Americas

Young Colombian Football Players Visit Germany

Sports exchange between Colombia and Germany is a success

July 07th, 2017
2017_07_07 Colombian Players.jpg

From 14th of June until June 27th a group of young football players from Colombia visited Germany to learn more about sports, fair play and German culture. The visit was organized by the Diplomacy Sports and Cultural initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Colombia, with help from the German Football Federation and the Mayor of Briceño.

During their stay in Germany, the children visited Berlin, Cologne and Frankfurt, where they experienced football training, friendly matches, cultural visits and training workshops. They also visited the German Football Federation (DFB), the German Football Museum, the German Sports Museum, the Olympic Stadium and the German University of Sport, where they learned about fair play and the importance of working as a team, respecting others, leadership and the importance of having good communication with peers.

The group of athletes had the opportunity to visit Champions Ohne Grenzen, a German organization committed to the integration and participation of refugees in Berlin. They also visited the premises of the organization Street Football World in Berlin, where they learned about the ethics of football, a modality in which values fair play, inclusion and respect above the number of goals.

The delegation also visited the Embassy of Colombia, where they were received by H. E. Ambassador María Lorena Gutiérrez and her work team. During the visit, the young athletes learned about the role of the Embassy, ​​the issues it works on and the relations between Colombia and Germany. In turn, the youth shared with the Ambassador some anecdotes and lessons from their exchange.

After their experience in Germany, where they witnessed how passion for sports can overcome linguistic and cultural barriers, they returned to Colombia full of motivation to share and to apply all the knowledge they acquired, both the knowledge they gained about sports and the knowledge about the German society.

This is the fifth sports exchange in Germany in the discipline of football. Sports exchange, especially with young people, can be a great way to do cultural diplomacy. The exchange both highlights what unites us and what are the differences between us. It helps foster respect between young people and teaches them about to work together with people from all over the world. Exchanges like this also give an insight of the society and culture from both participating countries.

References and Links

News from Berlin
R.B. Reijnen, Berlin Global