Ninety football players in twelve teams are competing for eternal glory today at the inter-chain indoor football tournament in the municipality of De Wolden. There are teams with young men, women’s teams and even teams with fairly young children. So to speak, the brothers of.
The young people play nine-minute matches and at the end of the day there is the grand final. “Yes, it’s nice that they organize this,” says coach Joeri of team De pyromanen in the sports hall in Ruinen.
“Last year we were here to watch, but no ladies participated. And we thought: ‘We can do this too.’ So that’s why we’re participating,” says Merit Westert of Dames Vitesse ’63. The ladies also play together on the field, but they are a bit fitter. “I went out in Meppel yesterday and I’m a bit tired.”
The tournament is organized by Keten United and Welzijn De Wolden. “We want to get in touch with each other in an accessible way,” explains youth worker Feline Bonneau. She has to laugh when she hears what most of the football players’ preparation on Saturday evening was like. “Went out and drank a lot of beer,” participants say unanimously. That at least makes conditions equal for everyone.
Except for the youngsters’ team, the brothers of. They hold their own in the first match and shoot one ball into the goal after another.
The chain has an important function as a meeting place for young people. The municipality of De Wolden does not ban the chain, but considers matters such as attention to safety in and around the chain to be important. The municipality works together with the youth work of Welzijn de Wolden.
Youth worker Bonneau: “I hope to get in touch with them in this way and that they will invite me: ‘Feline come over for a beer’. And that’s what I do and then I try to guide them a bit. To explain how it should be done. And to encourage them to organize things themselves, such as an indoor football tournament.”
The young people who have nothing to do with football are discussed in the summer. Then the youth workers want to organize a beach volleyball tournament between the chain.