Host a German Soccer Camp for Students at Your School

Are you interested in hosting a German soccer camp for students between 10 and 18 this summer? Waldsee, the German Language Village of Concordia Language Villages and Auf Ballhöhe, a German youth soccer organization, are cooperating with partner schools across the United States to offer young Americans the opportunity to train and learn with German soccer coaches.

At German Soccer Adventure camps, German coaches will use soccer as a tool of language learning and cross-cultural communication. Kids between the ages of 10 and 18 who speak no German will focus on soccer skills as they begin exploring the German language and the role of soccer in Germany and Europe. Kids with more German knowledge will have the opportunity to apply and perfect their German skills on the soccer field. Participants get a chance to earn a “German Soccer Federation/McDonalds Soccer Badge” and will receive a certificate and insignia upon completion of the program.

Arrangements for German Soccer Adventure 2013

U.S. partner schools are asked to organize the soccer camps, provide appropriate personnel, materials and space for their program, and to integrate the German coaches into their program. They are asked to advertise the program as a partnership with Waldsee/Concordia Language Villages. They are asked to provide the coaches with local accommodation and meals—usually with host families—and local travel to and from the soccer camp location. U.S. partners are asked to document their program's activities and offer a blog during the session featuring participants and their experiences. They are asked to provide documentation of revenues/expenses as evidence of 'in-kind' support to the program. They are asked to designate an appropriate point of contact for the organization.

Waldsee/Concordia Language Villages, together with Auf Ballhöhe, interviews, screens and selects appropriate German coaches to participate in the program, and takes care of all visa issues. Depending on scheduling availability the German coaches have an opportunity for training with Concordia Language Villages, in terms of dealing with American kids, as well as counseling, teaching and safety issues, before coming to a U.S. partner school. Waldsee/Concordia Language Villages can cover travel costs for the coaches, and provides them with a daily stipend during the time they are in the United States. They provide authentic certificates, patches, and Tshirts for participants. The German coaches work with their local partners to put together the soccer adventure camp program.

To learn more about hosting a German soccer camp at your school, contact Dan Hamilton at dhamilton at jhu dot edu.

Pokorny, M. [AATG-L] Host a German soccer camp for students at your school! AATG Discusion Forum (aatg@list.iupui.edu, 10 Jun 2013).