In Poland, sport meets technology
How can we combine the interest of young people in new technologies with sports? An answer to this question comes from Monika Pyrek, the polish former athlete specialising in pole vault who, once her career has ended, started inspiring young people to make them be active. In the middle of September, she started a three-month tour around Poland with the project Kinder+Sport Alternative PE Lessons.
Alternative PE Lessons is a project which was initiated in 2017 by the former athlete specialising in pole vault – Monika Pyrek – and since this season, it has become a part of Kinder Joy of moving programme. The aim of the project is to encourage young people to be active while making use of their interest in new technologies. In the period from September to December this year, Kinder+Sport Alternative PE Lessons has visited 15 cities in 8 voivodeships in Poland, inviting over 8,000 primary school pupils and teachers to have fun together.
What do PE lessons look like and what makes them alternative?
Each lesson lasts 90 minutes and starts with a meeting with Monika Pyrek, during which she explains why physical activity is important and why it should be a part of our everyday lives. Then, kids move on to a warm-up with famous athletes: the lessons have already hosted champions such as Olympian Paweł Korzeniowski, football player Sebastian Mila, or runner Wiola Frankiewicz. Then, lesson participants, assisted by a trainer, can check their motor coordination, reflex and accuracy on simulators of selected disciplines:
- basketball, with the use of an interactive system enhancing the throw practice;
- football, with a system measuring the force of a kick and enhancing accuracy by indicating the correct trajectory of the ball;
- handball throw at goal with electronic measurement of the force of the throw;
- bicycle with an integrated virtual reality system;
- 20-meter run with electronic time measurement;
- reflex meter;
- mechanical climbing wall with moving climbing panels.
“During Kinder+Sport Alternative PE Lessons, we strive to inspire children to join the culture of moving, by using their interest in technology. Thanks to such combination, they perceive sports as good fun, which teaches, develops, intrigues... and, importantly, which can't be replaced by any computer game”, says Monika Pyrek, ambassador of Kinder+Sport.
The project Kinder+Sport Alternative PE Lessons is executed under the auspices of the Ministry of Sports and Tourism.
