Our

Story

Hilko

&

Markus

Markus (Tandem Partner): Hilko is a quiet person, but the last few days during the education he really changed his behaviour. He now speaks out loudly and clearly and he surprised me every day with something new he improved. I think I reached my goal of giving Hilko the confidence to lead the trainings and exercises on his own. I think that’s something he really needs in order to be a Young Coach, and he did very well.

Hilko (Young Coach): I am really proud of myself because I managed to get out of my comfort zone and be more open to people. I didn’t know how to do that before. Additionally, all the trainings went well and we didn’t need much help from the outside.

Markus: This week I got to know a lot of different training methods, which back home I will try to use for my two teams. I also learned how I can integrate the Young Coach better in my existing training and how he can get more responsibilities. First, I have to digest all the impressions I have gained this week and then I will try to use them in my future session planning.

Hilko: To work as a coach is something completely different from being a player on the field. You have to concentrate on so many things and you have to prepare the whole training and you must be able to adapt the exercises to the level of the individual players. I’ve already had some experiences as a junior coach, but the education programme here was much more intense and the content was much more in depth. This was a great experience for me.

Markus: For me it’s the fist time to work in a Tandem. I was glad to work with Hilko as a partner, because he understood everything quickly and we share the same goals and visions. That’s why we are a strong team. The education week was fun and I would like to continue working with Hilko.

Hilko: This week with Markus was really inspiring and motivating for me. Every time I needed some support on the pitch, Markus was there and gave me some advice. Both of us had a lot of ideas, which we discussed and then used them as a single exercise, or we combined them. We worked very well together.

Markus: There are so many children who would like to play football, but don’t have the possibility or opportunity to do so. That’s why, in my opinion, it’s important that we reach out to these kids in schools and in sports clubs. We must fight for all children to have the possibility to play football or any other sport.

Hilko: I share Markus’ opinion. There are so many kids out there, who don’t have any contacts to sports clubs and that only because of their impairments. Inclusion must be strengthened and promoted. Children with disabilities should have the possibilities to play football in clubs too.