New outdoor fitness and activity facility at the Ahorn sports park
“Sport for anyone and at any time” is the underlying principle that has been implemented in Paderborn's biggest multifunctional sports centre. Based on this principle, the varied open-air facility on the outdoor grounds of the Ahorn sports park has been expanded to include one of the largest activity and fitness trails in northern Germany. Divided into three areas, 30 fitness, strength and coordination stations will offer various activities for individual users and organised groups in the future. The new sports equipment is being installed on a site at the field and track athletics stadium stretching 1,500 m² and is aimed at sports enthusiasts of all ages.
“With its 500,000 users per year, the Ahorn sports park is the sports and activities centre for Paderborn. We provide sports facilities for both leisure and recreational athletes as well as competitive athletes. There is something for everyone, from children's gymnastics to senior sport. We wanted to create a useful addition to the existing 1,500 m² large playground and have installed an additional open-air sports and activities facility for the largest of user and target groups in the form of an outdoor activities trail. The latest feedback regarding the equipment has far exceeded our expectations,” says Willi Lenz, Managing Director of Ahorn Sportpark GmbH.
Sports at the Ahorn sports park remains popular even after 30 years of business. “The current demand in this area far exceeds what is available. In the evenings, especially, we are bursting at the seams,” explains Willi Lenz. The number of health conscious individual users, in particular, has increased significantly in recent years. Whereas in the past, users were mainly members of organised sports clubs, i.e. in the 30 sports associations based there; now, the proportion of users not involved in organised sports has increased to over 70%, and rising.
“More and more people want to practice sport independently, with flexibility and, more importantly, at any time, day or night,” Lenz underlines the point of the project. This paved the way for the concept of finding new attractive activities for the widest of audiences that are free and can be used by both individual users as well as organised groups and sports associations already based at the sports park.
The idea emerged of creating a multi-functional fitness and activities facility along the existing two-kilometre track, which takes into account both the needs of leisure and recreational athletes as well as ambitious athletes and competitive athletes. “When planning, it was important for us to combine the benefits of sports science with the fun factor. That is the only way of motivating people to be active,” explains Jessica Spörhase. As a sports coordinator, she is responsible for organising courses for recreational and leisure athletes at the Ahorn sport and leisure club in Paderborn based in the Ahorn sports park. “Athletes can work out to the heart’s content on 30 pieces of equipment”. Divided into three areas of fitness, strength and coordination, the facility should appeal to a wide audience. Anyone can use the equipment – be it injured or ailing athletes, elite athletes, smaller groups or parents bringing their children to the adjacent playground,” says Jessica Spörhase.
“It's just great when you go for a jog and then finish it off with a targeted work-out on the equipment”, underlines Willi Lenz, happy that the new facility will be welcomed by athletes. “This is better than a fitness gym,” says the Ahorn sports park managing director.
In the search for suitable equipment, the Ahorn sports park managers found everything they needed at Playparc Allwetter-Freizeit-Anlagenbau GmbH from Willebadessen, and Kuck-Fitness from Monschau. The Playparc company headed by Managing Director Steffen Strasser emphasises the integration of the latest sports science knowledge as well as individual solutions. The 4FCIRCLE concept was developed together with Oliver Seitz, a qualified sports scientist. “We all want to be fit, move freely, and have fun, and we also want something that does what it says on the tin. In short, we want the 4Fs: fit, free, fun and function!” Steffen Strasser explains the underlying philosophy. In various discussions with the sports park managers, not only was a concept developed that was specially tailored to the Ahorn sports park and previously developed equipment selected, but new stations were also planned. For example, a “skipping station” is to be installed, consisting of a rope ladder fixed to a low-impact flooring with a particularly cushioning effect. There are many training options at this coordination station.
Overall, Playparc installed a coordination and motor skills trail and a fitness area across the 1,500 m² activity facility. The company Kuck Fitness also set up a further strength and fitness trail, consisting of eight stations. Company owner Michael Kuck is not only a qualified sports scientist, but also a skilled carpenter. “We were impressed with the functional training stations made of Bongossi hardwood, not least because their overall appearance means they fit very well in the outside area of the Ahorn sports park,” explains Willi Lenz.
