ABSTRACT
The Netherlands is a small, densely populated and rather prosperous country located on the coast of north-western Europe, with a population of about 16.7 million. With 4.8 million members in nearly 25,000 sport clubs, this organizational structure forms the heart of competitive sport participation in the Netherlands. The Dutch have a long sports tradition, both in terms of grassroots sports and elite sports performance. The average ranking of the Netherlands on the summer Olympic medal index since 1960 has been eighteenth position, with a lowest ranking in 1980 (thirtieth) and a highest in 2000 (eighth). Since 1996, the average ranking has been rather stable at around thirteenth position with a market share of 2 per cent of all Olympic medals (Dijk, De Bosscher & van Bottenburg, 2014).1 Abroad, Dutch performance in elite sports is mainly related to the results and playing style of the men’s national football team – ‘brilliant orange’ (Winner, 2000). Apart from football as the most prestigious, professional and globalized sport, Dutch athletes have performed especially well in swimming and speed skating. The Dutch Olympic committee and sports federation NOC*NSF initiated a focus sports policy in 2012, investing a relatively high budget share in only a few sports, a strategy that had been successfully implemented in several other countries since the 1980s (Van Bottenburg, Dijk & De Bosscher, 2014; NOC*NSF, 2012).2 Such a budget differentiation was initiated to eventually effectuate the long-term top-ten ambition, which was formulated after the successful summer Olympic Games in Sydney 2000. NOC*NSF aims at a structural top-ten position in the world regarding elite sports performance for the Netherlands.
