No outdoor sports at X yet

Last week Wednesday, the Cabinet announced that outdoor sports were permitted again as long as people kept to the one-and-a-half metre distance rule. After the announcement, some university sports centres said that they would open as soon as possible and were looking into how to do so.

In contrast to the university sports centres in Groningen, Leiden and Nijmegen, for example, X is waiting for the green light from the Executive Board. “We are part of TU Delft,” says a X spokesperson, “and TU Delft is committed to handling the easing of the corona restrictions carefully. This calls for careful decisions as to whether and how to roll these out on TU Delft’s campus. X supports this policy.” The sports centre of the University of Maastricht is also waiting until its Executive Board has looked into the issue.

Busier on campus
The X spokesperson also explained that even though the Government has already permitted university buildings to stay open, most of the sports facilities are located on campus. “More sports means more activity on campus. We believe that the Executive Board is also taking this into consideration.”

Once permission has been granted, tennis will be the first sport to resume. “This is our only outdoor sport in which the one-and-a-half metre distance rule can be maintained without taking any special precautions.”

The student sports associations that are not physically on campus have already started to resume their activities. Plankenkoorts, the windsurfing association, has started its surfing activities and DSAV’40, the student athletics group, has started training again.

Consultation with student sports associations
A month ago, the Government had already asked all sectors of society to start making plans for the one-and-a-half metre economy. X then formed a working group to come up with a plan for its sports facilities. This working group is already consulting teachers and student sports associations to see what is needed to allow other outdoor sports to be resumed.

X is currently exploring how activities can be resumed in the long term within the more relaxed restrictions imposed by the Government. As examples, a spokesperson mentions the catering facilities, moving indoor activities outdoors, having a massage, going to the physiotherapist or other specialist at Boost, and joining cultural events.

Delta has been approached by several students who are worried about refunds on their X subscriptions. X is also waiting for Executive Board decisions on this issue too.

• So everyone still has to wait before all the outdoor sports can be resumed. In the meantime, if you want to keep fit, Delta has looked into keeping fit in your student room.