I’m sure everyone has been to a youth center one way or another. Most of them are just for playing pool with your friends. However, Leverhausen, the center I went to with my friends last week, was as exciting as a roller-coaster ride!
To explain the place briefly, the center was unlike any other youth-based center you can find in a common neighborhood because of its full-outdoors theme. Also, it had many intriguing recreational activities such as: a basketball court and a football field (as per usual), an open swimming pool sized about 30×30, a calisthenics training ground near an outdoor gym for bodybuilders and general sportsmen. Also, there were many board game desks to sit and challenge both your opponent and your brain to have peaceful fun within a harmonic nature. In a more… sunlight-receiving part of the compound, there was a wide array of fine arts stands, such as: Bonsai trees, the Turkish art of Ebru. I found this youth center to be not only a place to relax and take your mind off the daily rush, but also a beautifully designed and planned out emotional balancer, as well as a common social ground.
Of course, not everything is perfect. And as always, I found the not-very-significant shortcomings of this place, so you don’t have to! So, for a place with such a wide variety of activities, it had the lack of one very popular group of arts: “Martial Arts”. As a fan of the ways of the eastern monks and the enlightened, I would definitely prefer seeing these already popular methods of life to be actively by a wider part of our population. Also, I saw some friends leaving in disappointment due to not being able to study there. Just imagine the relief that you would get if you studied while one with nature. We shouldn’t leave anyone excluded from this pleasant place just because they want to study and learn! This place should be a common ground for anyone interested in joining the facility.
Overall, I would recommend everyone give it a try for many different reasons. Who knows, maybe one day one of us can open a new branch of activities to hook more teens in such a balanced environment!