Voluntary Sports Clubs and Refugees : How Voluntary Sports Clubs Adapt to Ukrainian Sporters

This thesis examines the impact that Ukrainian refugees have on voluntary sports clubs in Twente, The Netherlands in 2024. Integration is important to achieve success in the new society they find themselves in. Sports can play a role in integration, but there are many different approaches to integrating through sports. The current situation in Twente was analyzed through the multi conceptual framework for analyzing roll-out and implementation strategies in voluntary sports clubs (Ehnold et al., 2023), using policy plans from voluntary sports clubs, interviews with sport club representatives, interviews with volunteers, and interviews with Dutch sporters and Ukrainian sporters. This thesis shows that there is a diversity in methods of integrating Ukrainian sporters into the voluntary sports club. Additionally, many changes that the voluntary sports club makes are tailored to the specific needs of the individual Ukrainian sporter, without program setup or systematic changes. This thesis also shows that local governmental policy to financially support voluntary sports clubs or Ukrainian refugees sporting at a voluntary sports club do often not get used. The thesis argues that there is a need for a Ukrainian refugee integration through sports network where voluntary sports clubs can share their experiences and learn from each other, in which the local government also takes seat to learn how to improve their policies that target Ukrainian sporters.