Ulla Heckmann gave courses in the popular sports department of TSV Ehningen for 48 years.
Recreational sports. Voluntary trainer in children’s gymnastics and in the gymnastics groups at TSV Ehningen Breitensport, Ulla Heckmann has had many sports enthusiasts in her courses. After 48 years, this is now over. “I grew old in gymnastics with my ladies and the group got smaller and smaller. That’s why the decision was made not to relaunch the offer in the fall,” says the Gelsenkirchen native, who has been at home in Ehningen for a long time.
Sport has always been part of her life. She was already active in sports in Sigmaringen, a station in her life, and has already taken over the management of a gymnastics group there. “I fell into it like that, first I was a course participant, then I was asked if I would like to continue my training and take over the group,” she remembers. The family’s move to Ehningen and the desire to continue being active in sports led them to TSV Ehningen.
It all started in the old gymnasium of the Frohnäckerschule, the room in the basement, which is now used as a theater cellar, was their second home. “We were three trainers back then, but today there are over 65 in popular sports,” she says. She herself has acquired a license for children’s and senior gymnastics and for cardiac sports groups. Children’s gymnastics was close to her heart until about ten years ago. Entire generations have gone to gymnastics with “Frau Heckmann”. “We were one of the first communities in the district to offer children’s gymnastics,” she says, remembering that then-Mayor Mezger was very committed to it.
She has not kept the course fee for herself over the years, but has always donated it to purchases for the community’s kindergarten area. There were three groups of 15 children each that Ulla Heckmann wanted to teach, above all, the feel for the ball. “If I saw that someone was clever with the ball, I would say to the parents, send the guy to football,” she says with a laugh. Children’s gymnastics was never part of the TSV, but she was already very connected to the club back then. “My lessons were always without music; I just found the sprinklers annoying.”
Founding member of the popular sports department
As a trainer at TSV, she was the one who, together with others, founded the popular sports department on February 22, 1980 and was also deputy department head for a few years. Women’s gymnastics, like everything else, was always a lot of fun for her. Also active in the cardiac sports group for 25 years and all that alongside the family. When it comes to the sports badge, she has long since lost count of how many times she has taken it. “My favorites were the shot put and the sprint. Sport was my way of balancing my family and our four children,” says Heckmann, who was and is also very active within the community.
The mulled wine stand at the Christmas market and countless creative courses are also part of it. Even though the active time at TSV Ehningen is over for the honorary member, sport is far from over. Since January 2024 she has been at the Haus Magdalena nursing home several times a week and offers gymnastics there. The 87-year-old still offers a women’s gymnastics course at the adult education center. Holistic fitness with exercises to promote coordination and muscle strengthening, but also elements from Feldenkrais, Qi Gong, Pilates and other gentle gymnastics and relaxation methods, true to the motto “Do something, don’t stay at home”, ensures sporting activity.
She always joins in, no matter what the exercises are and at home there is always a chair slightly away from the dining table. “I do my exercises here every day, sometimes just in passing, a small unit, sometimes several exercises specifically,” she says. “There are five exercises that she incorporates into her everyday life and that keep her fit and flexible.”
