Area of Activity III: Cultures and Communication

German—Israeli Exchange for Young People Engaged in Sport

People do sport all over the world – and find a space to come together and exchange thoughts and ideas in doing so. Sporting get-togethers thus play an important role in international exchange projects, which can equally be seen in the German-Israeli context. With this in mind, the Deutsche Sportjugend and Maccabi Israel are offering young participants the chance to attend an intercultural meeting combining education, culture, and sport that intends to train and motivate them to continue their engagement with sport.

Participants
20 trainers, referees, and youth representatives aged between 18 and 26.

Project Period
01.05.17 – 31.08.17

Project Content
What role does sport play in German-Israeli relations? How does it influence developments within society? What chances for international understanding does it offer? How can engaged young people get involved in the respective national sport structures and what would motivate them to do so? These are the questions to be explored over the course of two exchange visits. The program here comprises both sporting activities as well as workshops on sporting engagement, sports structures and funding, and German-Israeli history.

Project Working Methods
Taking place within the framework of two major sporting events, the Internationale Deutsche Turnfest in Berlin and the Maccabiah Games in Tel Aviv, the project gives the participants the opportunity to get to know each other and enter into an exchange based on shared areas of interest. The meeting in Israel takes place only one month after the start of the project in Germany, enabling an intensive impression of contemporary German-Israeli relations to be obtained via personal experience.  

Project Goals
One prominent element of the workshops and the bilateral collaboration is to encourage the development of young personalities who champion an open, integrative, and pluralist society – also within their engagement with sport. Enthusiasm for getting involved in sport and in international youth work in sport in particular is to be generated via the exchange with partners from the other country. By training the next generation in this way, the participants are both encouraged to maintain a lively interest in German-Israeli sporting exchange projects in the future and have the opportunity to initiate such projects themselves.
Cooperating Partners
Deutsche Sportjugend im DOSB e.V.
Maccabi Israel