The Bonn Unity Cup is a sports-educational recreational football tournament organised on behalf of the City of Bonn. The main focus of the tournament is the promotion of social and personal skills of young people and their engagement with the topics of social cohesion, inclusion and employability. Younis Kamil Abdulsalam, PhD student from our researchgroup SASO, is involved in the organization of the Bonn Unity Cup.
The tournaments took place on four days in October, each day from 10h – 16h30: 03.10.2022, 07.10.2022, 10.10.2022, 12.10. 2022.
This first edition of the Bonn Unity Cup reached out to more than 150 young people from all districts of Bonn. The tournament is divided into three individual tournaments that are built on each other. Participants play in a league system with promotion and relegation.
The teams are self-organised, which promotes the development of self-management skills. During the registration process, young people aged between 14 and 18 years o have to built their own team consisting of nine players and register all players through an online registration form.
The games are played without referees, but players are accompanied by so-called mentors, who only intervene when conflicts emerge. A mentor can decide to interrupt the game but will not take any decisions. The mentor will instead encourage and support the players during the conflict resolution process. This approach strengthens the young people's conflict resolution skills and promotes their communication skills.
The Bonn Unity Cup also invited girls' teams. Girls’s teames played in parallel to the boys' tournament. On the final match day, all teams were mixed, and new teams were formed.
During the award ceremony, there was a sports trophy, but attention was also paid towards exemplary behavior that was also awarded with attractive prizes. By rewarding prosocial – and proactive behavior the organisers showed that this pays off.
The Bonn Unity Cup appeared multiple times in the German Media, you can watch the first and second fragment here.
The second edition of the Bonn Unity Cup will be organised during winter holidays, after New Year (2.01.2023 ‑ 06.01.2023 > Exact dates are not yet determined), with a specific attention for people with disabilities. A team of blind footballers and wheelchair basketballers from the city of Bonn will therefore be invited.
A third edition is foreseen during the Easter Holidays in 2023.