Utrecht University's Executive Board is expected to make an important decision on the future of Olympos this year. The current sports centre is due for renewal in 2028 and, as owner of land, fields and buildings, Utrecht University (UU) must decide how best to do so.
Recently, the Utrecht Sports Council (Sportraad Utrecht) - as the main representative of student athletes - and the management of Olympos have been advocating for more space for student sports in various ways. This issue also has the attention of Utrecht’s politicians, as was recently expressed at the so-called Council Information Meeting at Olympos on 26 March.
There, the city of Utrecht, UU, the University of Applied Sciences Utrecht (HU) and Olympos again spoke out in favour of establishing a covenant to work together more on solutions to the shortage of sports hall and field space.
There is much scientific and practical evidence of the great value of sports for the wellbeing and social development of practitioners in general and students in particular. You can read that evidence in the papers of the said Council Information Meeting (see below under ‘important links’). Sports Council chairman Niels Vreeswijk and his colleagues from various student sports clubs, together with Olympos managing director Cees Verhoef, put the facts and figures well in order. This lead to the conclusion that a generous investment in future accommodation for student sports is highly recommended. The Mulier Institute recently conducted research (see the report: Room for sport at Utrecht Science Park 2023 - 2040 - in Dutch) and has come to the same conclusion.
In this conviction, the Sports Council and the Olympos management look expectantly at the upcoming decision-making within the UU. In doing so, they do not close their eyes to the complexity of the issues facing the university in the area development at the Utrecht Science Park. Different dynamic interests demand space and money, and the most balanced possible answer must be found to these. DUB Magazine recently outlined this in an extensive article. In this context, it is all the more important to put the added value of sport for student welfare fully in the spotlight and underline once again what is self-evident to many athletes.