Sportaround vzw

Sportaround wants to give everyone the opportunity to develop through sport and exercise.

By exercising, you feel better about yourself, you are healthier, you grow self-confidence, you discover talents, you build a group of friends, you learn to deal with profit and loss...
Children can develop themselves in a positive way. Sportaround wants to give everyone the opportunity to develop through sport and exercise. Sportaround was founded in 2012 in Ghent by Bashir Abdi and Bert Misplon. During sports afternoons, they got children from vulnerable neighborhoods to exercise. In the meantime, the organization provides after-school sports at almost 50 schools, they are on squares with a sports cart in the summer months, offer neighborhood sports camps and they have developed a variety of low-threshold sports activities and events.
Coordinator Bert Misplon: “We notice that children from vulnerable home situations often do not get into a sporty leisure activity and try to get them to exercise and adopt a healthy lifestyle. Sport is also a very suitable means of integration, not only for the children but also for our volunteers. Mario, who fled the war in Syria, learned Dutch in Ghent and studied at university. With great pleasure he now gives basketball training to children from the Moscouwijk.”
After the success of the first years, Sportaround is now broadening its focus. After all, children still find their way to regular sports clubs too little. Sportaround advises sports clubs, federations and organizations on a threshold-lowering effect. All this is financed with a mix of own resources, subsidies, voluntary work and fundraising. We also like to be part of local projects and temporary implementations to give them a sporty approach.
This site has enormous potential in that area and can respond to the great demand among Ghent youth for accessible sports infrastructure. The temporary aspect gives the opportunity to test a number of things and then implement them at other locations.