Youth Exchange in Arnhem

From 8th until 14th of July 2017, a football based Youth Exchange focused on the theme “Breaking Barriers” takes place in Arnhem, the Netherlands.

During that period, Vitesse, the host of the exchange, is welcoming 24 young people and 8 staff members from 4 different countries, and culturally diverse and socially disadvantaged backgrounds.

The youth exchange provides the 17 to 23 years old participants, from the Netherlands, Portugal, Israel and Norway the unique opportunity to share experiences with each other through engaging in joined activities. This contributes to fostering the understanding of cultural and religious diversity.

During the entire exchange, football is used as the key tool for breaking cultural barriers, since the sport has proofed to have the power of addressing a wide range of societal issues. To enhance such power, the exchange additionally follows the aim of bringing the participants together to promote the involvement of young people in local communities, to discuss potential invisible barriers in society and to develop strategies on how to overcome them.

The youth exchange consists of non-formal group activities, which focus on increasing the level of tolerance between the participants and the reduction of existing stereotypes. The young people work, share and reflect on the topics of borders between cultures and discuss possibilities to build bridges between the different groups.

The activities are truly sport based and take place in the surroundings of a professional football club, as the training ground of Vitesse Arnhem and the stadium Gelredome.

Additionally, a healthy lifestyle through sport is being promoted and the young adults learn to deal with the feelings of achievement and frustration.

At the end of the exchange, every participant receives the Youth Pass Certificate.

The exchange is co-funded by the Erasmus Plus Sport programme.