Frankfurt, 10.7.2023: For the second time, the 30 schools participating in the “Löwenstark – Fußball trifft Kultur” project played out the winners of the final tournament.
At the SV Blau-Gelb grounds in Frankfurt’s Niddapark, the teams from Münzenberger School, Niddaschule and IGS Mainspitze came out on top in their respective age groups.
Over 500 children from all over the Rhine-Main region traveled to Frankfurt to take part in the big final tournament of “Löwenstark – Fußball trifft Kultur” for the second time since 2022.
The goal of everyone involved: the trophies in the respective age groups.
And yet the final tournament is more than just a sporting showdown.
The event is the annual highlight of the integrative educational project, in which around 700 pupils took part last year.
The project combines soccer, language and culture and offers participants a motivating, low-threshold offer that promotes their language and social skills and gets them moving in the long term.
In this way, “Löwenstark – Fußball trifft Kultur” reaches children from educationally disadvantaged social backgrounds in particular, who often feel less addressed by regular school lessons and benefit particularly from the additional support.
Training and learning takes place twice a week in two halves at 30 schools.
In addition, various workshops and excursions were offered to broaden the children’s cultural horizons.
There were also activities during the vacations that combined soccer and language in a fun way.
Throughout the school year, the final tournament acted as a motivating and unifying element.
The children prepared for the big day together with their project teachers and coaches and experienced cohesion, fair play and team spirit at the tournament.
The tournament was the conclusion and highlight of the second year of the “Löwenstark – Fußball trifft Kultur” project. With this special regional edition of the nationwide educational program “Fußball trifft Kultur”, LitCam and the Hessian Ministry of Culture made it possible to hold “Fußball trifft Kultur” at 30 additional schools in the Rhine-Main region this school year.
Funded by the “Löwenstark – Der BildungsKICK” initiative of the Hessian Ministry of Culture, “Löwenstark – Fußball trifft Kultur” has been offered at 26 primary and four secondary schools in the Rhine-Main region since the start of the 2021/2022 school year.
“Löwenstark – Fußball trifft Kultur” is run by around 60 dedicated project teachers and coaches who ensure the successful implementation of the project at the respective schools.
The team consists primarily of teacher training and sports students as well as certified coaches who use their enthusiasm for soccer to promote the children’s social and language skills.
Comments on the tournament
Karin Plötz, Director of LitCam, was delighted with the successful implementation of the first year of the “Löwenstark – Fußball trifft Kultur” project: “I am delighted that we were able to successfully implement the ‘Löwenstark – Fußball trifft Kultur’ project at 30 schools in the Rhine-Main region thanks to the funding from ‘Löwenstark – Der BildungsKICK’. The final tournament at the end of the first year of the project was an absolute highlight for the participating children. The children’s enthusiasm as they played for the trophy shows the motivational power of soccer.”
Minister of Culture Prof. Dr. Alexander Lorz explained: “In the time of school closures, much of what ‘Fußball trifft Kultur’ focuses on has been neglected: exercise, learning German and social interaction. That’s why I’m so grateful to LitCam gGmbH for specifically supporting children and young people with their program. The large number of pupils taking part speaks for itself.”
Photos: LitCam / Witters