Integration through sport: Bottrop initiatives for newly migrated young people!

Integration through sport: Bottrop initiatives for newly migrated young people!

In the school year 2022/2023, almost 440 newly immigrated children and young people were successfully integrated into the school system in Bottrop. In the following school year 2023/2024 there were another 196 children and adolescents who were added. These figures illustrate the constant increase in young people with a migration background in the city, and the need for structured support measures is becoming increasingly clear. The city of Bottrop has recognized that for many of them there is a great challenge access to society and the teaching of the German language.

As reported by the DRK Integration Agency, the first targeted holiday and leisure activities for newly immigrated young people were launched in 2023 with little knowledge of German. Sports and exercise in the group play a central role in this integration process. They not only contribute to the development of identity, but also promote language acquisition, which is of great importance for the affected children and adolescents. Bottrop teachers have found that the connection to society is often missing, which can lead to step back in the German learning process.

funding offers and integration through sports

The Migration Unit of the Bottrop municipal integration center has given a special focus on sports, language and integration. In the development of new offers, young people in particular were brought into focus, since there are often numerous offers for younger children. A remarkable step was the seminar "Speech -promoting and sensitive sports offers", which was organized on November 19, 2023 to specifically qualify actors in Bottrop.

The permanent scientific commission of the Kultusministerkonferenz (SWK) has also published a statement on linguistic education for newly immigrant children and adolescents. This emphasizes the need for well -trained teachers and effective support measures. According to the SWK, systematic support for the German language in schools is crucial for successful educational integration, professional success and social participation in Germany. This goal was also further specified in an updated statement on March 18, 2025 in order to meet the different learning and language requirements of the children.

summer and autumn camps with cooperation partners

Sustainable measures to promote the target language German were also initiated. In 2024, two sports and language camps for young people took place in the summer and autumn holidays in cooperation with the youth migration service, the Bottroper Sportbund and the Egon Bremer Foundation. This shows the commitment of the city and its partners to enable the new people who are newly immigrated not only a school, but also a social and cultural integration.