Baseball Classic and Baseball World Cup. There is a domestic professional baseball league whose best team, Neptunus of Rotterdam, regularly contends for the European club championship, including five consecutive titles from 2000-2004.

Baseball is especially popular in the Netherlands-owned island of Curacao. In 2005, the Pabao Little League Champions of Willemstad advanced all the way to the championship game in the Little League World Series. Atlanta Braves outfielder, Andruw Jones is arguably the most successful and popular baseball player to emerge from the Netherlands, and in 2006, was a member of the Netherlands national baseball team that participated in the inaugural World Baseball Classic.

The Netherlands women's national field hockey team is the most successful team in World Cup history, having won the title six times. The Dutch male hockey team has won the world cup three times.

Pieter van den Hoogenband is a triple Olympic champion and the current world record holder in 100 m freestyle swimming. Inge de Bruijn has won four Olympic swimming medals.

Anton Geesink was the first non-Japanese to win an Olympic gold medal in Judo in 1964. He is a twice World Judo Champion.

A number of native Dutch sports is also practised, such as fierljeppen (polsstokverspringen), beugelen, kaatsen, klootschieten, kolven and korfball.

[edit] See also

• Dutch Sportsman of the year

[edit] External links

• NL Planet - Sport in the Netherlands