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Rotterdam | 8 November 2021

Burgemeester Aboutaleb: ‘Sport en cultuur brengen mensen bij elkaar’

Ahmed Aboutaleb, mayor of Rotterdam: "If you're healthy and feel good, learning also goes better. A good reason to play sports. Children also learn a lot during sports, such as playing in a team, understanding the game, and following the rules. Culture teaches you to think more creatively, which also helps with language and math."

Photo: Marc Nolte

Getting children involved in sports and cultural activities costs money. That money isn't always available, which is why the Youth Sports & Culture Fund exists. Parents might be embarrassed to use it.

“To give all children the opportunity to develop their talents”

There's no reason to be ashamed of the fact that you have to think carefully about your finances. I can imagine that a broken washing machine is more of a headache than your child's sports club or music lessons. That's precisely why the Youth Sports & Culture Fund exists: to give all children the opportunity to develop their talents.

Aboutaleb is also a poet and poetry lover. "Unfortunately, I don't have much time to write or translate poems. However, I always have a poetry collection on my bedside table. It's nice to read a beautiful poem before bed that takes you away from things for a moment."

Art and culture live in the city

Rotterdam is adept at organizing major cultural and sporting events. But what I love most is the sheer number of active sports clubs, and the vibrant life in the city of arts and culture. Sports and culture bring people together, and that gives you wings. I want that for every child.

This article previously appeared in the 'Choose a Club Newspaper', an initiative of the Rotterdam Youth Fund for Sports and Culture. This newspaper was distributed door-to-door in Rotterdam as a supplement to De Havenloods at the end of September 2021. Read the newspaper online here.