We want to live in a world where people not only take but also give. But to do that, we have to set an example ourselves. At the beginning of the year, we sat down with Rüdiger “Rudi” Heid from buntkicktgut, the intercultural street soccer league, and told him about our fundraising campaign.
Rudi already knows the RESWITCH training method because Tammo was involved in the buntkicktgut selection team for two years and of course RESWITCH was also involved in the training. We therefore also know that buntkicktgut stands for respect, tolerance and fairness and conveys these values through football. Football connects people and through buntkicktgut even more. We told Rudi that we want to support buntkicktgut because their mission helps children and young people and we want to do our part to ensure that things continue in the same way in the future.
One percent of our sales revenue for 2020 will go to buntkicktgut and we will of course round up the amount! So with your purchase you are helping to support children and young people through football.
We conducted a short interview with Rudi so that you can find out what is behind buntkicktgut!
Rudi, how did the idea for buntkicktgut come about?
That was in 1996 during the wave of refugees caused by the Yugoslavian war. My colleagues and refugee counselors at the time, Hans-Peter Niessner, Memo Arikan and I came up with the idea of using football to break down and loosen intercultural and language barriers among young people. The league consisted of ten teams at the time. Since 1998 it has been known as buntkicktgut. In Munich alone we now have well over 2,500 participants per year in over 200 teams from over 100 different countries of origin.
How do you manage to get young people from all over the world excited about buntkicktgut?
This enthusiasm and power is primarily generated by the ball. As soon as it comes into play and starts rolling, the first bridge has already been built. Football speaks a language that everyone in the world understands, that knows no social boundaries and that connects and unites the most diverse cultures and nations. In addition, buntkicktgut is a street football league for children and by children.
Does the intercultural street football league only run in Munich?
No. In addition to Munich, we have buntkicktgut locations in Berlin, Hamburg, Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Düsseldorf and Dortmund, as well as in rural regions such as Upper Swabia and Lower Bavaria. Contact with the individual cities is often made directly through youth centers or social authorities who like our concept - and then contact us. We get over 4,000 children and young people moving every week across Germany - with 150 training sessions in schools and city districts.
Rudi, we are happy to support you with the fundraiser! See you soon!
THIS is colorfulkicktgut:
The intercultural street football league from Munich brings young people from a wide range of cultural, social and national backgrounds together - and has been doing so since 1997. In summer and winter. With the ball, the children and young people learn through sporting games that mutual tolerance and fairness are the basis for peaceful interaction. They are the makers of the league - as players, in the league council, as buntkicker editors, referees or street football workers. Participation, integration and identification are the basic pillars of buntkicktgut. The roots lie in Munich's refugee work in the 1990s, when the "Yugoslavian war" was not the only thing that caused a new wave of immigration. Rüdiger Heid and his colleagues met this challenge with football and an organized league for refugees, which is now open to everyone. In addition to Munich, there are other buntkicktgut locations in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Hamburg, Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Lower Bavaria, Upper Swabia, Zurich and Basel as well as in Togo. Over 4,500 young people are reached by buntkickgut every week throughout Germany. Children from all over the world – connected and united through football.
Check out the buntkicktgut page and find out which projects you support with your purchase from RESWITCH: http://buntkicktgut.de/ or Facebook or Instagram. Do you like the project and would you like to donate something else? Then you have the opportunity to do so via this link: https://buntkicktgut.de/online-spenden
