Staying Active at WUR: De Bongerd’s Top Sports
By Margaréta
Wageningen University hosts a very well equipped and modern sport facility – De Bongerd. It offers around 70 different kinds of sports that students can enjoy for a fraction of the price that they would pay at a regular gym. This variety can be almost overwhelming and it can be difficult to choose what to try first. I therefore approached Tijmen van Oostenbrugge and Ingi Alofs, employees of the Sports Centre, to tell us more about De Bongerd and the sports and other activities that they offer.
“To start with, can you please introduce yourself?”
Tijmen: My name is Tijmen van Oostenbrugge and I’m a Coordinator of the university sports facilities for all ball and racket sports and and all strength sports. Next to that, I’m also giving courses, mostly based on strength training.
Ingi: My name is Ingi Alofs, and I’m the Coordinator for Sports and Health. I primarily teach high-energy classes, and I love working with groups. I try to turn a class into little parties!
“Could you tell our readers what De Bongerd is?”
Tijmen: De Bongerd is a sports facility that holds all kinds of sports. We have over 30 student sports associations. For example, we have associations for basketball, volleyball, climbing, survival run, waterpolo, and many more, each with its own board. De Bongerd provides professional trainers and offers access to the sports facilities. Additionally, we offer the opportunity to enrol in courses and group fitness classes, such as step aerobics, body sculpt, HiiT, yoga, indoor biking, TRX, and much more. These services are available not only to students but also to employees.
“What sports are the most popular among students?”
Tijmen: Fitness is very popular, we recently upgraded the gym with new fitness equipment. We also just opened a new outdoor fitness area. Besides having a great gym, a lot of student associations, such as the volleyball association WAHO and WOEST, are also very popular, and many students start rowing with ARGO. If you look at the courses we offer, like yoga, power dumbbell, dance classes, and circuit training, these are also highly popular among students.
“Which sports would you recommend to students who don’t usually exercise, but would like to start?”
Tijmen: With activities such as fitness, strength training or free weight training we offer introduction courses. There we will teach you how to use the equipment and guide you towards the next steps to improve yourself. We also have the SCB GYM app, where coaches create training programs based on your own goals. So you can say: “Okay, I’m new. I don’t know how it works. I will start on a low level and then I want to build it up.
Then you can also look at courses such as yoga, to get rid of some stress or tension or to really focus on your body and your movements. We provide courses for different levels, from beginners all the way up to people that are very experienced. On the website and in the mobile app, icons are displayed next to each sport indicating the level of the class, making it easy to assess the difficulty, noise etc.
Our staff are all professional teachers who will help you choose the level, equipment, weights, and stuff like that. So normally, if it’s not advanced, you can start any course and there will be a teacher to guide you and make you feel safe.
Ingi: It depends on the person and what they enjoy. For some people a high intensity class will work best; to release everything that came along that day. Others maybe prefer a quiet class like yoga or Pilates, or just a walk in the forest would be better. And dancing, of course, is also a very happy way to use your body and your mind. I believe the real magic happens when you do something that matches with your interests, with your capacity and your abilities.
“Are there any sports that you would recommend to students who want to improve their focus and concentration?”
Ingi: That could be yoga because there you get a lot of time and guidance with the breathing and focus exercises. But on the other hand, also doing something that is very difficult for you can be good. I get back to dancing again. When you have a difficult choreography or when you have to learn something new, you need to be focused and you stimulate your brain.
The good thing here at the Sports Centre is, that a lot of things that we offer, are very playful. At the same time, you’re 100% occupied, busy with your muscles, activating your nerve system, stimulating your coordination, your balance, your mind, your everything. And because the instructor is telling you what to do, you can also relax at the same time. Relaxing by being active.
“What other activities, apart from sports, can students do at De Bongerd?”
Ingi: You can subscribe for a consultancy with a physiotherapist or with a student psychologist. There is also the WURfit, where you can measure your fit level and your fat percentage and sometimes we have lectures around sports.
Thymos, our board for the student sports association organises all kinds of experiences such as night canoeing in Utrecht, gliding, ice-skating, bouncing etc. They also organise the yearly winter sports and several competitions.
Tijmen: And, of course, next to that we have one of the best sport bars in Wageningen. Here, students can enjoy a drink or eat something after doing sports.
“Is there anything you would like to add?”
Ingi: This opportunity that you get during your study at the University, to use such a wide sports facilities for such a low amount of money, is a once in a lifetime experience. This is the best moment to try out different sports, to discover what suits you, to develop your physical skills. You can do it all. I mean, you can go crazy! You can do it with music, without music, with instructor, without instructor, with other people, without other people, with competition, without competition. You never get that again in your entire life and I would advise all the students to use it. Because you can also try out things that you have never thought of and maybe you love it and you have a hobby for the rest of your life.
Ingi (left) & Tijmen (right) at the entrance of De Bongerd.
I hope this blog inspired you to join De Bongerd and try out as many sports as possible. I would like to thank Ingi and Tijmen for their time. It was truly a delight to speak with them as they are very enthusiastic about sports and helping students achieve their fitness goals. The best thing is that they are representative of all the teachers in De Bongerd, so whichever sport you choose, you are bound to be in good hands.
Happy exercising!
Cheers,
Margaréta
