Sports is a very popular hobby for a lot of people worldwide and is scientifically proven to have a positive effect on mental health. Here in The Netherlands, 56% of the Dutch population from age 4 and above took part in sports in 2023, according to the Central Bureau for Statistics (CBS). Of course, most of them play with Dutch players. How difficult is it to play sports in Zwolle as an international student? And who can help the international students in finding a sports team?
Short answer to the first question: quite difficult. There are a few reasons to explain that, but the most important one would be the language barrier. Although the level of English is quite high for Dutch people, it could still be difficult to adapt as an English speaking international inside a full-Dutch team or a club. That’s also what Ioan, an international student from Romania, experienced when coming to Zwolle. Ever since he came here, he’s looking for a team to play basketball, but it turned out harder than he thought. “The biggest problem has to be the lack of communication. If there are any active sport clubs, they don’t promote themselves good enough”, he says. The language barrier also plays a role for him. “I bet speaking Dutch would’ve helped me to connect with more people and maybe find it faster.”
So, what can you do when you’re an international student in Zwolle, and want to play sports? Finding a sport club on your own can be difficult but could be an option, but because of the struggles international students have with finding a suitable club, the Erasmus Student Network (ESN) has started a pilot to help students with their search. Ryan de Jong explains: “With this pilot we’re setting up sport teams for international students, so they can play sports together. This way we’re hoping to lower the barrier from them to join a team.” And they are not doing it without a reason. Although the inventory process is still going on, they’re estimating about twenty to thirty students want to take part in sports this semester, Ryan says, which are spread across the three sports for which ESN will set up a team: soccer, volleyball and basketball. There are also international students who search for Dutch teams themselves, but they don’t always succeed. “The teams we’re setting up for those three sports are focused directly on international students but are guided by a Dutch volunteer of ESN to keep up the contact with our partner clubs.”
Other alternatives
Besides playing a team sports, a very popular way of physical exercise in The Netherlands is going to the gym. Especially since the Covid-pandemic, more people bought a membership to their local gym, and more facilities have opened according to numbers from BoldData. Only in Zwolle, there are about twenty different public gyms to go to. One of them is On Campus, here on the Windesheim Campus in Zwolle. There is a gym, a swimming pool, a climbing wall and a few gymnasiums you can use with a membership.
Try-out
Even though there are already students that want to take part in sports, the trajectory with the sport teams of ESN is still a pilot for this semester. That means they will try it out for this semester and evaluate afterwards how it went. “After this semester we’ll evaluate if it worked, if there’s enough enthusiasm, at what clubs it works and at what clubs it doesn’t work”, says Ryan. “For example, maybe we didn’t have enough players for basketball, so we have to complete that team with Dutch students. So, we’ll look how it went this semester and improve the program for next semester.” So even though the language barrier – in some cases – makes it (more) difficult, it’s not impossible to play sports in The Netherlands and Zwolle!