Children will train, run and race together — with and without a running frame
What happens when a child who runs independently and a child who uses a running frame are placed on the same team? They can train together, race together and, above all, experience the joy of belonging together.
This September, a new inclusive athletics initiative is coming to The Hague. Stichting Equal Play and Haag Atletiek are joining forces to create a team where children with and without disabilities can train side by side. The programme will focus on running and relay races, bringing together children who use a running frame and children who do not.
The initiative will be introduced to the public during the Stadsspelen Den Haag on Saturday 19 September, where Stichting Equal Play will host an inclusive athletics workshop. The regular training programme will take place on Saturdays from 10:00 to 11:00 at Haag Atletiek, with children training together as one team.
The aim is simple, but powerful: more opportunities for children to meet, move and make friends through sport — regardless of how they run.
The need for more inclusive spaces is clear. Research published by Dutch charity Stichting het Gehandicapte Kind found that 72% of children without disabilities never arrange to meet or play with a child with a disability, even though 45% say they would like to do so. The same research found that more than one in three children with a disability never visit a playground or meeting place in their own neighbourhood, and more than a quarter of those who do are often there alone.
Sport can be one of the places where those barriers begin to disappear.
Rather than creating separate activities and expecting children to participate in parallel worlds, the new athletics team is built around training together. A relay race is a particularly fitting example: every participant has a role, every participant contributes to the team and everyone moves towards the same finish line.
For some children, a running frame can make running and participation possible. For others, no frame is needed. At Haag Atletiek, those differences will not determine whether children belong to the same team. The intention is for them to train alongside one another, encourage one another and take part together.
The programme is designed for children aged 6 to 12, with and without disabilities. Children can try the training in an inclusive and supportive environment, with the focus not only on athletics, but also on fun, confidence, connection and friendship.
For Stichting Equal Play, that social element is just as important as the sport itself. Inclusive sport is not simply about adapting an activity so that someone can be present. It is about creating genuine opportunities for children to participate together — and to get to know one another as teammates and peers.
The launch also comes at a moment when inclusive relay racing is gaining wider visibility. In the Netherlands, relay formats are increasingly showing what is possible when athletes with and without a running frame compete and participate together. The new initiative at Haag Atletiek brings that same idea closer to home for children in The Hague.
Families will be able to discover the initiative during the Stadsspelen Den Haag workshop on 19 September. The regular Saturday training sessions will offer a continuing opportunity for children to develop their running skills, practise relay racing and become part of an inclusive team.
For many families, finding a local sports activity where children with different abilities can genuinely participate together can be difficult. This new collaboration aims to offer exactly that: a place where children do not have to fit into a separate category before they can join in.
The message behind the initiative is straightforward: different ways of moving should not mean separate worlds.
Children and families interested in taking part can register through equalplay.nl/aanmelden.
The new inclusive athletics programme is a collaboration between Stichting Equal Play and Haag Atletiek and will be introduced at the Stadsspelen Den Haag on Saturday 19 September, before continuing with regular Saturday morning training sessions.
Because sometimes inclusion does not need a complicated explanation. Sometimes it can start with something as simple — and as meaningful — as handing the baton to a teammate.
Practical information
- Workshop: Saturday 19 September 2026, Stadsspelen Den Haag
- Regular training: Saturdays, 10:00–11:00
- Location: Haag Atletiek, Laan van Poot 353A, 2566 DA The Hague
- Age: 6–12 years
- For children with and without disabilities, with and without a running frame
- Registration: equalplay.nl/aanmelden
Text and images provided by Equal Play.
