Matthias and Moritz are both part of the same inclusion team – a team made up of children, youth and young adults with varying level of abilities. The Tandem Young Coach Education was a first step for both of them to become coaches in that very team. The education helped them to strengthen their bond and trust in each other – not only because they match well as a tandem, but also because of their strong friendship.

QUICK FACTS

The Tandem Education was established to promote equal opportunities for youth and young adults with a disability to move into football coaching. During the education programme one participant with a disability (Young Coach) links up with one participant without a disability (Tandem Partner) to form a ‘Tandem’.

 

When asked if they would like to participate in the Tandem Education, both – Matthias (Young Coach) and Moritz (Tandem Partner) – immediately said ‘yes’. During the week they learnt step by step how to plan and implement training sessions for children with disabilities. With every day, Matthias was able to take on more responsibility and by the end, the tandem was convinced that Matthias will be able to take over some of the training sessions.

MATTHIAS & MORITZ

 

Project: Central Europe, September 2021

 

Parent Organisation:

DFB-Stiftung Sepp Herberger

DFL Stiftung

Project Central Europe | Facts
0
Peer Young Coaches
25
Benefiting Children

MY STORY

Matthias (Young Coach): It was my dream to become a coach. I said to myself, I’ll give it a try now. I’ve learnt a lot and I’m taking many things with me: new friends and things I can do better. And I was very happy to work with my Tandem Partner and the whole group.

Moritz (Tandem Partner): I thought the whole week was a highlight. It was just fun the whole time. I don’t think there was a point where I thought “this is boring now” or “this wasn’t interesting to me”. It was exciting and interesting the whole week.

Matthias: Working with Moritz was very good. For example, I learnt from him how to set up the cones or how to make the game a little harder or easier by moving cones. Moritz then handed over the whole exercises to me so that I could do them, and I of course liked that.

Moritz: In terms of personal development, I think that Matthias worked a lot on himself, and he came out of himself a lot. For example, he started to praise and not just be the critical coach. He has also become very independent. I think we can organise that Matthias can now take over parts of a training himself – also back home in our inclusion team.

Matthias: I am really happy and proud of what I have achieved. I am happy to have such a good friend in Moritz. A true buddy. And I thank all of you because we also learnt a lot as a tandem. I hope to see you all again!

Moritz: I am proud of the fact that we as a group have grown together more and more. That we all had fun together. That we didn’t stop having fun, even though it was sometimes stressful and exhausting. And that there was a great development.

GALLERY MATTHIAS & MORITZ

Young Coaches

Our Young Coaches are community leaders and role models in less privileged societies. They commit themselves to support the children of their communities by conveying important social topics (conflict resolution, inclusion, HIV prevention, etc.) through football. Each of the Young Coaches represents a unique personal story.