City Sports Association organises events 25 clubs are taking part in sports week

BONN · „Get to know, join in, try out“ is the loosely translated theme of the sports week in Bonn, which runs until Sunday, September 30. The event week is organised by the City Sports Association and is meant to offer everyone who is interested to get to know different kind of sports and movement offers - free, no strings attached.

Tom Jones’ „It’s not unusual“ blasts from the loudspeakers of the CD-Player and with the first beats Hans Schäfer (77) and Christa Lehnen (68) march through the sports hall, to „warm up the tired bones“, they say and laugh. „Arms up, let them fall down, stop them at shoulder height“, Anne Zurawka gives the order of the moment and the lively group obeys happily. „Shoulders up and down. Hear the rhythm. Do not circle them yet.“

Every week the seniors are meeting for their „train your back with music“ workshop, organised by the gymnastics club Bonn. „To build up muscles and keep them strong, to stay fit and to train the coordination“, explains Hans Schäfer. „If you rest, you rust“, adds Christa Lehnen and laughs. They agree that this is not only good for their body but also for their minds. „Exercise begins in the head“, says course leader Zurawka.

They and their 18 course mates are showing how good sport is when you’re older during the „2nd sports week“ in Bonn. „Get to know, join in, try out“ is the loosely translated theme of the sports week in Bonn, which runs until Sunday, September 30. The event week is organised be the City Sports Association and is meant to offer everyone who is interested to get to know different kind of sports and movement offers - free, no strings attached.

About 25 different clubs are taking part - the offers range from Pilates to dancing, rugby, walking, Quidditch and soccer to Badminton and Taekwondo.

„We would like to show the diversity of the sports offers in Bonn“, explains Michael Scharf, chairman of the City Sports Association (Stadtsportbund, SSB). The themed week follows the extremely successful event series „Sports in the Park“ during the summer, which saw 25,000 participants this year. „We want to ensure that a lot of people stay active even after the ‚Sports in the Park‘ season is over and that they look around for a sports club that suits them. There are countless possibilities to stay fit in the winter months“, adds Sandra Horschel, also from the SSB.

No hard body contact during „walking soccer“

Soccer is the most popular pastime across all ages. With age, the physical fitness and stamina might be lacking, first signs of wear on the joints might bother many a kicker. „Exactly these are the people we would like to present with an alternative“, says Jörg Michael of the FC Hertha.

With „walking soccer“ (September 30, 4pm, FC Hertha Bonn, Kessenicher Straße 262) the club presents an offer that is very rare all across Germany. „In ‚walking soccer‘ the pitch is smaller, there is no running involved and the ball can only be played up to hip height. There’s no hard body contact involved, which can lead to injuries easily“, he explains.

„Yet, the kickers do get sweaty, practise their stamina and their mobility“, he ensures. If there’s an interest in Bonn for ‚walking soccer‘, the club wants to find out during the sports week. „If there is, we will offer ‚walking soccer‘ in the future“, says Jörg Michael.

For Hans Schäfer and Christa Lehnen it is not just the fitness or staying in shape that brings them here. „We don’t want to miss out on the company of each other in the group“, says the 68-year-old. Regularly the gymnasts meet to go hiking for other events outside the sports hall’s timetable. „We are quite a happy bunch.“

Yet, there are drops of bitterness every now and again, causing a bad mood. „The discussion about the usage of the sports halls always causes unrest. We could do well without that“, says Zurawka.

(Original text: Gabriele Immenkeppel; Translation: Mareike Graepel)

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