Keynote about the Friendship Sports Centre

A club that started with eight boys

In 2000 Dennis Gebbink could not find a football club where his son Myron, who has a motor disability, was welcome. So he started one. The club's own history page records the decision in one sentence: "Dennis besluit daarom in 2000 zelf een sportclub op te richten voor kinderen met een beperking." The first members were eight boys. Handball, fitness and kickboxing followed, and today Only Friends counts more than 900 children in over 30 sports, supported by more than 200 volunteers and around 50 interns. Since 2017 the football teams play in the KNVB competition in Ajax kit, and in 2020 Gebbink was knighted and later promoted to Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau.

The slogan on every wall is "Je bent goed zoals je bent": you are good the way you are. It is the reason the club exists, and the reason it works so well as a place to bring colleagues.

Coaches of Only Friends on the pitch at the Friendship Sports Centre

The building: opened in 2010, self-supporting since 2018

The Friendship Sports Centre at Beemsterstraat 652 was officially opened on 8 November 2010 by Princess Marilène, Marco van Basten and Myron Gebbink. The city district Noord provided the land and the Ronald McDonald Kinderfonds helped fund the building. According to press reports the fund's contribution ended in 2018, after which the centre had to pay for itself. That is why the complex rents out its rooms and pitches to companies: the income keeps the sport for the children going.

What is there: an artificial turf pitch, a natural grass pitch, an athletics track, the Cruyff Court Hakim Ziyech, a sports hall, a dojo, a fitness room and a heated indoor pool. Upstairs there is a conference hall for 200 people with its own sound system, a boardroom for 25 overlooking the grass pitch, a classroom for 30 and a small office for 10. The centre says around 2,000 people exercise here every week. The Friendship Bakery, staffed by participants of the Friends at Work programme, bakes and sells on site.

The day the King came

On Wednesday 12 February 2025 King Willem-Alexander visited Only Friends for the club's 25th anniversary, with mayor Femke Halsema present. The visit opened with Dennis Gebbink's story about Myron; the King said he could not imagine anyone not being moved by it. He watched swimming, boxing, tennis and dance lessons, joined a kickboxing class and won a race on the racerunners, shouting "Er zit geen rem op" as he nearly ran into the crowd at the end of the track. We wrote a separate story about that day.

Why we bring companies here

Between January 2025 and October 2026 we produced 33 events at the Friendship Sports Centre, from a 45-person clinic to a 2,000-person sports day. The reason is practical and emotional at the same time. Practical: everything is on one site, the hall makes the programme rain-proof, there is a 200-seat room for the opening and the plein in front of the clubhouse works as a food court. Emotional: every visit starts with the story of the club, told by Dennis or Myron Gebbink, and every booking contributes to the centre's survival. Guests leave with a different idea of what a disability means.

The programmes we run here most often are the Paralympic Games for companies, the large sports day with up to 25 stations, a sign language workshop, a tour of the bakery, and a visit combined with a barbecue or dinner. Groups that have done it include ABN AMRO, Waternet, the Amsterdam police, DPG Media, Dura Vermeer, Orange Cyberdefense, Gemeente Amsterdam, Deloitte, DHL and Toyota.

Football training at Only Friends

Practical

• Address: Beemsterstraat 652, 1027 ED Amsterdam. By public transport: metro to Noord, then bus 37 towards Amstelstation, stop Beemsterstraat, and a 300-metre walk under the A10 viaduct.

• Parking: paid parking in the neighbourhood in front of the centre; for coaches we arrange a drop-off.

• Group size: from 16 to 3,000 for a full-site sports day. The conference hall seats 200.

• Best moments: weekday afternoons, when the hall and pitches are free before the children's training starts. Saturdays are club days.

• Catering: buffets from breakfast to dinner from the centre's own kitchen; the kitchen is closed on Sundays.

Sources

• onlyfriends.nl, page Historie (founding in 2000, opening on 8 November 2010, Ajax partnership 2017, royal honour 2020, member numbers).

• friendshipsc.nl, pages Wie zijn wij and Vergaderen en events (facilities, room capacities, 2,000 visitors a week, clinics).

• nieuws.nl, 12 February 2025, and Royal Central, report of the King's visit.

• Endless Minds event records, Trello board EVENTS ENDLESS MINDS, January 2025 to October 2026, and the DHL production book of 17 May 2025 (travel directions).