Incorporating Olympic sports to a country's sporting culture is a task that requires work and commitment. The delivery of the Rio 2016™ Games will have great impact on the mission of bringing the Olympic Movement to the Brazilian nation's daily routine. During the visit of the Netherlands National Olympic Committee (NOC) to Rio de Janeiro, the former hockey coach and the country's current head of mission, Maurits Hendriks, commented on the subject.

“I believe the 2016 Games will be a great chance for Brazil. The Olympic Games are a great opportunity for the host country to become familiar with not so well known sports and to take part in competitions in which they never participated before, like hockey, a fast and spectacular game”, he said.

Hendriks was assistant to Roelant Oltmans, the coach of the Dutch men's hockey team, Olympic champions in Atlanta 1996. He took over the team after the achievement and Oltmans' farewell, becoming twice-champion of the sport in Sydney 2000.

Oltman trained other hockey national teams after the Atlanta 1996 gold. He again trained the Dutch team from 2005 to 2008 and is the current Netherlands NOC team sports performance manager. He spoke about the path to be taken in order to popularise and familiarise people to a sport, using hockey as an example.

“Brazil is successful in team sports such as football, volleyball, basketball and handball. Introducing a new sport, in which you must reach top level in order to compete against the world's best, takes some time. We saw this with the Koreans and the Greeks who were in a similar situation in hockey a few years prior to the Olympic Games. New talents recruitment is important. It is a big challenge, but it could become another sport in which the country is successful”, he pointed out.

Maurits Hendriks, the Head of Mission, spoke enthusiastically about his expectations and the greatness of the 2016 Games.

“During the London Games Closing Ceremony, we could witness the nation's pride and its cultural abundance. We will be part of an outdoors lifestyle, of that abundance through music. On one side, that is different from what we know. A friend told me that in order to succeed in the Rio Games, we must embrace Rio. I believe that is the best way to describe it”, he said.

Holland House in Rio

It has become an Olympic tradition for countries to have a house in the competitions host city during the Games. By promoting sports and other countries cultures, the houses ('casas' in Portuguese) become entertainment options for city residents and visitors, and they host evening programmes. For those who wish to get a better idea of the cultures of many countries in a few days, visiting an Olympic and Paralympic Games host city during the competitions is an excellent option.

Naturally, the visiting countries houses incorporate elements of the host country, blending them with their own cultural identities. Either by the choice of the house location during the Games or by the attractions offered. Known for their joyful and easy-going character, the Dutch usually attract many visitors to their “Olympic houses”. The NOC Head of Mission talked about assembling the space that will become the Holland House in 2016.

“There are always big expectations for the Holland House to present a festive atmosphere that celebrate our athletes’ performance. We always try to promote a combination of Dutch spirit, sporting celebration and local culture. We will attempt to incorporate ourselves in the Brazilian spirit. I very much enjoy the fact that Rio is different from all other Olympic host cities where we have been. I believe the Brazilians have a lot in common with us. We are also passionate about sports, like football”, he told.

The Netherlands NOC secretary-general, Gerard Dielessen, told that they are currently looking for the location that will host the Holland House in 2016 and that they hope to define it until the year of the next World Cup.

“We are looking for a spot and we hope to have an answer to its location until 2014. We believe the number of daily visitors to be between 3 and 4 thousand and we expect that many people from our country will come not only for the Games but will also have the opportunity of visiting the city. That is an excellent chance to come to Brazil on holidays”, he pointed out.