Oetingen (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The members of Joggingclub Oetingen have been washing cars throughout the day at Oetingen’s central location, which belongs to Pajottegem’s sub-municipality. The team performs car washing as their teammate Brent Van Der Kelen aims to compete in G-badminton at the Paralympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028.
The members of the Oetingen Jogging Club based in the Oetingen sub-municipality help organise car wash events to raise money for G-badminton player Brent Van Der Kelen, who trains for the 2028 Paralympics in Los Angeles. All fundraising initiatives of Jogging Club Oetingen generated 20,000 euros, as recent data shows from its latest car wash event. The donated money enables Brent to complete his training and participate in both tournaments before he starts his Paralympics journey.
We want to help make Brent’s dream come true,
says Tom Amijs of Joggingclub Oetingen.
Brent trains hard and takes part in various tournaments and we want to do our part. We have already collected more than 20,000 euros with various actions. We also received support from sponsors. But we will continue to take action in the coming years. We do not only want to support him financially, but also emotionally, because parathletes are always less in the spotlight than regular athletes.
And that support is very much appreciated.
“For me, their efforts make a huge difference,”
says Brent.
I am so grateful because it is thanks to their actions that I was able to participate in a tournament in Spain recently and also grow. After all, there is a lot involved. You have to pay for the registration fee, you have to pay for transportation and also for your stay. This helps enormously.
He has been confined to a wheelchair ever since.
Because I was always passionate about running, I didn’t give up. It’s not easy, but I think I’ve managed to pick up the thread again. Badminton turned out to be a good track for me. Now I train together with Man-Kei To, who is affiliated with Badminton Club Herne and participated in the Paralympic Games in Paris this year. I hope to be able to follow her example.
What is the background of Paralympic Badminton and Athlete support systems?
The 2020 Tokyo Paralympics introduced badminton as a new competitive sport to highlight the widening popularity of the sport worldwide. Competing in the G category of the Paralympics is Brent Van Der Kelen, alongside other athletes who have physical disabilities.
Para-badminton has gained increased attention because 300 players from 48 countries joined the 2022 World Championships, according to data from the Badminton World Federation (BWF). Training alongside competitive expenses and travel fees presents major financial hurdles to para-athletes because the costs tend to reach substantial levels. The expenses for Paralympic athlete training and competition exceed €20,000 per year depending on their particular sport and competition level.
Belgian para-sports organisations operate with more restricted resource allocation than standard athletic programs receive in that country. Many Belgian para-athletes depend on grassroots funding from organisations such as Jogging Club Oetingen because the Belgian Paralympic Committee provides mainly grants and sponsorships.
The 2023 research reveals that Belgian para-athletes gain complete financial support from only 15% of the sports sector, as most athletes sustain themselves through local fundraising activities. Brent’s sports club demonstrates fundraising success through their car washes combined with other fundraisers that accumulated an amount of €20,000 to pay for his tournament expenses and travel and housing needs.
