New Opportunities for AU Students to Engage in Sports and Community on Campus in Aarhus

The old examination halls in building 1912 at the top of Trøjborgvej have returned to their original use, namely as sports halls. Before the building housed nervous students preparing for exams, the sports halls were used by students who are training to be teachers at VIA University College.

Now the AU-Sport association has taken over the halls. AU-Sport is an umbrella organisation for 18 independent sports clubs for students, which offers a varied range of sports activities under the motto 'train hard, study hard'. Johan Obenhausen Selmer, project manager at AU-Sport, is very enthusiastic.

"It's a huge thing for us. Previously, we only had a 10-square-metre office. Now we have these large halls to offer," he says.

Johan Obenhausen Selmer states that the acquisition of the halls has been made possible by an investment and collaboration with Aarhus University on the project.

AU Motion Moves to New Premises by the University City

The association has recently moved from its premises at Studenterhuset on Nordre Ringgade to Trøjborg. And now the work of transforming the offers of AU Sport is really beginning, says Johan Obenhauser Selmer as he shows Omnibus around the newly renovated surroundings.

"These are the first halls in Denmark that have markings for Roundnet," he explains.

For students, the centrally located sports halls make it easier to combine their studies with exercise. Johan Obenhauser Selmer explains that sporting life in Aarhus is often very fragmented.

"It makes it difficult to build a community when one team plays in Tilst, another plays in Risskov, and a third plays in Marselisborg," Johan Obenhausen Selmer says.

"With the new premises, we have the opportunity to bring the clubs together centrally in the University City," he says.

Johan Obenhausen Selmer recalls his own time as a political science student and the long days spent working in study groups. That’s why he believes that the new facilities in the centre of the campus provide an opportunity to use exercise as a break from studying.

"Our vision is that you can get up and play a bit of badminton or do some exercise with your study group or friends if you have a free slot in the middle of the day," he says.

"I hope we can get loads of students to take up sport and exercise. Not so much because it's healthy to be in good shape, but more because it's important to have fun with your fellow students and take a break from studying," Johan Obenhausen Selmer says.

“We’d also like to focus on mental health. If you only want to keep your body healthy, you can join a fitness centre. We want to provide an opportunity for people to find a community that they cannot find in a fitness centre," he says.

In the long term, AU-Sport envisions offering a variety of exercise classes for students, such as yoga and body fitness.

"So far, we have set up some dance teams that will start here this spring. It costs a little, but not very much," he says.

It’s also the low price that Johan Obenbausen Selmer hopes will attract more students to the facilities on Trøjborgvej.

"It costs an average of 450 Danish kroner for 14 dance lessons. If you want to go to dance classes at a dance school, it can cost more than DKK 1,500," he says.

In addition to two sports halls and a mirror hall, AU-Sport also has a large common area with tables, chairs and sofas, which Aarhus University has made available for other events or as a break area.

"Our common area is open to all students throughout the day," Johan Obenhausen Selmer says.

"Now we can offer a space where people can sit down after they've been playing sports," he says.

The common area also provides an opportunity for what Johan Obenhausen Selmer calls "think games."

"Even though we’re called AU Sport, we also want to offer some creative activities. There is a slight lack of consistency across the studies. There are many excellent knitting and sewing clubs in individual study programmes, but there are also study programmes that don’t have them," he says.

"Now we have some premises where we can facilitate such things and help associations hold their events, so it's not just physical sports we offer," he says.

"What we want to do is expand the range of things you can do. Everyone knows what handball and volleyball are, but that’s not for everyone. Some may be interested in learning how to embroider. Embroidery may not have much to do with exercise, but it does have something to do with community, so it makes sense to expand the range with things like that," he says.

Johan Obenhausen Selmer says that the plan is to have all activities up and running by autumn.

"Everything is brand new, so everything is in progress. We have to create it from scratch," he says.

You can read more about AU Sports' offerings on their website, where you can also stay up to date on new activities.

This text is machine translated and post-edited by Lisa Enevoldsen.