New Guide for SV Werder Bremen ‘Spielraum’ coaches

New Guide for SV Werder Bremen ‘Spielraum’ coaches

As part of the SPIELRAUM programme, SV Werder Bremen yesterday evening presented a trainer’s guide that the club developed together with the Refugio treatment and counselling centre. The guide was developed over a period of two and a half years to teach children and young people rules and values that apply not only on the football pitch.

The SPIELRAUM programme offers training for children and young people several times a week in various districts of Bremen. In cooperation with Refugio, some of these programmes are aimed specifically at refugees. The trainer’s guide is the result of this cooperation and contains content that is important in the sports units as well as rules that must be adhered to during training. In addition, the guide is intended to convey values that are not only valid on the football pitch, but are also important at school and in social life. “The guide is for everyone who is interested. However, it is primarily aimed at the SPIELRAUM coaches,” says programme coordinator Hergen Fröhlich.

The guidelines were developed in a participatory manner in various workshops with participants and are based on the practical experiences of the participants and trainers. For example, German was chosen as the training language in order not to exclude anyone and to enable participants who often cannot speak German to gain initial language experience. Fair play, equality, team spirit and respect are also part of the principles. “In addition, we have a circle before each training session to clarify questions or conflicts. The kids can then talk about what’s on their minds and share their personal experiences with us,” explains SPIELRAUM coach Dany Khoshaba. Some of the players are also coaches of younger groups and thus pass on the common values.

Verena Wetzel is a therapist at Refugio and is responsible for psychosocial work on the pitch. “The guide is the result of many years of cooperation with Werder and should serve as inspiration for other groups. In the beginning, it was difficult to find out what the group is about and what goals we want to achieve together. That was a process that developed and strengthened over time,” says the therapist.

In the long term, the SPIELRAUM programme will be expanded and become even more inclusive. The trainer’s guide helps to place the current offers in an overall context and additionally convey the socialisation idea of the programmes.