Khayelitsha FC team participates in Pasch Football Tournament in Berlin

Berlin, 27 June 2011.

In December 2010 AMANDLA EduFootball with the support of the Federal Foreign Office of Germany and streetfootballworld hosted the first international "PASCH Football Tournament" on their top class artificial turf facility in Khayelitsha, Cape Town.

On invitation of the Federal Foreign Office of Germany, the South African winning team was in Germany in June and July 2011 to participate in the  PASCH Festival in Berlin. Seven boys and girls from the Khayelitsha FC team represented South Africa and together with the other teams from Israel/Palestine, Bosnia/Herzegovina, India and Brazil  and Berlin participated in the tournament at Tempelhof in Berlin on 25 June. The two-week trip was dedicated to intercultural exchange, historical exploration and educational football activities and offered the participants a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet peers from all around the globe.

The visit also included a reception at the  German Federal Foreign Office and all the teams delivered a cultural performance. The SA team sang the South African National anthem, performed the Tswarelo dance, the gumboot dance, the Kilo and sang the Shosholoza song to close the performance. They also attended workshops on Fair Play in preparation for the tournament that included playing in multi-cultural teams. They also had the opportunity to attend the opening match of the FIFA Women’s Football tournament at Olympia stadium. From Berlin they proceeded to Stuttgart where another PASCH tournament was held.

Herewith quotes by the seven participants from Khayelitsha on their German experience

Akona: For me the most exciting thing on the trip to Germany was to visit the Brandenburg Gate and the Berlin wall. But at the same time the opening match of the Women’s FIFA Football World Cup (Germany vs. Canada) was also really amazing. Meeting one of the National players and getting autographs was pretty exciting. I also really enjoyed the boat trip on the Spree. It was nice and fun and we got to see lots of different places and buildings.

William: It was really nice in Berlin. Right at the beginning, on the second day I met a boy from Cameroon. His name is Michael. Over the past 10 days he became my best friend in the group. I will never forget him. That was my highlight of the trip.

Zikhona: The best day to me was the day we arrived at the airport in Berlin because of the warm welcome that we received. The evening on which we went bowling was also a lot of fun. We all tried bowling for the first time, it was so cool! I also enjoyed interacting with all the other youth. My favourite person was Julia, a kind and adorable person.

Thando: The most exciting thing for me was to see the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, but I also made some really good friends who I hope to visit in Brazil one day.

Mbasa: Our arrival in Germany was really exciting for me and my highlight of the trip was to see the Women’s opening match of the Football World Cup in the stadium, where Germany played against Canada.

Nosipho: The most exciting thing for me was going to the Bundestag, the German parliament and learning about German history and politics. They also showed us very interesting pictures of the Berlin wall that divided Berlin and other parts of the country in East and West Germany.

Pixie: I made many friends in Germany, which I liked a lot. Out of the activities I enjoyed the streetfootball tournament in Stuttgart the most. My team played very well.

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