Stadium in Euskirchen: anticipation for athletics despite grievances

Stadium in Euskirchen: anticipation for athletics despite grievances

In the Heinz-Flohe Stadium in Euskirchen there is a sporting challenge. While the athletics community is preparing for exciting competitions, there are worrying voices in the background. Hans-Werner Pütz, chairman of the LGO Euskirchen/Erftstadt, manifests itself as the competitive attendant of the Southwest region on the grievances in the stadium: "The maintenance and maintenance of the athletics facilities is totally neglected." This lawsuit is based on contradiction from the city of Euskirchen, which indicates that it has invested around 200,000 euros in maintenance last year.

The pressure increases, because hundreds of athletes will take up the stadium on the coming weekends. Several events will take place on Sunday, September 8, including the North Rhine-U14 all-around championships and the individual championships of men and women, followed by a student and youth sports festival. Pütz has the hope that the numbers of the participants will move back to previous record values, where up to 500 athletes occurred at the festival.

Marking problems in the stadium

Another big problem is the defective marking of the competition areas. According to Pütz, the markings for the hurdles in front of the main grandstand are practically missing. He points out that the interchangeable stamps for the 4 × 100 meter relay do not meet the current standards. The alternating room is now 30 meters in size, instead of 20 meters as before, which could favor errors in the competitions. The city administration replies that offers for the required marking work were obtained and the implementation is planned by 2025.

The inaccuracies in the sports facility have lower roots. In the Erftstadion, competitions were measured in the Erftstadion on false expanses in the Erftstadion because the scale was not correctly created in the corresponding triangle. Although the problem has now been resolved, the old marker remains and causes confusion among the competition judges.

digitization and lack of infrastructure

In addition to these organizational defects, the LGO Euskirchen/Erftstadt also misses a digital infrastructure. Hans-Werner Pütz emphasizes the desire for a hotspot in the stadium in order to make the competitions more interactive and appealing for the audience. For example, participation in modern time recording systems is only possible with stable internet. This is where new challenges face because the city of Euskirchen sees the need for such a hotspot as non -priority. She argues that sport can be carried out without any digital additional offers.

Another problem in the stadium is the equipment of the high jump. The LGO plans to propose the city to buy a second high jump, since the existing has become unusable by pests. The chairman Pütz warns that the number of participants in the high jump is high at the upcoming event and that time problems could therefore occur unless a solution is found quickly.

However, the city of Euskirchen already indicates that offers are already available for the purchase of the high jump system and that this will soon be ordered. It refers to statutory award regulations that often make a timely implementation of such projects difficult. Nevertheless, a second high jump system will be necessary to meet the increased requirements.

The focus is on the competition next weekend. The competition begins on Saturday at 1 p.m. with the 100 meters. When looking at the clock, participants and spectators have to wait until 6.45 p.m. for the 200-meter runs. There are numerous event highlights on Sunday from 10 a.m. and the day is expected to end around 5:30 p.m. The anticipation for the sporting competitions is noticeable, even if the dark side of the infrastructure cannot be ignored.