Promoting sports

Our simple but also ambitious focus is to have more people participate in sports. It is generally accepted that sports activities are good for you, no matter at what level, as they get you in shape, both physically and psychologically.

More than 60% of Belgians currently participate regularly in sports activities, which is a 10% increase compared to five years ago. The increase is mainly due to an increase of people in the population who engage in sports activities, independent from clubs or associations. For many people, the traditional competition drive has been replaced by reasons of diversion, recreation, health and social networking.

In the years to come, Golazo Sports wants to continue its contribution to the current sports revival by promoting sports with "getting-started" initiatives directed at individuals as well as companies.

Individual getting-started initiatives

The most well-known getting-started initiative is "Start to Run", which originated from a Golazo event: The 1995 Nike Ladies Run in Brussels. Since then, several hundreds of thousands Belgians have started running with the training schedules and advice promoted by the Start to Run initiative (www.starttorun.be).

The great success of Start To Run led to the conception of the Start to Bike initiative. After ten weeks of training, beginners can easily cycle 50 or 100 km. In addition to training schedules for starters, Start To Bike also offers schedules for more ambitious cyclists, which has led to the significant increase in number of highly-fit cyclists who after 10 weeks of training now easily finish the Tour of Flanders for amateurs.

With the launch of Start to Sport beginning 2008, Golazo will offer valuable training schedules and tips that will help people to get started with sports activities or improve their results. Besides running and cycling, the focus is on walking, swimming and fitness clubs.

Corporate sports

Corporate Sports refers to organized sports offered to employees of a company. It gives the employees an opportunity to participate in sports with proper support and guidance. Corporate Sports improves the company's work environment and improves the health of the employees. This results in higher productivity and greater job satisfaction. Corporate Sports not only offers something extra to the athletes among the employees, but especially targets the lesser fit colleagues by motivating them to join a sports activity programme with clear guidance and focus.

Based upon a phased plan, Golazo Sports will outline the various possibilities for incorporation of sports into the company structure. After close consultation, an action plan is developed and assessed frequently. The company can decide on the level and degree of involvement such as a permanent company offer (by investing in decent and safe bike sheds, changing rooms, showers, personalized training schedules, etc.) and/or annual participation in a major sporting event .