The old gymnasium of the secondary school on Ronzelenstrasse is still standing. Perhaps it will even be preserved – despite the planned new construction of a triple hall. (PETRA STUBBE)
–
The temporary end for a Bremen “House of Athletes”, which the Bremen Sports Foundation announced last Friday, does not mean the end for an elite sports school in the city. “There are no signs of a change of direction – neither on our part nor on the part of the education authority,” said Harald Wolf. He is a teacher and competitive sports coordinator at the secondary school on Ronzelenstrasse in Horn. Since the establishment of its first management class at the beginning of the 2000/2001 school year, it has been called a sports school and has been working for years to become a certified elite school for sports.
“House of Athletes” and the Elite School of Sports are two projects that don’t necessarily have anything to do with each other. What they have in common is that they want to promote competitive sport by creating good framework conditions for young people. While the “House of Athletes” only provides living space and, if necessary – for minors, for example – educational support, the basic idea of the elite school of sport is – to put it simply – the triad of learning, living and sport.
Ideally, there is this triad in one location. In reality, however, Bremen does not have an ideal location – at least not yet. Because the Horner School can currently “only” offer learning and sport, the “House of Athletes” could possibly have become the third, so far missing component on the way to the elite school of sport. But according to the announcement last Friday, the property on Bürgermeister-Smidt-Straße is no longer an option. The purchase was not financially feasible. Also not because the education authority, as the spokeswoman for Senator Claudia Bogedan (SPD), Annette Kemp, announced, was not prepared to bear total costs of around one million euros over the years. This means that the question no longer arises whether the property in the city center could be a good location for a school in Horn.
Sports Senator Anja Stahmann (Greens) does not believe that the “House of Athletes” project has fundamentally failed. “It is a shame that things cannot go on now,” she said, but upholds her offer of financial support of 50,000 euros a year. “My financial commitment is not tied to this one property.”
The elite school of sport project, on the other hand, falls solely within the responsibility of the Senator for Children and Education. According to Claudia Bogedan’s spokeswoman, every effort will continue to be made to implement the project. “With the exception of the boarding school, everything is ready,” said Annette Kemp and attested that the school was “a thoroughly convincing concept”. At the beginning of the current school year, the sports-oriented school was able to significantly extend its training times – for Harald Wolf also an expression of how much the authority supports this project.
Harald Wolf is a teacher and competitive sports coordinator at the Ronzelenstrasse School, which focuses on sports. (fr)
–
For grades five to seven, the number of 90-minute units has been increased from two to three, and for grades eight to advanced from two to four. “That shows how firmly competitive sport is with us,” said Wolf. The expansion of the offer for the schoolchildren could not be explained with more teachers, but with greater commitment from the respective sports associations. Wolf admitted that this was more difficult to achieve in terms of personnel and finances for smaller associations than for larger ones. Teachers would take over teaching units that the associations could not cover.
The Ronzelenstrasse school and the education authority are now looking for a viable interim solution for a boarding school after the “House of Athletes” had closed. “A campus solution with a new gymnasium and cafeteria is being planned,” said Annette Kemp, “ideally the boarding schools will be integrated into this solution.” There are plans that ultimately there could also be living space on the school premises. Possibly in a new multifunctional building, as Wolf calls it, which is to be tackled after two other planned measures.
At the top of the list of priorities is the construction of a triple gym on the school premises. According to Harald Wolf, this is very important because it is not safe for the school to continue using the university sports facilities. It is still unclear whether the old one would have to give way for the new sports hall or whether it could possibly be renovated. A cafeteria will then be built. Harald Wolf hopes that an interim solution for the boarding school will be found as soon as possible. Otherwise it will probably be a few more years before Bremen gets an elite school for sports.
Down to business
43 elite schools of sports
Elite schools of sports have a boarding school and are tied to Olympic training centers. There are currently 43 of these elite schools certified by the German Olympic Sports Confederation in Germany: 22 in western German states, 18 in eastern Germany, and three in Berlin. 29 elite schools focus on summer sports, seven on winter sports, and another seven have overarching priorities. Schleswig-Holstein and Bremen do not yet have an elite school. The sports-oriented school on Ronzelenstrasse is aiming for the award, but the accommodation of foreign students is not yet guaranteed.
– .
