Team Jumbo-Visma Academy enters into cooperation with cycling clubs
Team Jumbo-Visma Academy will collaborate with seven Dutch cycling associations. The collaboration contributes to the goal of the Academy to get more young people excited about cycling and to get this group on their bikes.
Jaap van Hulten, head of community: “Last autumn, we came into contact with seven associations that were chosen fairly randomly to get to know each other’s worlds better. A number of sessions showed what the biggest challenges for cycling clubs are. We try to help the association by taking the next step. This includes offering our help with recruiting members and sharing knowledge with, for example, sports directors, nutritionists, mechanics and soigneurs.”
“The cooperation with cycling clubs is important because young people register themselves there for cycling. We want to increase the number of children who practice cycling as a sport in the Netherlands and we really need the associations to reach this goal. Team Jumbo-Visma Academy adheres to a vision in which talents are not scouted at a very young age, but in which they stay with their own club as long as possible and above all enjoy cycling. Well-functioning cycling clubs are an essential factor in that process.”
Jan-Willem Prinsen, chairman of WV De Jonge Renner, thinks it is good for cycling that Team Jumbo-Visma does not only think about top sport, but also about grassroots sport. “The fact that Team Jumbo-Visma Academy wants to support and facilitate associations with knowledge and expertise is a great initiative. I work in a secondary school myself and notice that it is difficult to reach young people. By being visible, by organising school clinics for example, young people come into contact with cycling. An association is also present at a school clinic. This way we hope to create a good image of a cycling club towards the target group. In the end, I think that this will provide clubs with more members, but this will be a long-term process.”
The following seven associations are currently involved in Team Jumbo-Visma Academy: Willebrord Wil Vooruit, WV De Jonge Renner, AXA Valleirenners, AR & TV De Adelaar, CC’75, AWV De Zwaluwen and WV De Amstel. In the course of 2020 there will be more clarity about the possibilities for associations that are not currently involved in the cooperation. However, every association in the Netherlands can already apply for a school clinic.
