SSN IS A NATIONAL ORGANISATION THAT REPRESENTS THE INTERESTS OF STUDENTS WHO TAKE PART IN SPORTS AT BOTH PROFESSIONAL AND AMATEUR LEVEL, AND BOTH MEMBERS AND NON-MEMBERS. SSN ALSO ORGANISES 50 STUDENT CHAMPIONSHIPS A YEAR!

Our mission is to promote all aspects of student sport in the Netherlands. We do not do this on our own. We champion the interests of students who take part in sport together with and on behalf of a strong and locally engaged body of sports councils and sports centres and for and by students. We organise and/or support national and international student sports events at various levels. As a forum for networking, we offer our members the opportunity to share knowledge and to incorporate it into our knowledge hub. We work together for students who play sport!

SSN sees students who take part in sport as an important and valuable group that is worthy of representation and support. Students often play sport in an organised way in student sports clubs, but increasingly also do so on an individual basis, either informally or in an unconventional way. These student players are important due to the positive impact that sport can have on students’ studies.

When young people go to university, they often stop taking part in organised sport and/or stop playing sport altogether. Providing good facilities and support for student sport can help prevent this from happening and enable these students to retain an active lifestyle through the student sports clubs and sports centres.

Together with its members (local sports councils and sports centres), SSN is keen to lead the way in this, and it proactively liaises with national and local organisations, sports organisations, government authorities and federations to ensure that the 100,000+ students who take part in sport are provided with the best possible facilities and with a view to increasing this number to a total of 150,000.

 

Core tasks

Together with its members, SSN works on three core tasks, which are also reflected in the sections of the organisation. These are Advocacy, Events and Elite Sport.

  1. Advocacy

This part of the organisation is responsible for championing the interests of students who play sport. In this role, SSN acts primarily as an integrator and transferor of knowledge between overarching student sports bodies, student sports federations and organising committees. SSN also provides Development Training for these partners.
In addition, it liaises with external partners. At national level, these are the Dutch National Student Association (ISO) and the Dutch Student Union (LSVB), which have ongoing input on national policy. At international level, SSN liaises with the European and international student sports organisations EUSA and FISU.

  1. Events

This part of the organisation is responsible for organising student sports events. SSN is best known for the Dutch Student Championships (NSKs), which cover more than 50 different fields of sport. There are separate committees for the organisation of all of these NSKs. SSN’s job is to monitor the quality and level of the NSKs and external communications.
The Great Dutch Student Championship (GNSK) is held once a year. This is a cluster of a number of sports hat are popular with Dutch students. This multi-day event is one of the biggest in the Dutch student sports calendar.

  1. SSN Elite Sport

The main focus of SSN Elite Sport is practical activities relating to the participation of Dutch athletes in the World University Championships (WUCs) and the Universiades.

 

Kerntaken

Samen met haar achterban staat SSN voor drie kerntaken, die ook terug te zien zijn in de takken binnen de organisatie. Dit zijn: Belangenbehartiging, Evenementen en Topsport.

1. Belangenbehartiging

Binnen deze tak van de organisatie staat het behartigen van de belangen van de sportende student centraal. In deze rol zorgt SSN ten eerste voor een stuk integratie en kennisoverdracht tussen OSSO's, Studentensportbonden (SSB's) en Organisatiecommissies (OC's). Voor deze partijen verzorgt SSN ook een gedeelte Kadervorming.
Daarnaast onderhoudt SSN contact met externe partijen. Op nationaal niveau zijn dit het ISO en de LSVB, die vaste gesprekspartners zijn voor de landelijke politiek. Op internationaal niveau onderhoudt SSN contacten met de EUSA en FISU, de Europese en Wereldstudentensportorganisaties.

2. Evenementen

Dit tweede organisatie onderdeel bestaat uit het concreet organiseren van sportevenementen binnen de studentensportwereld. Het handelsmerk van SSN hierin zijn de Nederlandse Studenten Kampioenschappen (NSK’s) die in meer dan 50 takken van sport georganiseerd worden. Voor de organisatie van al deze NSK's bestaan aparte commissies. De taak van SSN is hierin het houden van toezicht op de kwaliteit, het niveau en de externe communicatie van de NSK's.
Eens per jaar wordt het Groot Nederlands Studenten Kampioenschap (GNSK) gehouden. Dit is een cluster van een aantal veel beoefende sporten in de Nederlandse Studentenwereld. Dit meerdaags evenement is daarom een van de grootste in de Nederlandse studentensport.

3. SSN Topsport

SSN Topsport houdt zich voornamelijk bezig met de praktische werkzaamheden rond de uitzending van Nederlandse deelnemers naar de WUC's en Universiades.