Category: Löwenstark – Football meets culture

Final tournament of “Fußball trifft Kultur” with over 600 children from 23 cities

Bundespräsident Frank-Walter Steinmeier mit Karin Plötz, Direktorin der LitCam bei der Verleihung des Bundesverdienstkreuzes

Darmstadt, 10.06.2024 – Team spirit, enjoyment of the game and fair play – that was the motto of the final “Fußball trifft Kultur” (FtK) tournament in 2024.
Around 600 participants in the integrative educational program “Fußball trifft Kultur” travelled to Darmstadt from all over Germany to compete for the coveted trophies in the U10 and U14 age groups.

The 14th FtK final tournament was more than just a sporting showdown.
The event is the annual highlight of the educational program, which offers the more than 700 participants not only soccer training but also skills training, in particular language development.
Training and learning takes place twice a week in two halves at 23 locations across Germany.
The special feature: The program takes place in cooperation with professional clubs in the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2.
They provide a coach for the weekly program and promote the motivation of the participating children through their charisma and unique events such as children’s press conferences, stadium tours or match visits.
In this way, “Fußball trifft Kultur” reaches children from educationally disadvantaged social backgrounds in particular, who often feel less addressed by regular school lessons and thus benefit particularly from the additional promotion of language, movement and culture.
Florian Holzbrecher, Head of Events & CSR at the host of the final tournament, SV Darmstadt 98, describes how “Fußball trifft Kultur” supports the children in the respective locations as follows: “We provide a coach for the weekly program and promote the motivation of the participating children through the charisma of the club and unique events such as children’s press conferences, stadium tours or match visits. It’s great to see how the kids, led by our coach Nils Buhr and teacher Ben Schneider, not only learn in terms of content, but also grow together as a real team and act like one.”

The final tournament in Darmstadt is also representative of the integrative nature of the educational program.
United by the motivating power of soccer, children from a wide range of countries came together for a big soccer festival in which they were able to represent the colors of their respective partner clubs.
The participants not only demonstrated the progress they have made in soccer over the past year, but also experienced solidarity, fair play and teamwork at first hand.
The groups from the Grundschule an der Glinder Au (U10) and Herbert-Grillo-Gesamtschule (U14) were particularly pleased to win on behalf of FC St. Pauli and MSV Duisburg and raise the coveted challenge cup to the sky in Darmstadt.
The groups from Braunschweig (Diesterwegstraße elementary school) and Mainz (IGS Mainz Bretzenheim) were given a special honor when they were awarded the Fair Play Cup for their exemplary behavior.

In addition, a special award was on the program in the year of the European Football Championship in Germany: As part of the FtK-EuropeChallenge, the children spent the past six months exploring different European countries and their cultures.
The results were evaluated by a jury consisting of Matthias Bader (professional footballer at SV Darmstadt 98 and FtK program sponsor), Franziska Fey (Chairwoman of the DFL Foundation), Jonas Kozinowski (author of “Was ist Was – Fußball”), Karin Plötz (Director of LitCam) and Anton Schumacher (Head of Education at Eintracht Frankfurt’s youth development center) and were awarded prizes at the final tournament.
The winners from the Grundschule an der Glinder Au were delighted.

The various exercise stations also provided variety, where children and visitors were able to put their soccer skills to the test at a goal wall and a shot measuring system, among other things, and grow together as a team in various group games.
Dr Nadine Seddig, Head of Programs and Funding Management, who has been supporting FtK with the DFL Foundation as a nationwide partner since 2012, emphasized the central role of the tournament in the success of the project: “The final tournament is the absolute highlight of the FtK program every year. The great anticipation of the participating children is palpable for everyone and the atmosphere on site is characterized by great togetherness. It’s always great to see how everyone comes together to play soccer, have fun and achieve a goal as a team. That makes the tournament a great success again this year!”

Karin Plötz, Director of LitCam gGmbH, which has been implementing the integrative education program since 2007, also drew a positive conclusion: “This year’s final tournament was once again the absolute highlight of the “Fußball trifft Kultur” program year.
The children love showing what they can do by playing soccer.
And they experience how important team spirit, fairness and respect are.
They are proud to be part of such a big tournament.
It’s an unforgettable experience for all the kids.”

The final placings:

U10

1st place: Grundschule an der Glinder Au, Hamburg

2nd place: GGS Flurstraße, Düsseldorf

3rd place: Fasanenhofschule, Stuttgart

4th place: GGS Lustheider Straße, Cologne

U14

1st place: Herbert-Grillo-Schule II, Duisburg

2nd place: Anne-Frank-Schule I, Dortmund

3rd place: IGS Bretzenheim, Mainz

4th place: Bärenkeller II secondary school, Augsburg

Final tournament of “Löwenstark – Fußball trifft Kultur” 2023

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

“Löwenstark – Fußball trifft Kultur”: LitCam adds 16 new project locations to its funding program in Hesse

Frankfurt am Main, March 01, 2023: Kicking and learning, dribbling and strengthening social skills in the process – 16 schools in northern and central Hesse have also been enjoying this offer since the start of the second half of the 2022/2023 school year.
With these additional project groups, LitCam is further expanding its “Löwenstark – Fußball trifft Kultur” project, which was launched in 2021 and already supports 30 schools in the Rhine-Main region.
The project, which is funded by the Hessian Ministry of Education as part of the “Löwenstark – Der BildungsKICK” initiative, can now reach up to 1,000 children.

