Football in Sport – The Bridge Ethiopia

Matthias Buser and Numa Francillon have been working as trainee in Addis for 3 months. They were involved in the Sport department activities.

Sport plays a key role in Sport – The Bridge. Many ball games are played on the sport field by the first year children. Out of all different games played, one has got more and more importance through the years, namely Football. Together with running, football is sport number one in Ethiopia. To be convinced just go once on Jan Meda area on a Saturday.

Football is found in many places of Sport – The Bridge. The first year children play it after the KRAFT lesson and have an intern “tournament” every Friday. The Sport department has now 3 football teams under the “coaching system”. Last but not least, the staff plays every Friday on Jan Meda and is part of the “health league”, a friendly championship in Addis.

Football and first year children

Sport pedagogy with the so called KRAFT module represents the center of the reintegration project. Many kind of sport are played during the first year children sport lessons. One of them is football. Children are playing football after the KRAFT lesson as a fun game. A small football tournament is organized for them every Friday. The children compete against each other following football rules. More than a few people say, the possibility to play is one of the convicing reasons for the childern to join the project.

First year children singing Ethiopia national anthem before the game

First year children singing Ethiopia national anthem before the game

“Coach system”

A couple of years ago, Sport – The Bridge Ethiopia has created some football teams for follow-up and community children. They give the opportunity to practice and play the game to more than 100 children. On the other hand, the football coaches obtain the possibility to be in contact with the children even after the reintegration. There are 3 teams, coached by Sport department teacher: The under 17 team, the under 15 and the under 13. The first two teams play in a tournament. The under 13 is not yet playing any regular tournament. Nevertheless, Sport – The Bridge Ethiopia have organized recently a tournament to give this team the opportunity to play. 10 teams from different organizations and areas of Addis Ababa have participated in this exceptional event.

Kick-off of U13 football-tournament, which was organized by Sport - The Bridge Ethiopia

Kick-off of U13 football-tournament, which was organized by Sport – The Bridge Ethiopia

Sport – The Bridge Staff team

Football passion is shared among staff member. They are playing every Friday after work. This is a non-missing event of the week. Furthermore, a team is playing in the “health league”, a friendly championship organized by the municipality. Different organizations are playing against each other every Sunday. This year the team lost the semifinal but got the third place by winning the last game of the season.

Sport – The Bridge Staff team ready to play the semifinal