Sport
In the middle of Saarbrücken's urban woodland, a path leads to one of the most interesting sports complexes in Germany, which offers unparalleled facilities for high-performance sport. The sporting environment has been continually expanded here with a range of exemplary infrastructure. The facilities are situated in a tranquil section of the woodland, but are just a few kilometres from the centre of the state capital Saarbrücken.
Short decision-making processes
The sports grounds at the Rhineland-Palatinate/Saarland Olympic training centre benefit from several positive factors. In particular, their close links with Saarland University, including the famous Institute of Sports and Preventive Medicine, the Sports Sciences Institute and with the Hermann Neuberger Sports School, form an ideal network that aims to achieve a variety of different objectives. The DHfPG (German University for Health Promotion and Management) in Saarbrücken is an especially important provider of sandwich courses and advanced vocational training, and it has 10 study centres throughout Germany. In addition, an elite sports college and an elite football college for women and girls have been set up, as has a new athletic centre. The sports grounds around Hermann Neuberger Sports School offer about 90,000 square metres of ultra-modern sports facilities, together with functional meeting and conference rooms and hotel-standard accommodation in a wonderful natural setting. Particular highlights include the multi-purpose indoor arena, the track and field area with a large indoor hall, and the modern 50-metre indoor swimming pool. Multi-media functions optimise the training facilities. As well as the Olympic training centre's own athletes, top athletes from around the world regularly stay here. Associations, clubs or amateur sports people also hold conferences and seminars here, and they appreciate the special ambiance of the facilities.
Institute of Sports and Preventive Medicine
Saarland – a sports region that is going places
Great importance is attached to grassroots sport. Around 390,000 Saarlanders actively participate in over 2,000 sports clubs around the state. Compared with other German states, Saarland has the most people (about 40% of the population) enrolled in sports clubs.
And when it comes to obtaining the Deutsches Sportabzeichen, i.e. passing the national fitness test, people in Saarland are still way ahead of their counterparts in other federal states. Various sports institutions such as the Landessportverband für das Saarland, the Sports Ministry and the Rhineland-Palatinate/Saarland Olympic training centre have been collaborating very closely for years to strengthen sporting activity in the state.