Looking back: education and training on inclusion in team sport, using football as an example, at the Stadion Wankdorf

• – What: A training course for people who work with people with disabilities in a sports context
• – By whom: The course was led by FIM and the FIM-Family partners VfB Stuttgart and BSC Young Boys.
• – For whom: The participants work for special needs teams such as GC Unified or for institutions for people with disabilities such as the Stiftung Rossfeld
• – Where: At the Wankdorf, the stadium of Bern’s football club BSC Young Boys
• – When: The course took place over two days, from 4 to 5 November 2026

The course, organised by FIM and BSC Young Boys, aimed to prepare people who already work with people with disabilities, or would like to in the future, to lead team sport activities.

The course began with a round of introductions by the course leaders Fritz Quien, Timon Lanz and Cengiz Bicer. They explained the goals and the programme before the participants tried a first self-experience exercise. Crutches, blindfolds and ear defenders were handed out, and despite these restrictions the participants had to communicate with each other, play moves together and score goals.

This gave the participants not only an insight into the rules of blind football and amputee football, but also the experience of how difficult it is to carry out supposedly everyday actions with fundamental restrictions. This insight matters when the participants come to plan a training session for people with disabilities themselves, because it brings more understanding and awareness of possible problems and difficulties.

Before the participants were allowed to plan and lead a session of their own, however, they took part in a joint training session with the special needs team of BSC Young Boys. This inclusive session was full of beautiful and valuable moments, as the participants faced the same challenges as the players, failed at them together or mastered them together.

Barriers were already being broken down and relationships formed, something that also showed positively the next day. The atmosphere between the two groups was already much more relaxed and easy-going than on the first day. Now it was up to the participants to use this positive atmosphere and offer the players a varied and entertaining training session.

And they succeeded: in three groups, they had to plan a session of warm-up, passing and shooting. The training proved a refreshing mix of physical effort, ambition and a pinch of humour. There was focused dribbling, passing and battling for the ball, but also a lot of laughter, banter and, of course, celebrating together.