Learning skills on and off the court

Project teaches eight- to twelve-year-olds about sports and sportsmanship

The Fraport Skyliners work with over 60 groups of children in Frankfurt, Wiesbaden and Offenbach. For one hour a week, they practice with teams of 25 children – and they focus on more than just basketball.

The kids, ranging from eight to twelve years old, learn about different ball sports and discover their own talents and abilities in the process. And since they cover many types of sports, the licensed coaches can identify motor skills deficiencies, too. The children are also thoroughly educated about the importance of a healthy diet.

Lack of exercise, obesity and underdeveloped motor skills are widespread among elementary and middle school students

One of the main goals of this project, entitled "Basketball macht Schule", is to introduce children to different types of ball sports and show them how much fun exercise can be. The children often find this program much more interesting than their regular PE classes because famous professional basketball players participate in coaching.

The project reaches not only children who do not play on a team, but also those with too much schoolwork to regularly attend team practices, especially among third- to sixth-graders.

Now that high school students graduate one year sooner (in the 12th, not the 13th grade), some of them have had to scale back their involvement in sports. For them, this is a wonderful opportunity to participate in additional sports activities at school.

Helping to build children's social skills

Another important objective is to help children and teens develop good social skills. Team sports are an excellent tool in this regard because they generally follow this rule:

You can only succeed as a team.

The kids have to work as a team, contribute their strengths and possibly make up for the weaknesses of other team members.

Sportsmanship is also important in the project, as the kids have to abide by certain rules and be fair and respectful towards one other, which can sometimes be difficult for some children.

More generally, the project also advances integration – over 50 percent of Frankfurt's students come from immigrant families, and it is not always easy for them to participate in the local sports scene. A school sports project such as the Skyliners' initiative helps to overcome inhibitions.

All these reasons were behind Infraserv Höchst's decision to become involved in the project.