International special football tournament “Nobody Offside” at N.E.C Nijmegen
From 23rd until 28th of May, the international special football tournament Nobody Offside will be hosted by N.E.C in Nijmegen. The tournament, is an event which will be attended by 12 international and Dutch football teams with children, who have a physical, mental or motor disability.
Football is with more than 1.2 million participants the most popular sport in the Netherlands, also for children with a disability it is very attractive. N.E.C Doelbewust, the foundation of football club N.E.C Nijmegen is therefore aiming at increasing the possibilities for those children to participate in football related activities.
One of the ways in which N.E.C wants to integrate children with a disability into football is through the “Nobody Offside” international special football tournament. The event is being organised in cooperation with SC Woezik, OSRN, Brownies & downieS and Uniek Sporten regio Nijmegen.
Life Skills through workshops
The “Nobody Offside” tournament does not only focus on the sportive component but also offers the participants the possibility to take part in a variety of workshops, including cooking sessions and lessons on self-presentation skills. The Nobody Offside event follows the objective of providing the participants with the possibility to develop important “Lifeskills”. N.E.C and its partners hope to have created a programme, which gives the young people a possibility to participate even better into society.
For children with a disability, it is often not easy to integrate into society, especially if more factors add to the situation, as a different cultural background, as for Radhica.
A happy helpful and active young lady
Radhica, adopted daughter of Anthe, is mentally disabled and living for a couple of years in the Netherlands.
By taking part in the football project, offered by SC Woezik, Radhica has found a way to develop life skills and to integrate into society.
Anthe says that Radhica, the girl who they adopted 7.5 years ago changed from being a young and shy girl into a happy, helpful and active young lady. “My daughter has turned into a very helpful person, who is eager to help children in the community and at school. Her development is not only limited to the environment of the football pitch. It is really great to see that the children do not only play football together but also do joint activities and thereby learn to work together. That contributes to their social development and their level of integration into society.”
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