The idea arose after the 'inclusive sports day' six months ago. The sports day – especially for women only – was a great success, according to organizer Bouzguenda. 'From there, the request arose to organise more sports moments for women only. The women will soon be exercising in an enclosed hall without windows. There are also enclosed changing rooms. Finally, Irene Wols is the female trainer in front of the group.' The pilot is intended for UT students and staff. Religious and cultural differences are the main reasons for this initiative.
The cost and the course
After the successful sports day, Bouzguenda had a large group of women vote for the sport they like to perform. 'Out of these, pukulan turned out to be the most popular,' says Bouzguenda. Pukulan is an art and defense sport from Indonesia and has common ground with the sport of kung fu. 'Talks have been held with the sports centre. The sports center makes the DoJo space available for us to perform this sport.’
48 euros, that's the amount that participants will pay to participate in eight sports sessions. 'I notice that there is a lot of enthusiasm for this self-defence course. Women can sign up for this programme on the sports centre's webpage.' Bouzguenda hopes for as great a success as the organized sports day in May. At the time, she already expressed her wish for a women-only policy in the sports center. 'If this pilot is also a success, we will re-evaluate with the sports centre. Perhaps about a permanent initiative or expansion with other sports. For example, swimming, but for us every sport is an option.'
Attendance and capacity
The sports centre talked to Bouzguenda after the sports day. Gijs Verburg, manager of sports and culture, is curious about the outcome of the pilot that will soon be running. 'Part of the UT community doesn't play sports with us at the moment, but they do need to. Together with initiator Islam and the diversity and inclusion (DE&I) team, we came up with an idea for this. That's what we're investigating now. I'm curious to see what the turnout is and what the project does. There is room for fifteen women in the DoJo per lesson. If we serve a target group with this and it turns out to be a success, I can imagine that we might repeat the project,' says Verburg. 'The problem is that the sports centre is reaching its capacity in space. Everything is fully booked until the last few hours.'
More information about this pilot and the registration page can be found here.