At “Löwenstark – Fußball trifft Kultur”, pupils in grades three to six receive one half of soccer training and one half of skills training twice a week, in which language and social skills in particular are taught.
In addition, cultural activities are offered to give the children new cultural insights and create a link between soccer, language and culture.
The big common goal of the participants is the “Löwenstark – Fußball trifft Kultur” final tournament, in which all participating schools compete for the coveted trophies.
The aim of this approach is to strengthen team spirit, fair play and cooperation, while at the same time motivating the participants to take part in the additional language training, in which soccer serves as a language opportunity.

The concept of “Löwenstark – Fußball trifft Kultur” is based on the approach of the nationwide integrative educational program “Fußball trifft Kultur”, which LitCam has been running since 2007.
Together with partner clubs from the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2, local sponsors and, since 2012, the DFL Foundation as a nationwide partner, this project is now offered at 35 project locations in 23 German cities.
The Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 clubs act as cooperation partners in the respective cities and provide the coaches for the “Fußball trifft Kultur” soccer training sessions.
This concept is slightly modified as part of “Löwenstark – Fußball trifft Kultur”.
The soccer training is carried out by sports students and licensed soccer coaches from popular sports clubs.

Karin Plötz, Director of LitCam gGmbH, welcomes the expansion of the funding in Hesse: “We are delighted to be able to further expand “Löwenstark – Fußball trifft Kultur” with our locations in northern and central Hesse.
In the course of the project so far, we have seen that we can motivate the participating children with our offer and get them moving.
Löwenstark – Fußball trifft Kultur” not only offers the children academic and sporting support, but also creates additional language opportunities, a sense of achievement and motivation to learn through the special combination of soccer, language and culture.”

Further information on the “Löwenstark – Fußball trifft Kultur” project can be found here.

“Löwenstark – Fußball trifft Kultur”: 30 new program groups

With 30 new program groups, LitCam is further expanding its commitment within the integrative educational program “Fußball trifft Kultur”.
Funded by the “Löwenstark – Der BildungsKICK” initiative of the Hessian Ministry of Culture, “Löwenstark – Fußball trifft Kultur” will be offered at 30 Frankfurt schools in the 2021/2022 school year.

The first program groups will start today, Monday, 13.09.
The program is set to begin at all 30 participating schools by the autumn vacations.
“Löwenstark – Fußball trifft Kultur” is based on a concept that has been tried and tested in the nationwide “Fußball trifft Kultur” program.
Pupils in grades three to six receive one half of soccer training and one half of skills training twice a week, in which language and social skills in particular are taught.

The nationwide “Fußball trifft Kultur” program is offered together with local sponsors and, since 2012, with the DFL Foundation as a nationwide partner at 34 project locations in 22 German cities, including five locations in Frankfurt am Main so far.
The Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 clubs act as cooperation partners in the respective cities and provide the coaches for the “Fußball trifft Kultur” soccer training sessions.
For the 30 new program groups in Frankfurt, this concept will be slightly modified for “Löwenstark – Fußball trifft Kultur”.
The soccer training will be carried out by sports students and licensed soccer coaches.
This will enable around 700 more children to benefit from the program in the coming school year.

Karin Plötz, Director of LitCam gGmbH, welcomes the expansion of the support in the Frankfurt city area: “We are delighted to be able to provide access to additional educational opportunities for children in need of support with “Löwenstark – Fußball trifft Kultur”, who have faced particular challenges during the coronavirus pandemic.
“Löwenstark – Fußball trifft Kultur” not only offers the children support at school, but also creates additional language opportunities, a sense of achievement and motivation to learn through the special combination of soccer, language and culture.
We would like to thank the Hessian Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs for the opportunity to make our post to the “Löwenstark – Der BildungsKICK” support program.”

As part of the “Löwenstark – Der BildungsKICK” funding program, the Hessian state government is providing a total of 60 million euros for the program for 2021 from the state’s special funds to overcome the corona crisis. Minister of Education Prof. Dr. R. Alexander Lorz hopes that the funding program will help to counteract the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic: “Changes in school operations, cancelled classes, lack of exercise and lack of social contacts are huge challenges that we will tackle together with determination. In addition to tried-and-tested measures, we are also focusing on new and creative ideas to provide our pupils with the best possible support. With our “BildungsKICK” program, we want to strengthen skills, provide individual support, take advantage of opportunities and form partnerships.” As part of the program, the existing network with established and new extracurricular partners of the Hessian Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs as well as socially committed actors will be expanded in addition to direct measures for the classroom. These include foundations, sports and cultural organizations as well as volunteer projects.