Christmas surprise: table football and billiards with the S04 pros

Christmas surprise: table football and billiards with the S04 pros

Bright children’s eyes, footballers in good spirits and numerous presents! This mix made for an all-round successful afternoon on Tuesday (13 December) at the Bergmannsheil day clinic in the Buer district and at the “Amigonians”, a care centre for kids and young people from socially disadvantaged families. Both facilities had been chosen by the club’s own Schalke hilft! foundation for the traditional Christmas visits of the professional team.

Dominick Drexler, Ralf Fährmann, Michael Langer, Danny Latza, Henning Matriciani, Tobias Mohr and Rodrigo Zalazar were already eagerly awaited. Since the children with mental illnesses had heard from their therapists about the planned visit of their idols, there were hardly any other topics of conversation in the day clinic at Bergmannsheil.

Accordingly, the joy was great when the royal blue footballers arrived punctually at 1.30 pm. Dominick Drexler and Rodrigo Zalazar were right in the middle of things at the foosball table, Danny Latza and Tobias Mohr dribbled parallel with the girls and boys through a slalom course and showed each other their best tricks with the ball. And Ralf Fährmann, Michael Langer and Henning Matriciani proved their accuracy in the “buddy box throwing game”.

“The visit to the children’s hospital is a special appointment for us every year, which we like to take time for. Seeing the children exuberant and happy gives us great pleasure – we had a lot of fun. And so did the children,” said Michael Langer, who repeatedly took out his sharpie in the meantime and fulfilled numerous autograph requests from the young fans. The gifts from the Schalke fan shop and a donation cheque for 1904 euros were also a source of great joy. This amount will benefit and help the care of the girls and boys in the day clinic even after the holidays.

Christina Rühl-Hamers, who was also on site, was thrilled by the many happy faces: “Especially around Christmas, a time that you wouldn’t necessarily want to spend in the clinic as a child, such an action is a nice change for the girls and boys – and also for us as an association,” said the board member, who, like the players, informed herself in detail about the work in the day clinic from the therapists after the visit.

Homework with a difference

A second group – Mehmet Can Aydin, Cedric Brunner, Marius Bülter, Ibrahima Cissé, Leo Greiml, Justin Heekeren, Marcin Kaminski, Kenan Karaman, Alex Král, Tom Krauß, Jordan Larsson, Florent Mollet, Sebastian Polter, Alexander Schwolow, Simon Terodde and Sepp van den Berg – visited the “Amigonians” in the Schalke district parallel to their fellow players.

There, too, the visit of the Squires triggered great enthusiasm. The footballers were welcomed with numerous questions and autograph requests. These were answered and fulfilled at the foosball and pool tables as well as at the desk. After all, homework still had to be done in the early afternoon – and one or the other of the players slipped into the role of tutor at the kids’ request. And: The footballers conjured up fresh waffles with their hosts, which were then eaten together.

“I was very pleased that we were able to put a smile on the children’s faces,” said Tom Krauß. “I don’t even know how many autographs I got to sign – there were definitely quite a few.” Of course, the Königsblauen also handed out presents here. But the U21 international and his team-mates didn’t really win any new fans. The “Amigonians” already emphasised during the welcome that they all keep their fingers crossed for S04 week after week.