Written by Giovanni White – Active Lifestyles Advisor (Participation)
I had the pleasure of representing Imperial College in the annual European Network of Academy Sport Service Fitness Experience. This took place at the USC of the Radboud University on May 22nd and 23rd in Nijmegen. Representative from other universities were also present. The purpose of this visit was to develop networks and exchange idea for university sports service.
We started the day with a tour of the university sports centre which is the largest and most versatile in Nijmegen. The indoor facilities include a 1000 m2 state of the art fitness area, four squash courts, four multipurpose halls, two sports halls, a gym an indoor cycle room, a dojo and a climbing wall. Outdoor facilities include twelve tennis courts, two beach volley ball court, artificial football rugby and hockey pitches, a basketball court, 400m running track, a small artificial turf practice field and several bowling courts.
Throughout the conference we had many different lectures. These lectures covered topics such as the relationship between inactivity and the development of chronic diseases, diabetes awareness, and developments in sport and sports participation. They were presented by leading expert within the health and fitness industry such as:
Prof. Dr. Maria Hopman Radboud University Nijmegen
The research of Maria Hopman is best summarized by the theme Healthy Aging or Preventive Medicine.
Prof. Dr. Koen Breedveld Radboud University Nijmegen
Koen Breedveld is managing director of the Mulier Institute – institute for social scientific sport research – since 2007 and professor in Sportsociology at Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen since 2013.
Bas van de Goor Olympic champion
Bas van de Goor, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 2003. He founded the Bas van de Goor Foundation. A foundation that the quality of life of people with diabetes improves through sport and exercise.
The lectures were really informative and detailed; my favourite lecture was the development in sports and sports participation, with Prof. Dr. Koen Breedveld. I enjoyed this because it links directly with my job role as Active Lifestyles Advisor – Participation. I learnt about the different type of barriers to participation and how to overcome them, I can now take this information and use it in my everyday working.
In addition to the lectures, we took part in various exercise classes. I found this really helpful because we had the opportunity to learn different methods of training. The classes started with a warm up session using broom sticks; during this we learned how to activate joints in a fun way. We then moved on to other classes such as power lifting, Outdoor boot camp, kettle bell, testing and neck and back pain treatment.
This experience overall was fantastic and I am happy and thankful to have been giving this opportunity. I met a lot of great people and learn a lot of new thing.
