Highlights of 2019 | Review

Well, it's been another year. And it went by too fast, but doesn't it always? The EREPS team looks back on 2019 with pleasure; happy that we were able to achieve these outcomes and to have been working with a great number of people and organisations from within the fitness industry. Our social media statistics went through the roof in 2019 (especially Instagram), we welcomed a big number of new EREPS members and added new employees to our team. Take a look at some of our other highlights of the past year: 

• The first 'big win' for 2019 was the fact that there were there were four EREPS members from the same school playing alongside each other during the 2019 Algave Footbal Cup (February), when Scotland played Iceland. It was an  exciting matchup that delivered 5 goals in total with Scotland taking the victory. 

• The third edition of the Training Provider Forum (TPF) took place on April 5, during FIBO - the world's biggest Fitness Trade Show. It saw more than 60 representatives from accredited Training Providers and National Associations coming together to discuss key topics on industry education. This was the highest turn-out ever for a Training Provider Forum. 

• But April had just started, and the best news was yet to come: a new Professional Qualification Certificate (CQP) for Fitness Instructors in France has been developed, to open new opportunities for the training and qualification of fitness professionals! The design of the CQP had been based on the EuropeActive standards and was proposed by a consortium including FranceActive, Planet Fitness and the sport employers’ organisation COSMOS. 

• In the summer, new study results came in from Lithuania comparing EREPS professionals and the current fitness education system in that country. The results revealed that only a minority of the Fitness Instructors (FIs) succeed the Core Knowledge (CK) examination and only three Group Fitness Instructors (GFIs) passed the examination for the HFI’s competencies of the EuropeActive / EREPS EQF level-3 standards. These findings, though not good news, show the value of being EREPS certified and the need for following an accredited course.

• September saw the welcoming of yet another partner register in Europe: we signed an Memorandum of Trust and Understanding with KNKF, the Royal Dutch Power Sport and Fitness Association, clearing the way for REPS-NL, the Dutch country register under the EREPS flag. These initiatives are steps in reaching our end goal of harmonising the European fitness qualifications and the realisation of common standards for the education of fitness professionals across the fitness sector.

• Like in the previous five years, September is also known for the European Week of Sport. We continue to be a big supporter of this initiative and believe all EREPS members should participate! EWoS 2019 officially started on 23 September in Espoo, Finland and turned out to be the biggest one yet, as it saw 42 countries participating, with 50.753 different events taking place. All in all a total of 13.643.492 people were active at some time during EWoS!

• In the fall, the results of a new European survey on fitness trends came in, thanks to our collaboration with the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). Alexis Batrakoulis, the Professional Standards Committee’s Deputy Director for EREPS, served as the study’s author. The survey results showed that the European health and fitness sector is systematically growing with the number of fitness users has increasing by 72% in the past 10 years.

• The team also hosted the 10th edition of its International Standards Meeting (ISM) on November 21st and 22nd in Copenhagen. This year's theme focused on differentiation and specialisation, vital concepts to thrive in Personal Training. The ISM is EREPS/EuropeActive’s main event for training providers, employers, practitioners and other stakeholders from the fitness industry. This edition had about 120 people from all over the world in attendance. 

• The year ended with the reveal that an European Certifying Organisation is definitely coming, as it is our intention to further strengthen the quality assurance and accreditation of training providers across Europe. Initiatives to be introduced by the organisation would include the registration and certification of all students of quality assured certified providers and the introduction of common assessments protocols. An update on these plans will be on our blog soon!

• In the whole of 2019, our Facebook page likes rose from 1.2K to 1.8K followers!

We want to thank everyone for working with us in our goal to make more people, more active, more often in 2019 and hope to see you all in good health in 2020!