Ask any member of Maties Gymnasium what makes this place so great. Of course, they will tell you it is because of the people that work there, and then almost everyone will mention the state-of-the-art facilities and equipment that is on par with the best gymnasiums around the globe.
“Since 2015 Stellenbosch University’s Maties Gymnasium has always been and will continue to reinvest in new gymnasium equipment and upgrading the facilities in Stellenbosch and at Tygerberg Medical Campus,” says Dr Francois Kotze, Maties Gymnasium’s General Manager.
He says the Stellenbosch Gymnasium, situated at the Coetzenburg Sport Complex, just up the road from the Coetzenburg Athletics Track has recently completed two refurbishment projects. They replaced their previous Technogym® equipment on the ground floor’s circuit training area next to the Olympic-size outdoor swimming pool, with state-of-the-art new Technogym® equipment. Kotze says their excellent partnership with Technogym®, and the support from the local community made this possible.
“We are sincerely grateful to each and every member,” she said, “whether affiliated to the university or not, for making our facility their training destination of choice. We will continue to reinvest in upgrading our facilities and procuring new equipment to enhance the overall member experience.” The refurbishment projects started in 2015 and Kotze says that it will continue well into the foreseeable future.
“We have also recently refurbished the gents changing rooms and the ladies’ facilities are next in line. We are determined to make our membership fees work for them in providing an improved member experience with regular improvements over the next few years. We have partnered with some of the best equipment companies globally – Technogym® and Life Fitness® in particular – to make our vision a reality.”
Maties Gymnasium are planning to refurbish the floors and upgrade the equipment on the second floor in the gym overlooking the parking area. The refurbishing of the floor just below that overlooking the gymnasium kiosk, will be the next project during the first quarter of 2023.
“We also realised that we need to upgrade our group exercise offering and will invest considerably in refurbishing the Blousaal, as the group exercise studio is commonly referred to,” says Kotze. “This project is also set for completion during the first quarter of 2023. Although the projects can cause usage restrictions and limitations in certain areas over the short term, members can look forward to brand new, upgraded facilities that will most definitely improve the overall member experience.”
The gymnasium at the Tygerberg Medical Campus has also seen a facelift. In 2019, the floors and the equipment were replaced.
“We are working very closely with the Division of Student Affairs, the Tygerberg Student Representative Council, and the Faculty of Health Science to deliver a facility and services that will contribute to the overall student experience at the medical campus,” Kotze said. “We have a very close-knit community at the Medical Campus, and we feel that the gymnasium is of critical importance to the students and staff.”
We are planning to also work closer together with Maties Sport in trying to mirror what we have achieved at the Stellenbosch campus.
For more information, contact Maties Gymnasium Stellenbosch at 021 808 9107 or gymsales@sun.ac.za. The Tygerberg facility’s contact details are: 021 932 2228 or tygergym@sun.ac.za. You can also visit the gyms’ website at www.matiesgym.sun.ac.za
