In the beautiful town of Haguenau in Alsace, Patrick Schwarz established indoor cycling as a working group at a large comprehensive school. He offers artistic cycling, unicycling and cycle ball several times a week. I, Siegfried Bengel, actively support him in his cycle ball training. In March 2020, the school in Haguenau held an open day and presented itself to parents and the public. We had cycle-ball demonstrations all day long with the teams from Haguenau and a school team from Wimsheim.
Before Corona, 10 or more young cycling athletes were regularly in training. First teams have already reached the entry-level for playing games. At the Championat Bas-Rhin Minimes, a team took part with success. The start was for the Weyersheim club, where cycle ball used to be played. Extreme corona restrictions have been imposed in France, so since the corona outbreak at the beginning of 2020, almost no activities have been able to take place. There is currently an indoor ban for all ball sports at secondary schools and high schools. The further development regarding Corona and sports operations cannot be estimated at the moment. As soon as sports operations are possible again, I will continue to be available to support you in training in Haguenau.
In France, too, it is difficult to motivate enough schoolchildren and young people to take part in indoor cycling. Patrick Schwarz’s activities are very important and also effective, so I am confident that our sports will experience an upward trend again after Corona. In addition to the already established clubs in France, there are said to be activities in the Paris area, but I don’t know anything about that. It remains exciting.
Siegfried Bengel – Project partner of France