ABN AMRO and football, field hockey and tennis
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ABN AMRO and sports go hand in hand. For years we have been active in both high-performance and recreational sports – inclusively, for athletes and amateur players with and without a disability. We do this in collaboration with various professionals and organisations. For example, we sponsor the women’s elite football team AFC Ajax Vrouwen, we strive for equal opportunities in field hockey, and we are the main sponsor of the ABN AMRO Open. Together with our partners, we help athletes develop and we reward their commitment and drive.
ABN AMRO has been a sponsor of Ajax for nearly 30 years now, and has been the main sponsor of the women’s elite football team AFC Ajax Vrouwen for the last seven years. The young talent arm of the club Ajax Vrouwen Talententeam can also count on our support. We are happy to give the high-performance athletes from the Amsterdam club the best conditions to perform optimally so they can advance and claim a spot among Europe’s top leagues. There’s still a long way to go, we know. But with this support we are working step by step towards achieving equal opportunities in football.
Social partner
Thanks to the close relationship between the Ajax Foundation and ABN AMRO Foundation, we as a bank are closely involved in various social initiatives. For example, we are a sponsor of Only Friends, Ajax’s disability football sports club.
Sustainability partner
We are an official sustainability partner of Ajax, aiming to make the football club not only more diverse and inclusive, but also more sustainable.
ABN AMRO has a strong connection with field hockey, which is why we are the main sponsor of seven top-league clubs, support 55 local hockey clubs in the Netherlands and organise a range of events in this area. With our support, we encourage young talent while also helping clubs achieve their goals in the area of their sport and sustainability.
Making field hockey clubs more sustainable
Whether this concerns transport, restaurants and food service, buildings, equipment or green energy, ABN AMRO garners knowledge and solutions that can help hockey clubs become more sustainable. We feel it is important that we put our influence as a sponsor to the best possible use, and so in the area of sustainability too.
Time to catch up
Fair play is of paramount importance in field hockey. Yet, looking at the position of men and women, it is anything but fair. Even today, women in hockey don’t receive the same opportunities as men do. ABN AMRO feels it’s time to make a change in this situation and so has launched its De Inhaalslag (Time to catch up) programme to promote sustainability, diversity and inclusion in the clubs.
Euro Hockey League
ABN AMRO is the main sponsor and hospitality partner of the Euro Hockey League, Europe’s premier field hockey tournament. Since 2007, twenty-four top clubs from twelve countries have competed in three rounds for the number one position in this league. We invite our clients to the matches whenever they are held in the Netherlands.
ABN AMRO Hockey Weekend
Since 2008 we have organised the annual ABN AMRO Hockey Weekend. This top-league men’s and women’s field hockey tournament kicks off the official season, with teams showing where they stand at the end of the summer. It’s a weekend full of world-class sport, featuring all of the Netherlands’ top-league clubs.
Top-league hockey
Amsterdam, HC Bloemendaal, Oranje Zwart, HC Rotterdam, HGC and since recently, Almere Hockey Club and Klein Zwitserland: these are the seven top-league clubs we are proud to sponsor. We are giving hockey in the Netherlands an extra boost by supporting events and organisations in this division.
Local field hockey clubs
More than fifty hockey clubs across the Netherlands can count on our support. Together with our partners Bovelander & Bovelander, BP College and ONFIRE Hockey Support, we organise sporting events that improve the level of these clubs and the athletes’ enjoyment of their sport. And every season we offer clinics and training courses, helping young, ambitious hockey players to grow.
Support from our ambassadors
Four current and former international hockey players help us sponsor various hockey activities. Jeroen Hertzberger, Billy Bakker, Glenn Schuurman and Jorrit Croon often give clinics and presentations aimed at helping the world’s future hockey stars reach their full potential.
Disability field hockey
We want to make field hockey accessible to all who want to join in, including those who can’t keep up in a regular team. So we sponsor hockey for people with physical and intellectual disabilities, for example by providing free sports gear or new hockey sticks. As a 1% FairShare® partner of the disability sports foundation Fonds Gehandicaptensport, we help organise hockey camps, clinics and courses for children with a disability from all over the Netherlands. Under this partnership, we organise the annual Friends of Disability Hockey Day during the Euro Hockey League finals.
As the main sponsor of the ABN AMRO Open we have been supporting Dutch tennis for more than 50 years. We have teamed up with former Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek and wheelchair tennis legend Esther Vergeer to make the sport more sustainable, to support up-and-coming young players, and to allow first-class tennis players to shine.
ABN AMRO Open
We have been organising the ABN AMRO Open – also known internationally as the Rotterdam Open – since the very first tournament in 1974, making this the longest running sponsor relationship in the entire ATP Tour. ABN AMRO Open consist of two fully integrated tournaments, a tennis and wheelchair tennis tournament. Under the leadership of tournament directors Richard Krajicek and Esther Vergeer the tournament has grown to become one of the largest indoor tennis events in the world. As the main sponsor of this tournament, we organise a range of activities for 112,000 visitors and receive around 50,000 business visitors at the Rotterdam Ahoy venue.
Selecting ball kids
Did you know that tournament director Richard Krajicek himself started off as a ball boy at the ABN AMRO Open? We organise selection days for 12 to 14-year-old tennis enthusiasts who are keen to be literally in the middle of the action. Also children with physical disabilities can sign up. Out of the 600 children who sign up for the selection days every year, a total of 50 ball kids are selected for the privilege of working on the centre court of Rotterdam Ahoy during the tournament. The selection for 2024 already have been made.