Ambassadorship Fonds Gehandicaptensport

Badhoevedorp – wheelchair tennis player Diede de Groot and paralympic athlete Kimberly Alkemade have become the new ambassadors of ‘Fonds gehandicaptensport’ (the foundation for sports for the disabled). “We are proud of having these two talents join us in our mission”, says Nike Boor, the foundation director.

Diede de Groot is the number one ranking wheelchair tennis player in the world. Diede was 7 years old when she got acquainted with wheelchair tennis. In August 2020 de Groot became a dutch national champion for the fourth time in her carreer. And in September of the same year she won the US open for the third time in a row. A month later, together with doubles partner Aniek van Koot, she won Roland Garros for the third time in a row.

Kimberly Alkemade is a dutch paralympic athlete. She represented the Netherlands at the world championships para athletics 2019 in Dubai and won the silver medal at the 200 meter T64-event and a bronze medal at the 100 meter T64-event. By winning these two medals the odds are in her favor for the possibility to represent the Netherlands at the paralympics 2021 in Tokyo.

Boor says: “Diede and Kimberly are both lead figures when it comes to paralympic sports at the top level. They are role models for many disabled people and evidence that dreams can come true. Athletes like them really set the spotlights on the Netherlands”.

The importance of ambassadors for the foundation.
In the Netherlands there are 1.7 million disabled people who need extra support in playing sports. Sadly sports is not that self-evident for them. Not all sports are accessible to them or facilities are missing in their near surroundings. The foundation for sports for the disabled has a mission to make playing sports accessible for the disabled as close to home as possible. When we succeed, only then the match is figuratively won.

The foundation for sports for the disabled gets lots of support from their ambassadors in realizing their mission, also by helping with fundraising events and raising awareness.

Wilfred Genee, Toine van Peperstraten, Sander Westerveld, Jetze Plat, Fleur Jong and Jiske Griffioen are just examples of the many people who committed themselves to helping the foundation. And now we can add Diede de Groot and Kimberly Alkemade to the list of active ambassadors.

 

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