Thirty-five sports associations were told last week by the Student Union (SU) that the current financial situation is untenable. According to the organization, the UT's cutbacks and current inflation are the basis for the implementation of the harsh measures. The financial contribution from Saxion University of Applied Sciences – an amount of forty thousand euros – will also disappear from September. Because this collaboration is no longer possible, it is uncertain how many Saxion students will continue to play sports on campus next academic year. As a result, club sports – which fall under Campus & Facility Management (CFM) – will have to deal with a gap of five percent in the budget.
As a result of the measures taken by the SU, associations are expected to increase their membership fees or other income. 'That will certainly have an impact, but this decision will allow us to keep it financially sustainable,' says Lukas Binnekamp, portfolio holder for Sport & Culture at the Student Union. 'The financial deficit is passed on to the student associations. This is done proportionally on the association subsidy.'
External accommodations
In addition to this measure, the Student Union feels the need to take further steps. Binnekamp says that the subsidy for associations with external accommodation is also changing. This makes sports activities such as ice skating, ice hockey and horse riding a lot more expensive. An association with external accommodation will soon receive a maximum of 230 euros per student, per year. The costs that are higher will directly affect the association. The SU foresees that the associations will then recover the amount from students by increasing the income - such as membership fees.
'This decision is clubs such as Slapping Studs (ice hockey) and D.R.V. Hippocampus (horse riding)', says Annick Bijlsma, chair of the Student Union. 'They use a skating rink and riding school outside the campus. The decision makes their hobby more expensive and difficult to carry out. It's very dissapointing, because people are often members of their association with heart and soul,' says Bijlsma.
'Although there is understanding from the associations, the measures have consequences for everyone. For a club with a riding school, these are larger than for the cycling club with a relatively small storage room.'
The financial belt is being tightened even more, because student trainers can not escape the cutbacks either. 'Those fees are also going down. It is the third measure that we unfortunately have to take,' says Bijlsma.
According to her, it is not inconceivable that student associations will disappear due to the new measures. 'Nothing is excluded. Sport and culture are under considerable pressure at the UT.'
