I amsterdam - Active Population

Sports for All Seasons
Whatever time of the year, one will always find Amsterdammers engaging in numerous activity. There is an underlying belief that sport and exercise are key in living a healthy, happy life and the city's population takes advantage of this regularly.

Even in the midst of wintertime, Amsterdammers are traditionally drawn to skating halls, the public rinks on the Museum and Dam squares, or even the odd frozen canal in a lucky year. 

In milder months, these skates turn to wheels as hundreds of free-wheelers can be seen zooming around the city streets and parks on in-line skates – which some claim are a cousin to the wooden-spools-on-shoes invented by a Dutchman in the early 1700’s. 

Did You Know...?

Almost 2/3 of the city’s population participate in sports activities. Over 180,000 are members of sports clubs. Over 200,000 participate in non-organized sports. There are over 800 sports associations and clubs for 60 different disciplines in the city. 30,000 Amsterdammers are members of football clubs.

Summer months see Amsterdammers flocking to the nearby beaches and lakes, and even the canals, to set sail.

Year round, inhabitants make use of gyms, sport centers, swimming pools and other centers to participate in everything from aerobics to pilates to yoga.

And of course, there is the bicycle: Amsterdammers regard their bicycles as a primary means of transport for everything from their persons to their babies to their brief cases to their groceries to even their furniture!