There are information signs at all training stations explaining the equipment and providing clear exercise instructions for targeted training. It is important to the managers that the athletes are motivated to be active. “Signs or explanations from a video tutorial that can be accessed by smartphone explain the exercises and make the equipment user-friendly,” says sports scientist Michael Kuck.
“The Ahorn sports and leisure club in Paderborn offers over 100 fitness and exercise classes for leisure and recreational athletes in the Ahorn sports park. We are always on the lookout for new trends and exercise activities. With the outdoor activities trail, our qualified trainers will have the opportunity to leave the conventional gymnastics and sports areas and create new exercise activities outdoors. In the future, we want to offer something special, such as in the form of a course on the activity trail. Regular open training under the guidance of a supervisor is also being considered,” says Jessica Spörhase, sports coordinator of adult sports at the Ahorn Sport- und Freizeit-Club Paderborn e.V. association.
The range of activities at the Ahorn sports park is appealing on very different levels: “Especially when you want to motivate yourself during a strenuous workout to keep reaching your targets, it helps if you have a group in Paderborn where you will find support and training partners. The facilities at the Ahorn sports park have become our training centre, where you will always find like-minded people − from beginners to the more advanced. The facilities offer a whole variety of opportunities, and the fact that the grounds are lit in the evenings is very helpful, especially in the autumn and winter months,” explains Eugen Andres from Freeletics Paderborn, clearly impressed with the concept.
The most visited sports centre in the region has set aside about EUR 200,000 to create what is by its own account the largest “outdoor fitness facility” in northern Germany.
Ahorn Sportpark GmbH
The Stiftung Westphalia foundation is the sole shareholder of Ahorn Sportpark GmbH. ASG has been operating the Ahorn sports park since 1983. On the initiative of Heinz Nixdorf, Paderborn's largest multifunctional sports and activities centre was built on an area stretching 100,000 m².
Heinz Nixdorf (1925−1986) was among the ranks of innovative and successful businessmen in postwar Germany. As a globally recognised pioneer of decentralized data processing and for electronic computers, he wrote over 30 years of computer history. His company Nixdorf Computer AG has developed into a global enterprise with more than 25,000 employees. Throughout his life, he showed himself as an employer who took social responsibility seriously. For him, the health of his employees and that of the entire population of Paderborn was very important. Corporate and training sport was therefore introduced early on at Nixdorf Computer AG. Employee sport took place in the company’s own productions halls in the first few years, with it moving to the varied and modern sports grounds at the newly completed Ahorn sports park when it was completed in 1984. The Ahorn sports park became the new home for both Paderborn track and field athletes, who had inadequate winter training opportunities at this time, as well as the Paderborn squash club. With the completion of the Ahorn sports park, Heinz Nixdorf created an “open sports facility utilization system”, i.e. the Ahorn sports park can not only be used for organised sporting activities by various company sports groups and numerous Paderborn associations, but also by recreational athletes at any time. This is exemplary throughout Germany.
For Heinz Nixdorf, sport had always been of great importance. Throughout his life, Heinz Nixdorf has been a sports enthusiast himself, with his personal passion being for field and track athletics and sailing. Competition and performance were also important to him here. He turned his sailing hobby into a high-performance sport, achieving outstanding results once again.
“There are some things in daily life that are second nature, such as breathing or brushing your teeth. For me, sport is precisely one of these things in our lives.” Heinz Nixdorf 1984.
The infrastructure of this exemplary sports facility now includes a 130 m x 65 m sports hall alongside a track and field stadium and several outdoor mini-pitches. An architectural feature is the 200-metre oval track hall on the first floor and the first indoor baseball facility in Germany installed in 2009. The sports facility can be used by Paderborn sport clubs in particular, but also independent athletes, with more than 500,000 users using the Ahorn sports park each year. In addition to promoting this sports facility, the Stiftung Westphalia foundation supports club sports, especially the up-and-coming talent in Paderborn. (www.ahorn-sportpark.de)
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