BGI Academy - gymnastics centre
Case story:
The BGI Academy - gymnastics centre is a unique school, where development has no boundaries, which is particularly reflected in the Academy's slogan, "We do it!" .BGI Academy has a largest parkour facility. The focus on what's trending among the students and the aim to match these interests and needs has resulted in BGI Akademy - gymnastics centre being one of Denmark's largest boarding schools, with many different sports opportunities and facilities for practicing the different sports. It is part of the school's DNA to see opportunities, rather than limitations, where it is good to occasionally get out of your comfort zone to get to know yourself better.
PE-Redskaber has helped to establish BGI Academy - gymnastics centre with Denmark's longest fast track of 35 metres and their newer street and parkour facility, which is now the world's largest - filled with innovative features and specially designed elements. These include the Academy's logo, which is drawn across the floor with part of the logo as a foam pit. This is just one of many extraordinary details that were developed in collaboration with PE-Redskaber, including owner, Preben Ebsen.
Solution and statements
Big inground trampolines
BGI Akademy: "Great quality! Fantastic opportunity for pupils to learn to jump. Great equipment to motivate new gymnasts in jumps, which quickly gives them some important experiences of success.
Overall a great apparatus for various motor exercises, as well as small technique exercises, which allows gymnasts to get in routine and many repetitions of big jumps".
Ingrond Fast Track
"It just works! Visually, it blends very well with the floor and the other equipment. Nice for flexible solutions of the length of the fast track. We have both a short and a long one. They provide different options for building up jump set-ups, complete jumps and it is actually also used by the rhythmic gymnastics centre and dance students for learning jumps on the floor."
Open pit
"It just works well. It's the best stamp of quality I can give. The durability of the foam in the pit is top quality. The possibilities for set-ups and heights of the pit are so flexible that it always fits for BGI Academy students. It is also really nice that you can get it colour - customised".
Loose fam pit without air cushion
"The loose foam pit allows our students to learn new jumps in a safe environment. It provides a good and safe landing when students go around in new skills. Our loose pit, which is part of our floor logo and is round, provides the opportunity to be creative and try new movements. It is also nice that pits don't have to be "only" square."
New trends in gymnastics
"To dare, daring is much more than just a word - think about it! Dare to challenge yourself to the limit of your ability but also have the courage to do it again and again. This is something most parkour athletes know about".
"Someone who is also known for daring and always seeing possibilities (always having the glass half full, rather than half empty) is the founder of PE-Redskaber, Preben Ebsen. A few years ago, when we were in talking with PE-Redskaber about new trends in the gymnastics world, we gave PE-Redskaber all the space they needed to come up with new ideas for a new facility setup, gymnastics centre. Preben Ebsen had picked up some interesting trends earlier on - gymnastics had become more street-oriented in certain areas: something about parkour in the urban environment"...
"BGI Academy has always had gymnastics and traditional sports education but the question was if the school was 'street' enough to reach the students' demands and live up to the newest trends. Probably not as much as it could at that time - and so 2010 came. It was time to get the streets to the school."
World's largest parkour environment
"PE-Redskaber is known for its innovative approach to product development and turning good ideas into reality, as owner Preben Ebsen is a man who always has a plan. So, it didn't take longer than saying the word PARKOUR before Preben pulled out one unique idea after another. Some drawn with his daughter's crayons, with notes that you could do this, this and this - not to forget this!"
"In this way, a little girl's crayons and a gymnastics enthusiast, who really knows how to dare and who actually believes that it is important to adapt to the youth of our time - have managed to create the world's largest parkour environment, which now exists in Denmark at a boarding school just south of Horsens."
"For many years we have had a good partnership with PE-Redskaber on several big and small projects. We have always had good, constructive, passionate and professional collaboration, with both wild ideas - completely out of the box, but also with more concrete solutions. They have had the courage to try out new aspects, to challenge what is possible with the construction of jumping facilities. Our street and parkour, gymnastics centre is a good example of our creative, pioneering collaboration!"
Head of Department Jan Tilsted, BGI Academy
