Hidde Muntinga is passing a shuttlecock at a murderous pace with a co-director of UT badminton club D.B.V. DIOK. According to the student, the influx of new members is never such a problem for the association, which has just over a hundred members. 'For us, the challenge is to maintain a good balance between students and citizens. The number of citizens within the association is large, but citizens are above all important because they take on many tasks.'
Citizen members
Due to increasing pressure on student activism, more and more associations are struggling to find a suitable board. D.B.V. DIOK went back from five to four directors. 'Two of the four are civilian members. We see the same thing in committees. It is more difficult to find students for such positions. Showing ourselves at the opening market doesn't change that, but it's good to show yourself as an association to the first-years and make them enthusiastic about badminton.'
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Two spots later, Vakgericht director Jinte de Bree speaks to a group of first-year students. Especially to international students, she often first has to explain what korfball is all about. 'And that we don't play the sport with two rotating baskets on a pole, like here behind me. After all, we are a relatively small and unknown sport, especially outside the Netherlands.'
Vakgericht has had about forty members for several years now. That's fine, says De Bree, especially because the number remains stable and because almost all of the members are active within the association. 'With us, you're either a director or a former director, so we're doing well, but recruiting new members remains essential. That's why the opening market is always an important day for us.'
Combiteam
Two board members of baseball and softball-club H.S.V. High Tech Hitters tell a similar story. Still, the opening market is less important to them than next Saturday's sports day. Then first-year students can better see and experience whether baseball or softball is a sport for them. The duo says from under a baseball cap that the club of about forty members would prefer to welcome some extra members, as High Tech Hitters has just too many players for two teams, but just too few for three. If that doesn't work, the students will form a combination team with HSV Giants Hengelo.
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How differently does Drienerlo experience the opening market? Last year, the football club had a membership freeze for quite some time due to a lack of accommodation and sports facilities. Director Sander Wijnen is therefore honest about the necessity of the Drienerlo stall on the market: 'No, it is not necessary to be here. Students who want to play football know where to find us.'
Still, he thinks it's good to tell first-year students about VV Drienerlo. 'The first training sessions often attract 100 to 150 students. Then we look at whether there are suitable players for the first team and then we try to put the puzzle together as well as possible. Some teams are packed, there is still room in other teams, but possibly not for everyone.'
On the other side of the Drienerlolaan there are numerous cultural associations on the Ganzenveld, including Arabesque. Marcia Delen runs the stall on her own for a while. 'But I'm not the only director, I managed to find a board of three people again, but that was more difficult than in previous years. The same applies to the committees. It's harder to find students who want to be active within the association.'
Open classes
Arabesque, where students can participate in modern dance, has around 35 members. According to van Delen, that number is stable, but it is always exciting in the summer. 'Sometimes 25 members suddenly quit and then we have to wait and see whether that number will return after the summer. The opening market helps with that. Many students love modern dance. When we talk to first-year students here, they often report to the open classes and some of them become members. We also often welcome exchange students throughout the year. It's always easy to find new members.'
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Jenna Zaagsma tries to make first-year students enthusiastic about the RADIX student tribe. She knows that this is not easy, because the scouting association has only fifteen active members. 'But that's fine, we've been stable for years, although we also have MBO and HBO students as members. We don't have to look for a new board every year, because a board term lasts three years. Our space, Lambarene, is located at the back of the campus and we meet on Mondays. The turnout varies, but we always make something beautiful of it. Typical for scouting: put your shoulders to the wheel and go.'
