Multi Purpose Playground. Almere - Holland.
The Project
Designed as a multipurpose area, the Clarence Seedorf Playground is a project created to transmit an educational methodology to youth and the entire community through a shared-sports area including a soccer field with artificial turf, tennis and basketball courts and multi-use areas (badminton, volleyball, "boules" played predominately by older community members).

Activities are supervised and assisted by sports instructors from the Echnaton Public School to encourage and guide participants from both the community and the school.

Clarence Seedorf Playground

"Stedenwijk", the area where Clarence Seedorf grew up, is predominately low-income bracket neighborhood, with 45 per cent of the inhabitants from an ethnic minority, numerous single-parent families and only 8 per cent able to afford enrolment fees for sports clubs and activities. As a result, some 6,000 children in Almere are overweight.

Sept 20th, 2007 a project that was in the works for over three years was launched – the Clarence Seedorf playground, brainchild of Renè Maertens from Echnaton public school.

Taking an underused field area, the playground project designated 6,400 square meters to create a soccer field with artificial turf, tennis and basketball courts and multi-use areas (badminton, volleyball, “boules” played predominately by older community members). Activities are supervised and assisted by sports instructors from Echnaton to encourage and guide participants from both the community and the school.

The Playground will have a positive impact on the wider community and youth utilizing the structure on different levels:

It will stimulate a healthier lifestyle

Help children and youth follow their passion for sport

Bond the community

Improve educational opportunities for the neighborhood

Encourage physical activity

Provide an activity outlet and thus reduce vandalism in the neighborhood

The educational methodology that drives playground activites is to instill values through sport. Individuals are given a structure to develop their talents and flourish, while integrating and socialing with other students and the neighborhood – a vital need for all of the community and its various multicultural inhabitants. It is through sport that the Clarence Seedorf playground aims to narrow the distance amongst the diverse cultures of the community.

Champions for Children, along with the local administration, brought together the finances for the construction. Instructors will oversee activities constantly guiding through a comprehensive methodology to nurture the children’s development.

Estimated budget for the project for the first year is  € 61.559,00.

Work in Progress

Inaugurated in September 2007, the playground is up and running with educational programs and activities. Included in the growth and development of the playground programs are activities for children with physical and mental disabilities, elderly community members and youth who have left school and abandoned studies.