Salim Mahdawi, a football coach at Till Eulenspiegel Primary School in Bonn, uses hand gestures to communicate with refugee children and explain what he wants from them. The children gather in the middle of the school gym in a circle, looking at the coach with excited eyes, anticipating his instructions to start playing.
Coach Slim holds a football in his hand, and after checking the names of all the students, training begins. He says to DW“The children are accustomed to these rituals, and we have a common starting and farewell greeting,” Saleem confirms that these rituals are not only related to sports and football, but rather play an essential role in the social interaction between the participating children.
Antje Nikheli, volunteer coordinator for refugee shelters who launched the “Football Connects” project with Hertha Bonn Football Club in March 2022, emphasizes that social interaction is very important for children, especially for those who come from refugee reception centres. And she says to DW“These trainings are very important for children, because many of those who have lived through the refugee experience think that the strongest always wins, and this means that the behavior of these children may be somewhat harsh,” she adds, “Here comes our role to teach them how to take into consideration the feelings of others again, and train them in good social behavior.” In a fun and simple way.”
Language is a barrier that can be overcome
Of course, the lack of a common language may sometimes pose a barrier to communication, in addition to other challenges. Jörg Michael says toDW “Linguistic barriers represent a major challenge, in addition to the constant enrollment of new children in training, which constitutes another challenge.”
“The children come from different countries and often do not speak a common language, which represents a big challenge for the coaches when it comes to including all the children in their groups,” adds Michael, the second president of Hertha Bonn.
Coach Salim, in cooperation with club officials, was able to overcome the language barrier by developing other strategies. If the children did not speak English or French, they would be contacted using small cards that he presented to them. With the challenges that Salim faces, he feels very happy: “I feel happy, and you can already see the positive impact of these training on the children, which constitutes a strong incentive for me to move forward.”
For her part, Nikheli asserts that a common language is not a basic condition for communication, as there are other languages that may bring together different cultures, and she explains, “In this way, hostile cultures may become friends, because their members play on the same team.” Football is always understood by everyone, which is why the club uses it as a common language, according to Jörg Michael.
Hertha Bonn is an amazing example of dedication
The Hertha Bonn Club project was a great success and was able to reach all participating children through cards and emojis. The project won the Julius Hirsch Award from the German Football Association for the year 2024.
Led by Bernd Neuendorf, President of the German Football Association, Herta Bonn was chosen from among 134 applicants to win the award, which is why the association described him as an impressive example of dedication and selflessness; Because this way he would not gain new club members, all the children would leave the Boone facility after a few days or weeks.
Sports clubs help integration
Through a similar project, sports clubs can help children escape from their bitter reality. Despite short-term stays, children benefit significantly from weekly training, and the burdens of their stay in refugee reception places can be reduced by keeping them occupied with sports, in addition to the possibility of learning social skills. New courses that enable them to learn about German culture and traditions to facilitate their integration.
Nikheli confirms this, saying: “These clubs may change children’s behaviors, because the children who were part of the club can help other children, and thus support each other, and transfer their knowledge and experiences to others.”
Jörg Michael emphasizes the importance of this project in relation to the issue of integration, saying: “Social participation and integration must be one of the tasks of sports clubs, and that is why we have developed the guide, to show how easy it is to provide such training.”
Prepared by: M.J
