A major sporting event with a social ambition
The 2025 European BMX Freestyle Championships brought the world’s best BMX riders together in Eindhoven. For the Municipality of Eindhoven and BrabantSport Fonds, the Championships were a great opportunity to get children more active, improve their cycling skills and focus on competencies such as self-confidence, resilience and dealing with setbacks.
More2Win was commissioned by Libéma Cycling to develop the social programme around the Championships.
The idea behind the programme was simple: sport is not only about performance, but also about personal development. By making mistakes and starting again, children learn skills that will benefit them throughout their lives.
Our approach
More2Win developed a programme together with top BMX riders Levi Weidmann and Tom van den Boomgaard for primary school children in Noord-Brabant: ‘Durf jij op je bek te gaan?’. The programme was part of the European BMX Freestyle Championships held at Area51 in Strijp-S, Eindhoven. A total of 474 children took part.
During the lessons, the children worked on their cycling skills while also developing mental resilience. The learning pit, a well-known metaphor for learning by trying, making mistakes and getting back up, formed the central theme throughout the programme.
The children were not the only ones challenged to push their boundaries. Parents were also involved in the programme and discovered how important it is to give children the space to experience, practise and sometimes fail for themselves.
During the Championships, the participants completed the programme at the same venue where the European BMX elite were competing. In this exciting setting, they were able to show how much they had learned in a short period of time.
The impact
The programme showed that BMX can be much more than an exciting sport. In addition to improving their cycling skills, the participating children gained confidence and took on challenges they would not have dared to tackle before.
Alderman Maes van Lanschot highlights the strength of the programme:
“BMX Freestyle is all about trying, falling and getting back up. With the social programme, we involve many children. They not only learn BMX skills, but also discover that with courage and perseverance, a lot is possible.”
Teachers saw participants grow in courage and self-confidence on the bike. Parents also indicated that their children were better able to deal with setbacks, more willing to try new things and proud of their development. At the same time, parents became more aware of their own role in encouraging independence and resilience.
“At first they thought it was ‘booooring’ – which actually meant scary, but of course nobody wants to say that. By the end, they were flying around the track, cheering and screaming with excitement.”
– PE teacher Lara, De Salto
The social programme demonstrated how an international sporting event can contribute to the lasting development of children.
The success of this approach is being continued: we have once again been asked to work with the partners involved to further develop the social programming towards the 2028 European BMX Freestyle Championships. We are very enthusiastic about getting started again.
Let's get in touch!
Would you like to know how your event or organisation can use sport to create social impact? Get in touch with us via the contact page or info@more2win.com.