Get active and fit. Play a sport at Wageningen

I like sport. I like it a lot, in fact I think I am addicted to sport because if I go 3 days without doing any exercise I begin to get withdrawal symptoms such as headaches. I have always been very active and involved in a lot of different sports from a young age, but that has increased since arriving here. I know that students find it a bit complicated to comprehend all the sports Wageningen has to offer so I will try to break it down a bit.

 

De Bongerd

The Bongerd is the main sports facility on campus, it is next to the athletic track and contains a gym, squash courts, a lot of basketball courts, and other exercise rooms. When you buy sports rights, you get access to the Bongerd and the swimming pool. You can access the gym but you first have to do an introduction course to ensure that you don’t injure yourself on the equipment. You also have access to most of the classes and courses. The classes run every period and anyone with sports rights is free to subscribe and join at any time during the period. I would recommend TRX, Bosu, AbdomiNice, and step aerobics.

 

Then there are courses, for the courses you have to subscribe at the beginning of the period for the entire period and only those people who have subscribed can go to the classes and you can’t join during the middle of the period.

 

These courses are designed to teach beginners the basics over the course of 6 of 8 weeks which is why you need to subscribe for them.

 

In period 6 I subscribed for squash beginners on Monday night because I wanted to learn how to play squash. It was an eight-week course and were for complete beginners (i.e – never picked up a racket before) and were taught the rules and the basics. It was a really fun course, and even though I missed some of the lessons because I was sick I still learnt a lot. These courses are designed to teach beginners the basics over the course of 6 or 8 weeks which is why you need to subscribe for them.

If you are looking to learn how to play squash I would highly recommend the squash course, it is fantastic, since taking that course I have joined the squash club and play twice a week. But, be warned that these courses are really popular, you have to subscribe the SECOND the subscription goes live otherwise it will be full.

 

Swimming Pool

Wageningen also has a 25m swimming pool, shallow pool, hot tub, and a slide. If you have sports rights you also get access to the swimming pool at specific times of the day (check the website for the exact times). You can access the pool outside of these times but you need to pay the public entry fee. Once you enter you can swim laps, relax in the hot tub or have some fun in the slide (you are never too old for a water slide).

On Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday nights the swimming team Aquifer trains from 10pm-11pm. I am a member of the swimming team and absolutely love it. They cater for everyone from beginners who can swim a few laps independently to swimmers who want to race. Currently, I have not yet raced for Aquifer but I think I will have to soon as I used to race in high school. The only downside is that they train from 10pm to 11pm, which is very late and also very cold.

 

Thymos 

Thymos is the students’ sports association and they work with The Bongerd. The association board is made up entirely of students and they organise a number of events and experiences. Every period they run a number of weekly team tournaments, such as a knotsball tournament and volleyball tournament. You can sign up with a group of friends and play knotsball once a week for the entire period in a round-robin style competition. In addition, they also organise sports experiences. I went to the survival experience which was a lot of fun. We cycled to the survival organisation in Ede and had an introduction to the sport and the challenges. They also had a bobsled experience, night canoeing, and ice skating. These experiences are a lot of fun, you meet new people and get to try new sports. Finally, Thymos organises “sports nights”. For example, I joined the American Sports Night, you just sign up with a group of friends and spend 2 hours playing American sport such as baseball, lacrosse, basketball, and NFL. It is a really fun way to spend a Friday evening, running around trying new sports with a group of friends.

These experiences are a lot of fun, you meet new people and get to try new sports.

 

ISOW 

If you still want more sport then you should check out some of the courses that ISOW offers. In addition to the language course, ISOW offers Zumba, yoga, swing dance, and salsa dance. The salsa course is fantastic and always full. You can become a member of ISOW for 20 euros for 12 months and with that, you get access to all of the courses that ISOW offers, so it is very cheap.

ISOW offers zumba, yoga, swing dance, and salsa dance.

 

Wageningen places a lot of emphasis on healthy living and so makes it really easy to play sport and exercise. There are so many sports on offer from all over the world (an international uni needs to have international sports) and is a great way to meet people and take a break from studying.