About us

The amateur sports club AC Villanders Einrad was founded on 1 April 2013 by a group of eight unicyclists and their parents with the aim of improving the conditions for unicyclists in Villanders. However, the story of the Villandro unicyclists began a little earlier in the summer of 2010, when Stefan Ploner and Franz Hofer invited the Laion unicycle group to Villandro for a demonstration. The Laion unicyclists' professional freestyle performance thrilled the audience and shortly afterwards the unicycle section was founded in the sports club. After a long search, a section leader was finally found in Ida Treibenreif Baumgartner, who still leads the club with great commitment and always endeavours to create a balance between beginners and the elite group. Lisa Ploner from Laion, who ran the first freestyle course in Villandro, provided support initially. From around 20 unicycle enthusiasts at the beginning, the club grew to over 70 members. Over time, a group of Muni riders and track riders were added. It was now necessary to create a training opportunity for these riders too. From autumn 2011, training took place in 3 groups. The freestyle riders in the Villandro gymnasium, the Muni riders in open terrain and the track riders in the sports zone, and on athletics tracks in the surrounding area. In the meantime, the interests of the unicyclists have changed and we have mainly specialised in Muni riding.

However, the unicycle courses in the gym are still very popular and are the best way to learn how to ride a unicycle. Jessica Rabensteiner has led the courses in this area for years and taught many children the basic rules of unicycling. She has also put her heart and soul into freestyle events. It is thanks to her that the first and still only freestyle national championship was held in Villandro. Unfortunately, Jessy died in a motorbike accident in 2019 at the tender age of 21. In recent years, we have also expanded our offer to include dry training in the gym, whose programme includes general training in the areas of endurance, coordination and strength and is used by around 15-20 adults every year.

On Saturday, 25 August 2012, we held our first unicycle tournament in Villanders. The 45 participants were able to compete in 8 disciplines. The excellent success of the tournament motivated us to repeat it every year and even extend it to 2 days and 9 disciplines. The tournament has now been held over ten times. As the number of participants has grown to over 100, we have had to cancel some disciplines so that we can hold the tournament in two days. We now hold exciting competitions in uphill, downhill, cross-country and trials.