'I had never experienced people being so friendly right away, everyone immediately gave me a high five. I was immediately looking forward to it,' says Mats (10) about his working visit to our partner Playing for Success Excelsior.
Mats, along with Enora and Jens, has been participating in a group of children who have been meeting for eight weeks at the Excelsior football club stadium. Playing for Success is an after-school program where children aged 9 to 14 work on self-confidence, teamwork, motivation, and independence, so they can develop better at school and beyond.
They gather at a unique location, like a theater or a football stadium. Places you're normally not allowed to visit, which makes it extra special! For 10 to 12 weeks, they gain as much positive learning experience as possible.
After a very warm welcome, Mats, Enora, and Jens are assigned two personal coaches: Stijn and Esmee. Together, they discuss their goals for the day. Mats mentions that he finds presenting daunting and wants to work on that.
The children work in small groups on their goals, with plenty of talking and listening. They exchange valuable tips. During break, they get to kick a ball around on the stadium's soccer field—a unique experience. Mats is the goalkeeper and saves all the balls!
Finally, the children play the compliment game: each child receives a piece of paper on their backs, on which the others can anonymously write a compliment. Jens (11) says: "I think that's a really fun game; it feels good to read the compliments."