Bundesliga clubs educate coaches in Rwanda

Bundesliga clubs educate coaches in Rwanda

Coaches from FC Schalke 04, 1. FSV Mainz 05 and Werder Bremen participated in a Football Club Social Alliance (FCSA) project in Rwanda. Refugees from Congo and Burundi learned from the instructors to act as responsible football coaches and mentors for the children in refugee camps.

Refugees in Rwanda have been seeking protection for many years from the ongoing conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi. Most of them are women and children and live in the simplest circumstances in one of the six refugee camps of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR). Without this protection, Children and adolescents, in particular, would be at risk of acts of violence, sexual assault, drug abuse and other negative influences.

In cooperation with UNHCR, the Football Club Social Alliance (FCSA) has been training around 100 young refugees from the six camps to become football coaches and to be role models for the children. The young coaches organise activities for the children and take care of them. Through football activities and educational games, children can reduce stress in a safe environment, process traumas and have fun with friends.

Great progress during the training

As part of its international commitment, FC Schalke 04 is participating in a project of the Alliance for the second time after they first did a coaching workshop in Lebanon. The Schalke instructors Kai Brock and Klaus Franz Sommer attended the second training module of the FCSA in Butare and the nearby Mugombwa refugee camp in the south of Rwanda.

For Kai Brock, the week in Rwanda was a great success: “You could notice that the young coaches enjoyed it. The comparison of the first to the second festival this week is a perfect example of how people can evolve within a short time. I hope that they will work regularly with the children on the pitch, because only those who regularly repeat what they have learned can improve themselves. “

The training module focused in particular on age-specific football activities and the organisation of children’s football tournaments. The UNHCR complements the training with workshops on dealing with children at risk in the camps.

Coaches as assets to the community

Young Coach Gad realises how much this programme helps him in his refugee camp: “It’s really impressive to find yourself in the position to be an asset to your community. I can contribute now and that makes me proud. “

The Rwandan Young Coach training programme is being run by the FCSA clubs and the Scort Foundation in close collaboration with UNHCR and supported by the Foundation Botnar. In May the other EFDN members 1. FSV Mainz 05 and Werder Bremen already supported the Scort Foundation with Coaches during training seminars in two of the six refugee camps. The final module of the programme will take place in autumn 2018. Even today, 3,000 girls and boys benefit from the football activities of the Young Coaches.