VLAGTWEDDE A few dozen people over sixty come from Vlagtwedde and the surrounding area once a week to the Westerwoldehal Sports Hall in Vlagtwedde. They come there for an hour of rehearsal and especially for communal living at the coffee table afterwards. Under the name SoVit, they form an independent sports group, in which each participant moves at his own level. “Moving together is motivating. Participating in SoVit is not only healthy for body and soul, but participants also enjoy it,” says coach Simon Rosemond.
“At a certain point, you reach an age when physical activity becomes less noticeable,” says Hendrik Mindering, 77, a SoVit participant. “I think it’s important to keep stimulating my muscles. That’s why I participate in SoVit and go swimming every week at Henny de Groot swim school. I also come here for fun, it’s a really nice and cool group.”
The goal of SoVit is twofold: in the first place, to move and preserve the elderly, and in the second place to remove or prevent social isolation. Approximately thirty people over sixty exercise – divided into two groups – on Thursday morning. This starts with a thorough warm-up consisting of muscle relaxation and brain training. Then the participants move in the form of a game. The game played varies slightly, sometimes badminton, sometimes korfball and even jeu de boules. There is a fitness center twice a year. At the end of the game, there’s a cool-down: five minutes of stretching to prevent muscle injuries. Finally, there is the “third half”, we drink coffee and tea together in the canteen. Participants enjoy participating in SoVit so much that they continue even during the holidays, when they agree to go for a nice walk together, for example.
SoVit is a completely independent group that originated in 2017 from the Social Vital with Fittest project. The aim of this project was to revitalize the elderly. This worked really well on Flagtweed. The participants liked her so much that at the end of the project they decided to continue on their own. They pay three euros per training for their participation in covering the costs.
Participant Marianne Boyer (65) is also the director of De Wischmei. “At first I did not want to participate, after all I came here to serve coffee. The participants insisted: “Come on, you are here after all.” I took the step and did not regret it for a second. The transition to music especially appeals to me. I love music Simone does her best to always find beautiful music. In addition, I have Parkinson’s disease, and because of this condition, it is much easier to transition to music than not to music.”
Marianne isn’t the only one with the condition. Almost all participants have something among the members. This is why everyone can and can participate at their own pace and level and choose to take a break at any time. “On top of that, there are serious sports here, and the exercises are hard to keep moving and challenging everyone,” Simon says. “I always look forward to going here on Thursdays,” Mindering says. Boyer: “There is a lot of laughter.”
There is still plenty of room for new participants. For information and registration, please contact Simone Rozemond, tel. 06-23708177.
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