"KICK MIT": The new Laureus Sport for Good project in Austria
Great news from Laureus Sport for Good Germany-Austria! The social football project KICK MIT has become the fifth Laureus Sport for Good Project in Austria. Snowboarding Olympic Champion Julia Dujmovits visited the young people of the project in Vienna and was appointed the latest Laureus Ambassador by Laureus Academy Member and skiing legend Franz Klammer.
KICK MIT is the latest Laureus project in Austria. Girls with and without immigrant backgrounds are given opportunities to experience positive experiences through the sport, thus developing a lasting interest being active. In Vienna and Salzburg, 200 children between the ages of 8 and 13 are now approaching the sport of football through a multi-sport approach. In addition, young women from the age of 15 are guided by low-threshold and modular steps, even as co-instructors, or as coaches, to assume responsibility in sport. Together with the Austrian Football Association as a partner, the goal is to provide children with the joy of the sport as much as possible, as well as provide further training opportunities.
Girls who participate receive all the positive values that team football offers: they acquire self-confidence and take on new roles as well as feeling part of a team. For this reason, KICK MIT breaks the stigma which dictates that football is a male dominated sport, and motivates them to practice their hobby in public places. In particular, girls from different cultures are led to the realisation that sport is fun, strengthens self-confidence and gives the feeling of being part of something.
Thorsten Gegenwarth, the founder of KICK MIT in Vienna, spoke about the spirit of the project: "Through these sporting activities, the children playfully develop abilities that make their lives better. Values such as respect, tolerance and fair play. But they also learn that sport is something that strengthens their own determination. They learn to trust in themselves, in their teammates and in life in general.”
