Peace, Quiet and Dinner at 18:00 hours
Voorschoten is home to numerous training facilities. From gyms to calisthenics parks (outdoor locations with pullup bars). Google Search it and you’ll be shocked to see exactly how many places there are. THE FITNESSCLUB is one of them. It’s a local gym, tucked away from the main street. Everyone seems to know everyone - most members live in the close vicinity. It’s also welcomed numerous expats through its doors.
Shané Schutte
“The British School in the Netherlands is practically a neighbour,” jokes gym co-owner Paco De Roode. “We know the school has closed for the day when students flock in. We also see people come from overseas and stay for a short while for work. Voorschoten has numerous transport options, after all. Big cities are easily in reach from here.”
Wherefore Art Though
Voorschoten?
Before making his way to Voorschoten, De Roode had never heard of the place. The green parks that make it so idyllic and the impressively clean streets weren’t on his radar. When he arrived in the Netherlands with his mother as a teenager, his geographical knowledge only included the bigger cities. The culture was different, not to mention the language. It required some getting used to. "Eating bread for lunch was a new concept,” he said. “Eating dinner at 18:00 was too. Then there was the act of getting invited for tea and cookies.”
But there was one burning passion he had that drew him to like-minded people: exercise. This love would gradually lead him to participate in fitness competitions and come 2nd in the Dutch Championships, 2018.
For now, life would lead him to a school where he could learn about fitness and personal training. When he finished his degree, he went to an agency to help scope out work.
Enter Voorschoten and all its training facilities. Through the agency he found work as a manager and personal trainer at a gym formerly known as Your Life. He quickly looked for a house and that was that.
But what’s kept him in Voorschoten all these years? The peace and quiet, the kind community, cosy shops and “the fact there’s genuinely nothing to dislike”.
International Accessibility
Fast track to the present day and De Roode now co-owns THE FITNESSCLUB and created the personal training company Fit Avenue. While the local population is key to both businesses, he places great emphasis on the importance of those not originally from the Netherlands.
“The Fit Avenue website is not only in Dutch, but also English,” De Roode said. “The reason is to make it easier for expats to find us. Despite the amount of fitness clubs in Voorschoten, few of them branch out in a language other than Dutch. I’ve been in that situation. It’s daunting to search for something you need, only to be met with a language you don’t understand.
“A more international online presence would not only benefit everyone in the community, but would also put Voorschoten more on the map in terms of searchability.”
That there are many of us in Voorschoten is undeniable, he explains, and unless the British School closes down in the future, that's unlikely to change.