Now, after campus expansion, community growth, and changes in student consumer needs, the University’s Sport Centre has enjoyed an upgrade. Keith Morris – Head of Sport – tells us how the new-look Sport Centre reflects the changes.
The University of York’s civic mission includes delivering inclusive and affordable opportunities for physical activity to students, staff, and the wider community. York Sport’s strapline is “inspiring activity”.
Since the birth of York Sport in 2012, the campus and city have seen significant changes. The collegiate community alone has grown from 30,500 to 80,500 in 10 years. To meet the demands of this expansion, York Sport keeps a close eye on the quality and scope of their premises, equipment, and offers.
Creating an overall high-quality offering for student demands
York Sport has two main sites, but a single membership: the Sport Village with its pool, rugby pitch, health suite, and large gym, and the Sport Centre which has traditionally been the home of University Sport. This enables York Sport to offer two price points for health and fitness.
Keith noticed how students were increasingly demanding better quality kits, so he decided to refurbish the Sport Centre to upgrade the equipment, open up the space, and create the best possible experience getting rid of the quality gap with the Sport Village.
With 90% of the Sport Centre’s footfall coming from students and staff, Keith and his team were able to gather valuable data about zoning, flow, and underused areas. Lockdown presented the team with the opportunity to overhaul the site so new and existing students would return to a brand-new Sport Centre.
Technogym to cater for a tech-savvy student demographic
“Higher-education operators should never take their student memberships for granted” said Keith. “We need to understand what they want, and provide the highest quality both for current students and for those who will be joining us in future years. Working with Technogym to upgrade equipment greatly helps us get ahead of any barriers to participation.”
In partnership with Technogym, York Sport identified the areas of the Sport Centre that needed to be expanded, refurbished, or used in a different way. The existing small gym and studio were combined, and the activities room was replaced with a mezzanine area. This opened up the existing free weights space, making it lighter and more appealing to the growing number of female users.
The gym equipment was replaced with Technogym’s latest and most innovative offerings, to offer users maximum value and a sense of synergy with the kit at the Sport Village. The resistance kit was upgraded, and the cardio equipment was replaced with top of the range high spec offers including Technogym Skill Line.
Enhanced equipment choices for groups and individuals
They created a circuit of cardio kit, including Technogym Bench, Skillrow and Skillbike in the new fitness area which can be used for small-group training or individual workouts. Technogym Bench’s compact design and flexible functionality is perfect for York Sport’s new cardio and resistance training group exercise offer.
The Skill Line equipment had been popular at the Sport Village and Keith knew it would help them create a very different offer to other cardiovascular kit. Skill Line’s advanced functionality gave York Sport another communication channel, by using the touchscreens to communicate messages about hygiene and cleanliness.
“Skill Line looks great and offers users the chance to project their workout data onto the wall in front of them for a boutique-style group workout that is really motivating” said Keith.
Generally speaking, the new Technogym kit had proven incredibly useful in helping the facility increase levels of trust and compliance when the site reopened in September 2021, and York Sport were finalists in the ukactive Awards for Business Continuity & Success During Covid-19.
The final piece of synergy came when York Sport brought the update Sport Centre onto the Technogym Mywellness app, which had previously been used solely at the Sport Village. Keith and the team can now promote their physical activity offers to a new membership base, and users can enjoy a streamlined user journey between the two sites. Mywellness’s latest version includes booking reminders, cancellation notifications, and customer feedback & rating, making the app the perfect tool for engagement, attendance, time management and tracking of fitness achievements, both for users and operators. Thanks to its new hybrid perspective, customers can access their training insights anywhere and anytime they want, always keeping track of their progress and planning their next session.
Staying on top of industry trends thanks to Technogym
Physical and mental wellbeing are key issues across the higher education sector, and operators need robust strategies for physical activity. The industry as a whole has a greater awareness that higher education doesn’t just offer fitness from bricks and mortar sites, and the University of York is creating active environments and setting people up for a lifetime of healthier habits.
“Over the past two years, higher education has stepped up and got involved in the most difficult of challenges. And now it’s about positioning ourselves front and centre by providing high quality, sustainable financial opportunities that will allow us to compete. Partnering with Technogym is one way that we can stay ahead of trends and give students what they want” said Keith.
