Moving together, connecting with others: sport as a tool for connection in Neerbosch-Oost

Last week, around 10 to 12 young people came together at the Cruyff Court in Nijmegen’s Neerbosch-Oost neighbourhood for an afternoon of sport, games and connection.

The initiative came directly from within the Bildung community, growing out of a shared wish to create more informal opportunities for young people to meet and connect with one another.

The group was deliberately diverse, bringing together young people of different ages, backgrounds and genders. Many of them had never met before. Rather than starting with a formal introduction or sitting down for a group discussion, we simply started by doing something together.

Sport and games were not the goal in themselves. They were used as a pedagogical tool to explore trust, cooperation and empowerment.

Sometimes trust is something you have to experience

Throughout the afternoon, the group took part in different trust-building and cooperative games.

During blindfold exercises, for example, participants had to rely on someone else to guide them. Other activities involved supporting or catching one another, creating situations in which trust and responsibility became something physical and tangible.

These may seem like simple exercises, but a lot happens in moments like these. You have to give up a little control and allow yourself to depend on someone else. At the same time, you experience what it means when another person is relying on you.

We also used relay games and activities involving different roles within a team. The focus was deliberately not on who was the fastest, strongest or most athletic. Instead, the games were designed so that everyone had something meaningful to contribute.

For us, that is an important part of empowerment: experiencing that you are capable, that you are seen and that your contribution to a group matters.

From physical experience to mental and social strength

Within pedagogical approaches to sport, physical experiences are often used to support social and emotional development. Similar principles can also be found in methods such as Rock and Water.

It is an approach that strongly resonates with the way we work.

During a game, all kinds of situations arise naturally. Do you dare to take initiative? What happens when something does not work the first time? Can you trust someone else? Can you accept help? Can you give another person space? And how do you respond when you feel uncertain within a group?

These are not always things that need to begin with a long conversation. Sometimes experiencing them first can be much more powerful.

A physical experience can become a starting point for something that reaches far beyond the sports court: greater confidence, finding it easier to connect with others, feeling comfortable enough to show more of yourself and experiencing what it means to be part of a group.

From strangers to new connections

One of the most rewarding things to see was how quickly the atmosphere within the group changed.

Some young people were quiet and reserved at the beginning. As the afternoon went on, we saw them gradually become more comfortable. They started talking more, participating more actively and connecting more easily with others.

Young people who had not known each other beforehand began laughing together, encouraging one another and making new connections. Some even left with new friendships.

Several participants told us afterwards that they had really enjoyed the afternoon and would like to join a follow-up activity.

And that feels particularly fitting, because the initiative itself started in exactly the same way: from within the community.

Building community together

That is an important principle for Bildung Nijmegen. We do not simply want to organise activities for young people. We want to create space for ideas and needs that emerge from young people and from within our community, and then develop them together.

This afternoon showed once again how valuable sport and play can be in that process.

A Cruyff Court can be much more than a place to play football or exercise. It can become a place where young people meet for the first time, where trust can grow and where differences in background, age or experience briefly become less important.

We therefore want to build on this experience and continue exploring together with young people how sport and movement can support empowerment, community building and mental wellbeing.

Because connection does not always have to start with a complicated conversation.

Sometimes it simply starts by going outside, playing a game together and getting to know each other along the way.

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