Delta is organising the TU Delft Board photo competition this year. In the run-up to the finale, various student boards will talk about what they do. This week: the third Board of D.S.F.A. Kong, the freerunning association.
D.S.F.A. Kong’s third Board. From left to right: Kees van Oudenhoven, Juliette Poort, Kevin Robbesom, Kaato Lambrechts and Joris de Man. (Photo: Teye Ubbens)
Jumping over a rack and climbing up a lamppost. You can guess what the students in this action photo do in their spare time. The D.S.F.A. Kong freerunning association was founded three years ago and now has 67 members, half of whom are active freerunners, says Juliette Poort, its Secretary. “Not bad for such a new student association,” adds Kaato Lambrechts, the Treasurer, proudly.
What did you have to do to set up the association?
Kaato: “When our predecessors started Kong, they got some valuable help from other, relatively new, student associations like Dynamic, the dancing association. Also, one of the members of our first Board had already served on the Board of Slopend so had some experience. That was extremely useful. Without that help and experience, it may not have become so successful. Fun fact: Kong is the only freerunning student association in the Netherlands.”
What is your training like? Do you jump from the roofs?
Kaato: “We train on Tuesdays in a large hall at X that has cupboards and thick mats. After the training we cook and have drinks together.”
Juliette: “We go outside on Thursdays. We go somewhere on campus or in the surroundings of Delft. A couple of nice places are the salami sculpture in front of the Aula and outside Café Labs. We do not run across roofs like they do in films. That’s a different part of freerunning which we don’t do.”
Kaato: “But we do teach people to jump distances, do flips, and how to take a fall. Freerunning is making me more creative. It now makes the outdoors feel like a kind of playground.”
‘Members dare express their opinions and we value this immensely’
What do you most enjoy about being on Kong’s Board?
Juliette: “As we’re a pretty new association, there is a lot of space to do things as we see fit. For example, this year we are starting negotiations for a freerun park in Delft which the next Boards can create.”
Kaato: “We have already built up quite a community, which means that members dare express their opinions. We value this immensely. It helps us see that as a Board, we are not alone. We include their feedback in our plans.”
What are you most proud about?
Juliette: “That we have become such a close-knit group that enjoys the weekly training sessions and activities in such a short space of time. And we are also proud that the training has been designed so well.”
Kaato: “Even if we say so ourselves, we have the coolest merchandise and a great logo. We often get compliments from students when we are walking around. They think that it comes across as really professional for such a young association.”
Does the association do any other things as well?
Kaato: “We held a Crazy 88 for Lichtjesavond (Delft’s yearly Christmas festival-ed.) which involved members competing against each other in teams. And we will soon have a date dinner (where members may bring a date-ed.) with a murder mystery theme. There will also be an end of year party and we are hoping to arrange a members weekend.”
- Read also the other parts of this series about the rowing association Proteus-Eretes and board sports association Drop.
Delta Board photo contest
With their board photo, student boards put themselves on the map: dressed up in suits, in a meaningful place and sometimes with a wink. They give their all to their student association for one year. Who are the people behind the photos? In the run-up to the finale of the very first TU Delft Board photo contest, Delta talks to board members about their busy year.
The winning photo will be chosen by a jury consisting of three TU students/alumni. They are:
- Thijs van Reeuwijk: Industrial Design Engineering student and photographer for Delta;
- Joost Bom: Mechanical Engineering student and collector of suits;
- David van der Peijl: Architecture and the Built Environment alumnus, graduate in Architecture and Fashion.
Delta will announce the winning board in June 2025. And the main prize? A well-filled drinks and snacks package for the whole board.
Do you want to enter the contest, but has your board not yet received an invitation? Then send an email to ngham@tudelft.nl
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