‘Holland no abi tifi maar ai beti’

Many people with ethnically diverse backgrounds are daily confronted with racism, discrimination, and exclusion. 

This study will examine how the sense of (non)belonging in sports and sports heroes affects the well-being of young adult, post-colonial athletes. In this study, sports heroes will be used as a narrative construct as they are a source of national belonging that shape perceptions of worth and define inclusion and exclusion criteria.

Ten in-depth interviews were conducted with professional young adult athletes of Surinamese and Dutch Caribbean decent. Out of these ten interviews, two fictional first-person constructed stories were written to articulate the narratives of these post-colonial athletes.

This study’s findings show that respondents are confronted with excessive pressure and stress, due to their hypervisibility and feelings of otherness. Whether respondents feel like they belong or not is met with ambiguity and ambivalence, as it is a constant negotiation influenced by personal experiences and structural factors.

Findings show that despite one’s formal belonging, most respondents feel like they are guests in the Netherlands due to the daily racism, discrimination, and exclusion.

Findings show two groups of sports heroes, the first being the publicly known hero whose narrative is mainly constructed by the media. The second group of heroes entails acquaintances who become a hero. These are people that respondents have a personal connection with, such as older teammates, friends, family members or coaches with similar ethnic backgrounds.

In closing, this study’s findings conflict with the ideology of Dutch sports being color-blind and meritocratic. Surinamese and Dutch Caribbean, young adult athletes are constantly navigating for places where they belong and feel like they only belong to the Netherlands under specific circumstances.

Included: poster.