If you're in and around Munich these days, you can't avoid the topic of sports. Whether in the Olympic Park, on Königsplatz or in nearby Oberschleißheim, the European Championships are inspiring the city. A perfect setting, not only for competitive sports. Last Monday, for example, the finals of the "Beweg dich schlau! Championships" took place at the "Heimat Roof" on the Olympiaberg. As part of the "Future Class of 22", which is intended to make young athletes and thus also future athletes part of the European Championships, 150 children from eleven Bavarian elementary schools took on a wide variety of sporting challenges. The TU Munich project group accompanied the event and spoke with the patron of the event, Felix Neureuther.
"Seeing the glow in the children's eyes. That's what I enjoy so much about working with children," said Felix Neureuther. What he meant by that became clear at the latest during the grand finale of the "Beweg dich schlau! Championships". Together with the Bavarian Sports Association (BLSV) and the Bavarian Sports Youth (BSJ), the Felix Neureuther Foundation developed a Bavaria-wide format in which elementary school students compete against each other in various mini sports games. After preliminary rounds at the individual schools and subsequent district finals, the eleven best of the 140 registered classes met for the grand final in Munich. At eight stations, the elementary school students had to prove aspects such as teamwork, coordination and logical thinking in addition to the sporting component.
Neureuther knows the importance of linking athletic training and cognitive exercises in particular from his own athletic career. "I have always had to train differently than others. Due to my massive back problems, including six herniated discs, normal strength training was not possible for me. That's why I've always done a lot of neurological work and have developed a training program that has allowed me to still be successful," the 13-time World Cup winner in alpine skiing told us. It is a concept with which he was able to inspire soccer coach Jürgen Klopp, among others, and which is now part of everyday life in many areas of top-level sport as neuroathletics or lifekinetics.
But it is not only in competitive sports, but also in amateur, children's and youth sports that the combination of physical and mental tasks offers added value. In this way, the integration of the concept could teach the children content in a playful way. "I have rewritten my training concept with 'Beweg dich schlau!" for the needs of children and young people in order to get children moving in a playful way. Because the lack of movement is simply enormous," says the father of three. This would have been evident well before the Corona pandemic, although the impact of lockdowns and other restrictions would have greatly amplified the trend. This is a task for society as a whole, he said, and one that the education system in particular must address. "It is the responsibility of politicians to ensure that children are sent into the future in good health. Other countries, especially in Scandinavia, do it quite differently. And you can see from the sporting successes of Norway, for example, how successful this can be, even for competitive sports," describes the former slalom and giant slalom specialist.
But implementing the project was not easy for Neureuther. Bureaucratic steps put many obstacles in his way. The former competitive athlete was not deterred, however, and continues to try to challenge and promote physical education in children. The ideas and projects of "Beweg dich schlau!" would receive consistently positive feedback in this regard.
This was also evident at the Olympiaberg. In perfect weather, the elementary school students not only demonstrated stamina and skill, but also showed how playful movement can be. In the end, "Die wilden Hühner" from Middle Franconia were crowned the first winners of the "Beweg dich schlau! Championships". They were followed in second place by "Die Gewinner" and in third place by "Die schnellen Geparden".
Now the aim is to establish the project in the long term. The final day in Munich was an important step in this direction, and once again showed how closely related popular and competitive sports, as well as youth and adult sports, are. Sometimes it is only a few meters from one to the other.
Text & photos: Luis Helm & Simon Sandig