Equal opportunities for athletes with a disability could generate billions for Dutch society

• Nine out of ten athletes who had a physical disability as a child have experienced obstacles to participating in sports since their youth.

• Some 59% of young adults with a physical disability say that participating in sports at an early age helped them take their place in society.

Obstacles to sports

Doing sports contributes to a socially active life and has a positive effect on mental and physical well-being. However, participating in a sport is not a given for almost two million Dutch people who live with a disability. Almost 91% of Dutch people with a physical disability who do sports say they experienced obstacles to this as a child. This is one of the findings from a recent survey carried out by ABN AMRO and the Esther Vergeer Foundation. The survey revealed that stigmatisation and misrepresentation are among these obstacles. The majority of people (52%) state that we tend to think in terms of problems rather than solutions when considering sports for people with a physical disability. In addition, 63% of people with a disability say that people without a disability tend to see them as ‘special’ when they’re taking part in a sports. These obstacles have serious implications: the number of Dutch people with a physical disability who get enough exercise (34%) is significantly lower than the national average (54%) (Alles over Sport, 2021).

Personal benefits

The survey shows that participating in a sport can have great personal benefits for Dutch people with a physical disability. More than half of respondents agreed that taking part in a sport helps them to cope better with their disability (57%), makes them more able to deal with setbacks (58%), and raises their self-esteem (67%). What’s more, almost three in five young adults with a physical disability (59%) stated that participating in sports at a young age helped them take their place in society.

Billions worth of social potential

ABN AMRO campaigns for equal opportunities on many fronts and believes that participating in sports equates to participating in society. An additional calculation of effects made by the bank shows that equal access to sports not only benefits the athletes with a disability personally, but also benefits society as a whole. To demonstrate the potential social impact of giving people with a disability equal access to sports, ABN AMRO calculated the effects of a situation in which Dutch people with a physical disability had the same degree of access to sports as the national average.

“People with a physical disability who wish to participate in sports in the Netherlands are currently facing too many obstacles. This partly explains the discrepancy of 20 percentage points between Dutch people with and without a disability who fulfil the exercise guidelines,” says Gerarda Westerhuis, Sector Economist at ABN AMRO. “If we could remedy this discrepancy and ensure that people with a disability had equal access to sports, it would not only benefit them personally, but it would also benefit society to the sum of at least €10.3 billion in the form of social and health benefits, and higher labour productivity. This is a conservative estimate, as the added social value generated by sports has not been fully included.”

Wheelchair tennis

“We see the powerful impact that sports can have on young people’s confidence here at the foundation every day,” says Esther Vergeer. Esther Vergeer is the founder of the Esther Vergeer Foundation, seven-times Paralympic champion and tournament director of the ABN AMRO Open wheelchair tennis tournament, which will be held for the 16th time this year. “A greater focus on sports for people with a physical disability and a change in attitudes towards what is ‘normal’ will help to remove some of the obstacles and increase accessibility. The ABN AMRO Open wheelchair tennis tournament is a prime example. This year, it will be broadcast live on television for the first time – a great step forward on the path to ensuring that everyone in the Netherlands has an equal opportunity to participate in sports.”