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EINBLICKE
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children. In school, but also at home. This is always symbolized
by the trophy. When it gets carried through the school it's
always a fantastic moment for the kids – and many will never
experience the like again.
EINBLICKE: From the outset you turned to the media to raise
awareness for your university project. Even theNewYork Times
gave you plenty of coverage.
GEBKEN: Yes, theUniversity is also obliged to do PR. Wewanted
to take associations, clubs, schools with us. It's not just about
scoring points as an academic by
publishing in English-language
papers. We wanted to include the
people who make projects like this
happen. Not just sports scientists, but club chairmen, head
teachers, mayors. It's so important. My colleagues in Germany
should do this a lot more too.
EINBLICKE: Youmean other academics, fromother disciplines
too?
GEBKEN: I mean transferring our research and our findings
to the community, to the surrounding region – there's no
substitute for this. Nowadays we hear nothing but praise for
our project, it's scary sometimes (laughs). But it all worked
because we were prepared to put in the hard work of talking
to schools and finding out about their specific sensibilities.
EINBLICKE: What else needs to change if more socially disad-
vantaged children are to be integrated?
GEBKEN: There's no question that we can only reach people
from disadvantaged backgrounds if we invest in children at
a very young age. Compulsory daycare for socially disadvan-
taged children is the key. This ensures that children receive
exercise and language training very early on. I believe that the
"
We were prepared to
put in the hard work."
possibilities for encouraging children to do more exercise in
daycare are still not adequately recognised. This is not to say
that we have to get them playing football. That's not what's
important.
EINBLICKE: What is then?
GEBKEN: We carried out a study into parent-child activities on
offer in socially disadvantaged areas and discovered that no
such thing exists anywhere inGermany. Howare children there
supposed to find a way into society? In the education system
and in sport? And we know that language andmovement are
closely linked. Very closely. This is something that has always
been underestimated. You can only promote language if you
also promote movement. And you can only promote move-
ment if the children are articulate. The connection between
the two was researched by the Essen sports scientist Werner
Schmidt, with whom we work very closely.
EINBLICKE: You're not only interested in the integration of
disadvantaged children but also in promoting newcompeten-
cies: in the football clubs you train young people as assistants
and coaches.
GEBKEN: Our society has its treasures. Fantastic treasures. Take
Hayet for example, a girl of Arabextraction fromthe Ruhrgebiet
who four years ago was trained as a football assistant. Today
she runs two girls' teams. At the time her father refused to
allow her to take part in training or to supervise a team. Today
she features regularly in the local media because she does her
job so brilliantly. I believe young people like Hayet exist every-
where. All you have to do is get hold of them – by allowing
them to get involved and gain recognition for what they do.
Matthias Echterhagen
The MICK project
"
MICK- Mädchen kicken mit" (Kicking Girls) was launched
in 1999 inOldenburg's Ohmstede district. By encouraging
cooperation between schools and sport clubs to form
football clubs, the organizers were able to get girls from
immigration backgrounds excited about football and
teach teenage girls to become trainers themselves.
At Germany's first Integration Summit in 2006, the Ger-
man Football Association and the German government
decided to implement the project nationwide. Today,
with the support of the Laureus for Good Foundation and
several other state ministries, girls from 11 German states
play football at more than 200 locations. The project has
won numerous prizes. The affiliated institute now plans
to extend the project to other European countries.
Beyond the MICK project the affiliated institute is also in-
volved in the integrative basketball project "BIG-Basketball
integriert Oldenburg" (basketball integrates Oldenburg). It
is also developing circus training projects and promotes
games, sports and exercise in rural areas.
