Culture of The Netherlands - Sport

Sport

Football is the most popular sport in the Netherlands. Notable Dutch football teams and clubs include: Amsterdamsche Football club Ajax in 1900, Feyenoord Rotterdam in 1908 and PSV Eindhoven in 1913.

Another almost national sport is speedskating. It is common for Dutch children to learn how to skate at an early age. Long distance skating and all-round tournaments are the most popular and most successful areas for the Dutch. In the history of the world championships the champion of the 10 km has always been a Dutchman. Notable athletes are Sven Kramer, Rintje Ritsma and Ard Schenk

Also popular are swimming, field hockey, judo and cycling.

Further information: Netherlands national football team, Netherlands women's national football team, Netherlands at the FIFA World Cup, Football in the Netherlands, and Sport in the Netherlands

Read more about this topic:  Culture Of The Netherlands

Famous quotes containing the word sport:

    “If a walker is indeed an individualist there is nowhere he can’t go at dawn and not many places he can’t go at noon. But just as it demeans life to live alongside a great river you can no longer swim in or drink from, to be crowded into safer areas and hours takes much of the gloss off walking—one sport you shouldn’t have to reserve a time and a court for.”
    —Edward Hoagland (b. 1932)

    “For generations, a wide range of shooting in Northern Ireland has provided all sections of the population with a pastime which ... has occupied a great deal of leisure time. Unlike many other countries, the outstanding characteristic of the sport has been that it was not confined to any one class.”
    —Northern Irish Tourist Board. quoted in New Statesman (London, Aug. 29, 1969)

    “Sweet Auburn, loveliest village of the plain,
    Where health and plenty cheered the labouring swain,
    Where smiling spring its earliest visit paid,
    And parting summer’s lingering blooms delayed,
    Dear lovely bowers of innocence and ease,
    Seats of my youth, when every sport could please,
    How often have I loitered o’er the green,
    Where humble happiness endeared each scene.”
    —Oliver Goldsmith (1730?–1774)