Only….Friends! Willem-Alexander sport mee in Amsterdam

King Willem-Alexander visited Only Friends on Wednesday afternoon, a sports club in Amsterdam where children and young people with a disability or chronic illness can play sports. "I can't imagine that anyone wouldn't get warmed up or emotional about this," said the king after the welcoming speech by founder Dennis Gebbink. One thing became clear: the children of Only Friends are good the way they are and certainly not pitiful. The visit began with the story of founder Dennis Gebbink and his son Myron, who has a double-sided brain injury. "My life changed 32 years ago with the birth of Myron," Dennis told the king and mayor Femke Halsema, among others. In his youth, Myron had to play sports at regular football clubs, but he was looked at strangely and sometimes even bullied. "At one point he came to me crying: daddy, I want to quit," Dennis remembered. That's when the idea for Only Friends came, which had its first eight members in 2000. "I turned sadness into strength, and strength into love," said Gebbink. The association now has 851 members in Amsterdam-Noord. Dennis' story clearly moved the king. Willem-Alexander took a look at various sports lessons, including swimming, boxing, tennis and dancing. He even took part in a competition in boxing and racerunning, a type of balance bike. It has been known for some time that the king is a fanatic sportsman. He made no exception for the children of Only Friends: he won the race with the balance bike with abandon. "There is no brake on it", he shouted, when he almost drove into the crowd at the end of the race track. The children did not seem to mind that they could not win against the king. With his victory, he himself radiated one of the core messages of Only Friends: no one here is pitiful. After the visit, Willem-Alexander said that he had "restored his faith in humanity" because of his visit to Only Friends. He found it "heartwarming." Willem-Alexander took a look at a number of sports lessons, such as kickboxing, swimming, spinning and dancing. During the boxing, he even grabbed the punching bag, taking a few good hits from the participants. One of the young athletes did not hold back and kicked the king's thigh vigorously. "When you see what has been built up here in 25 years. Children with disabilities who can simply play sports without limits and everyone who can be themselves," the king said after the visit. "When you walk around here like this, it gives you confidence in humanity again. Really fantastic." The king found it "wonderful" to be present at the club. "To realise what it is like to move in a different way," he says. "That you do not have the normal physical skills, but that you can still participate." © Royal TV 2025, All rights reserved