The KinderUniversität Oldenburg got off to a lively and above all sporty start to its autumn semester. Around 450 children were captivated by the lecture "Adventure in competitive sport" with movement scientist Jörg Schorer in the lecture theatre centre. The young students themselves were also in demand.
High spirits in the Audimax at the University of Oldenburg: Mario Götze has just scored the decisive goal during the football World Cup in Brazil. Around 450 boys and girls give free rein to their enthusiasm for the video scene, raising their fists in the air, shouting Götze's name enthusiastically and tapping on the folding tables in front of them. Prof. Dr Jörg Schorer from the Institute of Sport Science is not used to such lively reactions to his lectures, but today everything is a little different: the KinderUni has started the autumn semester and the university's largest lecture theatre belongs to the young students for three afternoons.
This time it's all about sport, top-class sport to be precise. Why was Mario Götze able to score the World Cup final goal? How did André Schürrle know how to play him? And why was the Argentinian goalkeeper simply too late? These three questions were the focus of the opening lecture of the autumn semester. Under the motto "The adventure of competitive sport", Prof Schorer explained to the youngsters what distinguishes a top athlete from an amateur footballer.
"First and foremost, it's the eye," explained the sports scientist, who also had an experiment ready to prove his point. He invites Jacob Albrecht, a young player from EWE Baskets Oldenburg, onto the stage. The 20-year-old puts on special glasses and tries to throw a basketball into a basket. The speciality: The glasses transmit the movement of his eyes to the video screen. This allows everyone in the lecture theatre to follow how Albrecht fixes his eyes on the basket before he shoots. "That's a crucial difference. Jacob looks much more closely before he shoots," explains Prof Schorer. Focussing precisely on the target is an important characteristic that distinguishes the professional from the amateur athlete.
The lecture for the eight to twelve-year-olds continues in a similarly vivid way. Professional handball player Caroline Müller from VfL Oldenburg demonstrates in an experiment how well she can memorise standard line-ups in the seven-metre area. The children can actively take part in this experiment and also try to memorise the positions of the individual players. But most of them realise that they don't do as well as Müller. But that's not a bad thing - after all, the young woman has been studying handball tactics intensively for years and therefore has a decisive advantage. She has memorised the recurring patterns well. This is also the reason why André Schürrle knew how to play Mario Götze in the World Cup final.
After about an hour, all the questions about top-class sport are answered. Nine-year-old Florentine Krieger runs enthusiastically towards her mum, who has been waiting for her in the foyer. "It was really great," she says enthusiastically. Her favourite part was the eye experiment - she had never seen glasses like that before. She has already secured a ticket for the next KinderUni lecture.
The upcoming KinderUni lecture will focus on the topic of food. Under the motto: "Chemistry is when it tastes good", Prof. Dr Verena Pietzner from the Institute of Chemistry invites you to the lecture hall centre on Wednesday, 9 September at 4.30 pm.
The recording of the lecture "Abenteuer Spitzensport" will be shown on Monday, 28 September and Tuesday, 29 September at 16.55 on the local channel Oldenburg eins.
