22 years on the go

The time is 21:30. It is Saturday 1th of July 2017 and the place is at the sportfestival "Landstævnet" in Aalborg, Denmark.
National Danish Performance Team just did a show which was the last one as head of the team. Johannes Bjerre has been involved for 22 year which is 11 teams and he has been in charge of the last 10 teams.

Johannes Bjerre has lived with the gymnastics in almost all 66 years of life. He has been doing a world tour himself with Flensted-Jensen's team and then worked 22 years as a college teacher,

The many years of travelling has  filled a wall in his office with wonderful memories.
A giant world map always lures him to rise and point at countries and cities with special memories. Gymnasts from all 11 teams are at the opposite wall, while show posters, European maps and much more are hangging over a long bookcase packed with business cards, 40 travel books, scrapbooks and souvenirs from all over the world.

Passionate people

As manager of National Danish Performance Team, Johannes Bjerre knows that the personal contact is extremely imporatent to be able to get access to training facilities as well as venues for shows and workshops where the team is staying. "It is important to visit a country before the team arrives to create personal trust and to make sure that hosting country understand that we really want to make a long term connection that last, even after the visit,".

South Africa was huge

When Johannes Bjerre looks back at his 22 years within DGI and National Danish Performance Team, the memories goes back to unique experiences and exciting meetings with people in all corners of the globe.

I clearly remember my first tour with the first team to South Africa. It was in 1996 where the team received an official invitation to visit shortly after the deployment of Nelson Mandela as president

Johannes Bjerre

"The invitation was an approval of the team from the highest place. The uncertainty about the future was gone after that invitation".
Now Johannes Bjerre says goodbye to National Danish Performance Team, a job that has filled a third of his life. "It has been a challenge for my family because my world with the team has required a lot of time. That may not always be so exciting for my wife, three children and friends to listen to all my stories" He rounds up the conversation about his careers by thanking his family, friends, staff, volunteers in Denmark and around the world for helping making this project to a great success.

We move the world with a great show, many workshops and a wish to inspire more people to be more active. Sports for all, sports for fun and sports for live.

Johannes Bjerre