Frankfurt, 19.06.2022: At the twelfth final tournament of the nationwide education program “Fußball trifft Kultur” (FtK), around 600 children and young people aged eight to 13 from all over Germany played for the coveted trophies in Frankfurt at the weekend. Guests including national team player and “FtK” ambassador Ridle Baku, commentator legend Marcel Reif and Hesse’s Minister President Boris Rhein joined the children in the excitement. LitCam has been organizing the annual final tournament for all participating children since 2010 – for the fourth time in Frankfurt.
On the pitches of Frankfurt’s Riedstadion, the weekend was all about fun and fair play. On Saturday, 18.06.2022, the children in the U10 age group played out their winner. The team from the Karmeliterschule in Frankfurt was delighted to win the challenge cup. On Sunday, 19.06.2022, the trophy in the U14 age group went to Anne-Frank-Gesamtschule from Dortmund.
Images: LitCam / Witters / Jörg Halisch
The final tournament is the annual highlight of “Fußball trifft Kultur”, which offers the approximately 700 children taking part in the program not only soccer training but also skills training, in particular language development. Training and learning takes place twice a week in two halves at 22 locations across Germany. In addition to the involvement of local professional clubs, the final tournament in particular serves as motivation for the support program. It offers the participating children a goal that they can work towards together as a team and thus experience cohesion, fair play and teamwork at first hand.
In addition to top soccer performances, there were also artistic highlights to marvel at during the final tournament. On Saturday, the program group from Holt Catholic Primary School in Mönchengladbach was named the winner of the FtK Club Challenge. As part of this challenge, the core contents of “Fußball trifft Kultur” – soccer, language and culture – were combined in a playful way. The partner clubs from professional soccer provided the inspiration and motivation. The participating program groups developed a creative presentation of their partner club. The spectrum ranged from specially written songs and self-made stadiums to a presentation of the club’s history in the form of an oversized timeline. The winners from Mönchengladbach impressed with their self-designed paintings of their Borussia, which they presented in a digital vernissage. This group was selected by a prominent jury consisting of Ridle Baku (nationwide FtK ambassador and professional footballer for VfL Wolfsburg), Friederike Behrends (CEO of Deutsche Postcode Lotterie), Franziska Fey (Chairwoman of the DFL Foundation), Tim Gailus (FtK ambassador and KiKA presenter), Silke Mayer (Chairwoman of the Dirk Nowitzki Foundation) and Karin Plötz (Director of LitCam).
The guest list for the past two days was also full of celebrities. Among other things, the participating children were able to enjoy a Q&A session with commentary legend Marcel Reif, who is a trustee of the DFL Foundation. In addition, the national ambassador of “Fußball trifft Kultur”, national player Ridle Baku, visited his FtK children and was on hand to give them advice and support during the tournament on Saturday. On Sunday, Hessian Minister President Boris Rhein presented the trophies to the winners of the U14 tournament.
Images: LitCam / Witters / Jörg Halisch
Ridle Baku, nationwide ambassador of “Fußball trifft Kultur” was impressed by his first meeting with “his” children: “I was very pleased to get to know the “Fußball trifft Kultur” children on site. It was great to see how enthusiastically they took part in the tournament and how much soccer motivates them for an educational program like “Fußball trifft Kultur”.”
Guest of honor Marcel Reif was particularly impressed by the fair interaction between the program groups: “It’s great to see how the power of soccer brings children from different cultures together and how they can experience team spirit, fair play and cohesion during the tournament.”
Hessian Minister President Boris Rhein emphasized the integrative power of soccer: “Sport makes integration possible. That’s the great thing about this tournament: you not only learn to deal with victories, but also to cope with defeats. Soccer shows that everyone gets their chance in life if they are prepared to take it. This also applies to language, learning and academic success. So school and sport have a lot in common.”
As a nationwide cooperation partner, the DFL Foundation has been supporting the integrative education program since 2012. Franziska Fey, CEO of the DFL Foundation, emphasized the central role of the tournament in the project’s success: “The final tournament is the big highlight of “Fußball trifft Kultur” for all the children. It motivates them throughout the school year to work on their language skills, including in remedial lessons. At the tournament, they can now show what they have learned – in terms of soccer, language and social skills. It’s great to see how the groups have grown together and how much fun they have.”
Karin Plötz, Director of LitCam, was delighted with the tournament – especially as the final tournament could finally take place again after a two-year break due to the coronavirus pandemic: “It was a great tournament. Despite the heat, the kids played with great enthusiasm to win the FtK Cup. The highlight for the kids was the visit from Marcel Reif and Ridle Baku, it will be remembered by everyone as a great event.”
Mini documentary about the Augsburg program group at the FtK final tournament 2022
The “Fußball trifft Kultur” children and supervisors from the Bärenkeller primary and secondary school in Augsburg were accompanied by a professional camera team as part of the educational program. In addition to the regular range of skills lessons and soccer training, the final tournament in Frankfurt was the big highlight of the year, where the children were able to take home a very special prize.
Video: DFL Foundation / CUE Media
The final placings:
U10
1st place: Karmeliterschule, Frankfurt am Main
2nd place: Frauenstraße elementary school, Fürth
3rd place: Erich-Kästner-Schule II, Frankfurt am Main
4th place: Regenbogenschule II, Gelsenkirchen
Fairplay Award: Schule an der Glinder Au, Hamburg
U14
1st place: Anne-Frank-Gesamtschule I, Dortmund
2nd place: Stadtteilschule am Hafen, Hamburg-St. Pauli
3rd place: Mont-Cenis Comprehensive School II, Herne
4th place: Herbert Grillo Comprehensive School, Duisburg
Fairplay Prize: Bärenkeller primary and secondary school, Augsburg
By LitCam
