In the carousel of sports

Dr Tina Kiessling

On a sunny morning in a new-build neighbourhood in the Adelsberg district: contemporary houses with well-tended front gardens and modern cars are lined up next to each other. In between is a yellow house with green windows that stands out with its simplicity. The front garden is cosy and inviting. It is equipped with everything a sporty child's heart desires, a large wooden playground frame with ropes and colourful climbing bolts forms the centrepiece, surrounded by a trampoline and numerous balls and hoops. All of this is part of the Chemnitz Children's Sports School, whose director Dr Tina Kießling turned her back on her home town of Dresden to get the kids of Chemnitz excited about exercise and sport again in the age of tablets and smartphones.

What is KiSS?
Dr Tina Kießling: The Chemnitz Children's Sports School is not a sports school in the true sense of the word, but a leisure sports centre for children of pre-school and primary school age. It was founded eleven years ago by my colleague Katrin Adler, who is currently on parental leave. The KiSS programme is based on the framework learning plan of the Swabian Gymnastics Association, which focuses on fun, exercise and health.

What is special about your children's sports school?
We don't go in a specific direction with our sports programme, i.e. we don't explicitly train handball players, footballers or track and field athletes. Instead, we focus on training the children's basic motor skills and abilities: Skipping, climbing, balancing, with the level of difficulty being adjusted as they get older. We teach the basics so that the children can learn everything later on. Early childhood education also plays a role in teaching children about food and healthy lifestyles through play.

When can children start attending KiSS?
Our Minis start at the age of one and a half and can stay in the group until they are three. Then we have the 3 to 4-year-olds, the 5 to 6-year-olds and then the primary school age begins. Here we train according to the principle of the sports carousel. New sports are tried out every fortnight so that the children get a feel for what they like and what they don't like. Many children then move on to specific clubs. We give the children the right help to get started without the pressure of competitive sport.

How did you come up with the idea of founding KiSS?
The founder, Katrin Adler, was studying sports at Chemnitz University of Technology and children were hardly ever part of the curriculum. This gave her the idea of developing something for children. It started with a small sports project with 30 to 40 children. We then came across the KiSS concept and teamed up with the SG Adelsberg e.V. association and Chemnitz University of Technology. It was important to us that we always accompany the programmes scientifically and analyse whether the programmes work and how measurable the benefits are.

Dr Tina Kießling herself studied business administration and has been in charge of KiSS administration for five years. There are around 100 sports schools in Germany under the KiSS umbrella organisation. With 800 members spread across 84 courses at 9 locations and run by 22 coaches, KiSS Chemnitz is one of the largest in Germany. The KiSS is a kind of label that certifies the sports schools and awards the quality seal every four years in an examination. There is a framework curriculum that specifies the basic movement sequences and skills.

To what extent does KiSS Chemnitz differ from other children's sports schools?
We can make region-specific adaptations to the framework learning plan, for example, here in the east we have expanded the offer in the pre-school sector, as the sports structure in the form of AGs was already represented in the all-day programme of the schools for some time. Almost all children's sports schools are now represented in the pre-school sector, which we helped to get rolling.

How do you get children to do sport these days?
Firstly, it's the children themselves who want to be active. Every child has a natural urge to move. However, the media or poor nutrition sometimes inhibit this urge to exercise. On the other hand, it is the parents who are the driving force, especially at pre-school age, because they either want to encourage the existing urge to exercise or want to reduce inhibitions. It's a matter of attitude! In some cases, doctors also refer children to us.

How does a sports lesson at KiSS work?
After the warm-up, our minis do guided exercises to utilise their concentration, which doesn't last very long with the little ones. This is a transport game, for example. Afterwards, a course is usually set up for free exploration. The children learn to abide by rules, assess dangers, behave in a group and let off steam. The older children have more demanding motor and cognitive tasks and work more in a group. Children of primary school age try out the sports carousel.

Which sport is right for my child?
If the child already has an inclination towards a particular sport, parents should not work against this inclination. After all, the child is motivated by the fun and the sense of achievement. Boys often like football, girls prefer dancing. Our courses are designed to cater for a wide range of sports, so that everyone can find the right thing for them.

What do you associate with the city of Chemnitz?
With sport, of course. I deal with exercise every day and find it amazing what is developing in the field of sport, including for families. The Sports Institute at Chemnitz University of Technology is researching exciting projects and I also think it's important for the city to maintain its sporting profile through the university, among other things. Chemnitz has a sporting past and we must continue to honour this.

A few weeks ago, the city of Chemnitz auctioned off five jerseys with autographs of prominent athletes. The jerseys were presented to Mayor Barbara Ludwig as a gift in recent months or were created for special occasions. A total of 2,016.14 euros was raised. Part of the proceeds will be donated to KiSS Chemnitz. Tina Kiessling already knows what she wants to use the money for: "We would like to get new equipment to equip the current locations. Good boxes or a decent, high-quality sports trampoline cost quite a bit. We've already had enquiries from parents who would like to have more locations in neighbourhoods like Siegmar/Reichenbrand. But we need more staff for that."

Who is part of your team so far?
We have a few permanent employees and around 20 volunteers, without whom almost nothing would work. Most of them are sports students, but we are also supported by two nursery teachers, a physiotherapist and two education students. Most of them have to learn a few pedagogical tricks at the beginning of their work, because a sports lesson with the little ones is like herding fleas.

Where do you see KiSS and Chemnitz in 2025?
The first goal: We should still exist! The parents and children should be happy with us and our quality must still be right. We would also like to establish one or two more locations. On the subject of the Capital of Culture Chemnitz: We can contribute to sports culture and joie de vivre!