In secondary school, a LOOT track (a school program that adapts the schedule around training and competition for young elite athletes) is a fairly well-trodden path, but after you turn 18 the playing field changes. A vocational or university program or a first job has no fixed elite-sport schedule, and the arrangements differ sharply by institution and employer. Here's how to plan the combination at a high level and which facilities exist.
What Changes After Secondary School
At a Topsport Talentschool (a secondary school for young elite athletes), there was a policy, a dedicated coordinator, and a schedule that could bend around your sport. In further education and the job market, that's less of a given. The main shifts:
- No automatic pathway. You have to take the initiative yourself and demonstrate your situation, often again for each program or employer.
- Different financing. Student finance, tuition fees, and possibly a job alongside your sport are added to the mix. The financial side starts to weigh more heavily.
- More responsibility of your own. No mentor keeping an eye on things; you plan it yourself, guard your own recovery, and find the right contact person yourself.
- A longer horizon. A program takes years, and so does a sporting career. The question isn't surviving one season, but a multi-year plan that gives both room to breathe.
Recognition of your sporting level still runs through your federation and the umbrella body. Which status (such as a talent, international, or elite-sport status) fits your results is something to discuss with your national coach or the KNHS (the Dutch equestrian federation). Always check the current criteria at knhs.nl or with NOC*NSF (the Dutch Olympic committee and sports federation), since the conditions and names are revised regularly.
Studying With Elite-Sport Status
Many universities of applied sciences and universities have an elite-sport arrangement and a student dean or elite-sport coordinator who helps think things through. The exact facilities differ by institution, but in practice they often include:
- Shifted or additional exam dates around competitions and training camps.
- Alternative assignments when mandatory attendance clashes with your sport.
- Priority in schedule choices or the timing of seminar groups.
- An adjusted internship schedule, or an internship that can be shaped around your sport.
- Sometimes an extended enrollment period or an adjusted requirement for your first year of study.
Ask about this early with the student dean or your program's elite-sport office, ideally before you even start. Just as in secondary school: put the core agreements in writing, because deans and teachers change.
Pay-Per-Credit Study: Paying by the Credit Point
A separate route that's often relevant for elite athletes is flexstuderen (pay-per-credit study). Under this arrangement, you don't pay the full tuition fee for an entire year, but per credit point (EC) you actually take. That makes it possible to take fewer courses during a busy competition season without paying for a full year.
A few things to know:
- Flexstuderen is an arrangement offered per institution; not every university of applied sciences or university takes part, and the conditions differ.
- The institution itself sets the rate per credit point and the rules (such as a minimum or maximum number of points).
- Fewer points per year generally means taking longer to finish your program, with consequences for your student finance and possibly your student travel product.
Because the financial and study-progress rules (student finance, the loan system, the public-transport product) change regularly and affect your situation, check the current conditions with your own institution and with DUO (the Dutch student finance agency) at duo.nl. Don't treat anything as fixed until you've confirmed it there.
Vocational Education (Mbo) and Elite Sport
Elite-sport-friendly routes also exist in mbo (secondary vocational education). Some ROCs (regional training centers) profile themselves around support for talented athletes and can offer an adjusted program or guidance. Because the program combines theory with practical work placements (internships), planning those placement periods plays a major role in particular: an internship employer that accommodates your sport makes a big difference.
Two learning tracks to keep in mind:
- BOL (full-time, with internships): more classroom structure, but internships require fixed attendance.
- BBL (work-based learning): you work most of the time and attend school on a limited basis — can fit if you want to combine work and sport, but the workload is real.
Which learning track and which school fits your training load is something to discuss with your study-career counselor and your coach before you enroll.
Working Alongside Your Sport
Not everyone continues studying; some work alongside their sport, sometimes within the horse world itself (at a stable, in trading, or as an instructor), sometimes outside it. For the combination with work, there's no national elite-sport arrangement like the one in education — it depends entirely on what you agree with your employer.
| Point of attention | What to look at |
|---|---|
| Contract type | Permanent, flexible, or self-employed — how much say you have over your hours |
| Schedule flexibility | Whether daytime training and competition days fit in |
| Leave | How you cover multi-day competitions and training camps |
| Income security | Whether a variable competition season clashes with fixed expenses |
Some employers are open to an elite athlete and offer flexibility or unpaid leave around competitions; put such agreements in writing. If you work as a self-employed professional (zzp'er) in the horse sector, you have more freedom over your schedule, but you also carry the risk of lost income and insurance costs yourself. If you're unsure about a contract, tax consequences, or insurance, get advice from someone who knows the subject well.
The Load Over the Long Term
The arrangements on paper are one side of the matter; the biggest challenge is the accumulation over years. A full program or job plus twenty or more hours of sport a week demands a lot, and the pitfall is rarely one busy week but the sum total over multiple seasons.
What helps in practice:
- Plan ahead by block. Lay the competition calendar alongside exam weeks or busy work periods and resolve clashes early.
- Protect your recovery. Sleep and rest days are part of training, not an afterthought.
- Make a financial plan. Know what tuition, sport, and living costs add up to together before the season begins.
- Keep one point of contact close. A dean, manager, or coach who knows your situation absorbs a lot when something runs over.
If you notice you're becoming structurally overloaded, sleeping poorly, or losing the enjoyment, take that seriously. The support around a talent plan or a sports physician can help keep an eye on things; for persistent complaints, your family doctor or a sports physician is the right place to go.
In Practice: How to Start
- Discuss with your national coach or the KNHS which sport status fits you, and check the current criteria at knhs.nl and with NOC*NSF.
- Choose a program or employer partly based on the room they offer, and ask about the elite-sport arrangement or flexstuderen before you start.
- Check the financial side (tuition, flexstuderen, student finance, public transport) with your institution and with DUO; don't treat anything as fixed.
- Put agreements about exams, internships, schedule, or leave in writing and evaluate them every season.
- Treat recovery, planning, and your financial plan as seriously as the training itself — that's what makes or breaks the combination in the long run.
See also: Balancing Elite Sport and School · What an Elite Sport Year Costs · Glossary for this level