Commercial football schools are gaining a foothold in the municipality of Eindhoven, but must meet a number of conditions set by the municipality of Eindhoven. One of them is that they can only rent sports facilities for the main price.
Previously, football club vv Gestel wanted permission to collaborate with the commercial football school Soccer Academy Eindhoven. The football club wanted to sublet the site to the football school, also to solve its own financial problems. But the municipality did not agree to this.
The municipality rents the site to the association for an amount that is below the cost price. This is because the association has a social purpose: namely offering recreational sports activities.
Commercial rates
Together with the KNVB and the Eindhoven Sports Council (ESR), it has now been decided that commercial football schools may rent the grounds of football clubs, but only at commercial rates that are well above the cost price of the accommodations. There are also other rules.
For example, young football players are only allowed to join a football school if they are also members of a football club. The commercial football schools must have trainers with a certain level of education and the schools must also adhere to KNVB regulations regarding the scouting of young talents and collaborations with associations.
Recreational sports
The municipality imposes these requirements because it is feared that commercial football schools will provide too much for a top sports climate at associations. While the municipality wants to focus on recreational sports: sports in a way that is mainly for fun, where there is also room for children and young people who may be less talented.
Addition
With the current rules, the municipality of Eindhoven, KNVB and ESR believe that commercial football schools can be a good addition to the Eindhoven sports landscape, namely by contributing to better quality of football, without compromising the enjoyment of young people playing sports.
Source: Studio040
For Eindhoven News: Lila Mehrez
