In the present chapter a status quaestionis of club-organised sport in Flanders/Belgium is presented. More precisely, the most recent and relevant data will be discussed. First, we describe the historical and societal context of sport clubs in Flanders/Belgium. Second, attention is given to the role and the position of sport clubs. Time-trend and cross-sectional data are used to give more insight on this. Third, the main features of sport clubs are presented. Here, we successively focus on the sport clubs’ structural characteristics, their sport provision, their members, their volunteers, their financial situation and the role that sport clubs see for themselves. The fourth section deals with a specific topic, in this way that we provide some data with regard to the question whether sport clubs can be considered as health promoters.
Given the recent economic crisis and the risen poverty rates, sports managers need to get insight in the effect of income and other socio-economic determinants on the household time and money that is spent on sports participation. By means of a Tobit regression, this study analyses the magnitude of the income effect for the thirteen most practiced sports by households in Flanders (the Dutch speaking part of Belgium), which are soccer, swimming, dance, cycling, running, fitness, tennis, horse riding, winter sports, martial arts, volleyball, walking and basketball. The results demonstrate that income has a positive effect on both time and money expenditure on sports participation, although differences are found between the 13 sports activities. For example, the effect of income on time and money expenditure is relatively high for sports activities like running and winter sports, while it is lower for other sports such as fitness, horse riding, walking and swimming. Commercial enterprises can use the results of this study to identify which sports to focus on, and how they will organise their segmentation process. For government, the results demonstrate which barriers prevent people from taking part in specific sports activities, based upon which they should evaluate their policy decisions.
Client: Provincie ZeelandThis project, a feasibility study, ran from December 2013 until October 2014. The wish to extend the succesful Flemish coastal tram to the Dutch province of Zealand is an old one. Some ten years ago, this did not seem financially feasible for the governmental bodies involved. This project developed insight into the possibilities and feasibility of an attractive and functional, collective transport system along the North Sea coast between Breskens and Knokke, in order to give a boost to leisure, tourism, and related sectors in Belgium and The Netherlands. It looked into modern and future-proof transport modes over land and/or water that can offer the coastal region in Flanders and Zealand added value from a leisure-tourism perspective.
