HSV Youth Development Center

HSV youngsters are supported by our floor coverings during training

Talent is not everything. Performances need to be repeatedly confirmed and improved through consistent, intensive training. For this purpose, Hamburger Sport-Verein (SV Hamburg or HSV) has set up a youth development centre right next to the Volksparkstadion, the home of its professionals. Project owner is the HSV-Campus GmbH, a venture founded by entrepreneur Alexander Otto and the company HSV Fußball AG.

HSV has a policy based on feeding its Bundesliga squad with players from its own youth system. The core of the strategy is to nurture the region’s most promising talents, developing them to the standard required for the professionals. Consequently, the training centre is focussed on young players in the under 16 to under 21 age groups. There are currently 16 youth players at the Alexander Otto academy, which is named after the former supervisory board chairman. Covering 4,600 square metres, the centre has sufficient space to include a school with boarding and day care facilities, a canteen and cafeteria, offices, a conference area, as well as fitness and seminar rooms. Placing the centre right next to the well-known Volksparkstadion is a deliberate attempt to bring youth teams and professional footballers closer together. This close proximity will enable all the players to meet, exchange ideas and benefit from each other’s experience.

These floorings support training programmes

In order to transform youth payers into high-performance, skilful professionals, a range of training areas, besides football pitches, are needed to develop physical strength and fitness. One such area is the campus’s own fitness studio for targeted strength and endurance training. The elastic REGUPOL everroll impact fitness floor is used. A total of 475 square metres were laid in SV Hamburg’s development centre. The 400-square-metres training area and the 40-metre sprint track are optically set apart by the colour of their respective wear layers. The bright blue decor marks the sprint track between the grey and black training areas. This way, REGUPOL is preparing the ground for individual preparation and achievement of strong fitness levels as the basis for playing professional football, and for the systematic development of performance in young players.

REGUPOL everroll impact is designed above all for areas subject to heavy loads in weight training rooms. It absorbs the impact from dumbbells and fitness equipment and protects the screed underneath. The athletes themselves also benefit from the double-layer flooring, as its elasticity reduces the strain on the body generated by weight training. The anti-slip properties provide the athletes with a good footing, consequently enabling them to perform their exercises correctly.

For casual outdoor training, a small pitch was installed on the roof of the development centre. REGUPOL multicourt DLX was chosen for the playing surface here. This is an elastic, synthetic sports flooring consisting of two layers, for which installation and marking are carried out on site. Its high elasticity reduces the risk of injury from falls, while its compacted wear layer makes it an ideal surface for all ball games, in which the fun factor takes precedence over performance. It provides exactly the right balance between slip resistance and sliding deceleration. Inspired by the HSV club colours, EPDM granulate in rainbow blue was chosen for the pitch surface. The base is made of a bound sub-base with a relatively low weight, which is mouldable and meets all the statics requirements for use on roofs. The entire system of sports surface and sub-base has a thickness of approximately 15 cm. The system can also be installed in construction sites, which are difficult to access and where logistics are demanding.

HSV’s youth development centre is one of currently 54 such centres which are now compulsory for clubs in Bundesliga 1 and 2.