Skateboarders and sports students are ‘super excited’ for the new urban sports park in Goes

According to Edzard van Ewijk, professor at the CIOS sports school urban sports already a separate topic at CIOS. Logical according to him, because the need is there and the difficult outdoor sports are more and more popular.

Van Ewijk and Joeri van Wallenburg from the social organization SMWO in Goes were invited this afternoon The Zeeland room. They talked about the new urban sports park that will be built next year in Goes-Noord, as an alternative to the outdated and worn-out skate track in Goes-Zuid.

Outdoor sports such as cycling or scootering on a pump track, skating, mountain biking or free running are becoming more and more popular these days. Sometimes it feels like they push back on traditional sports like hockey or football. At several locations across the province, there are plans to build pump tracks, also described as “aero bump tracks” for scooters and BMX bikes.

Youth worker Van Wallenburg, himself a mountain biker, does not believe there is a crackdown. According to him, an urban sports park is a nice addition to existing sports and can actually make children exercise more, especially in this place where several sports fields are already grouped together. “The demand for other sports will certainly always be there, but young people have so many choices these days. A skate track or a pump track is so attractive because young people don’t have to show up on the field. training at a set time. It’s social. There’s no pressure to perform. Younger children can watch older children perform tricks at their own pace without getting in the way. And if they don’t dare yet on the rink, they can work on their track pump skills before they start a rink, launch a spider in their scooter.”

Van Wallenburg compares a pump track course to a ski area with blue, red and black runs where beginners and advanced skiers each find their own challenge. He thinks that a team sport and an urban sport can also be combined very well. Speaker Van Ewijk agrees. “Every target group can go wild.” And siblings can come too, Van Wallenburg thinks.

That’s why both are so happy that the municipality of Goes is now investing nearly one million euros in the construction of the park. Van Ewijk and Van Wallenburg believe the location will attract athletes from all over who are looking for new places and new challenges.

Van Ewijk also sees many opportunities for primary education. It would be nice, he imagines, if the CIOS students could give clinics to the children of group 6, for example. “That’s why we are implementing the park in our education. We have already made the rounds of existing sports with the cheese slicer. there. We will use it a lot.

Soon users, especially the current group of Goes-Zuid who were at the cradle of the plan, will go to the drawing board with other parties involved. They are expressly involved in the design of the park. Also beginners, because they are sometimes ignored, explains Joeri van Wallenburg, educator.

The urban sports park must be ready “one day” in 2023.

Hear the Zeeland Chamber talk about the urban sports facility