Kick-off Thorbecke Talent School

We had another kickoff for the MDT project and opening at the Thorbecke Talent School. This time, over 700 young people from the Thorbecke Talent School in Rotterdam are participating. This is the third time we've offered five different street and art disciplines in one day: freestyle and street football, freestyle basketball, freerunning, breakdance, and spoken word. We have a total of 13 talented workshop leaders, all wearing SB tracksuits. I have the honor of organizing this day, and I'm thrilled to do so.

It's a varied day. From a great kick-off to various lessons for second-, third-, and fourth-year students of varying levels and ages. I open the day by briefly explaining what everyone can expect, and then I give the floor to the talented Spoken Words team. Then we go outside and the somersaults and backflips of the freerunners get everyone's attention. Followed by a short demo of breakdance, street football, freestyle football, and freestyle basketball. Now that we have the young people's attention, we can start the workshops.

It's a fun, relaxed day. The teachers also enjoy the workshops, the music, and the sunshine. I always find it a fun challenge to find a way to engage even the less motivated young people. Even though we're dealing with large groups of 50 young people, I think it's important that we reach and inspire every single one. For example, there's a 14-year-old boy whose teachers say they find it difficult to have a positive interaction with him. It's nice to see that, three hours after the workshops, he's still volunteering to help me clean up. We have a good conversation in the meantime. As a thank you, I give him a basketball, which he absolutely loves.

What I love about this school is its forward-thinking spirit. They want to explore how we can integrate community service into the curriculum, so we can award the athletic youngsters at this school an additional certificate. Perhaps with an extra course to become a sports leader. In any case, we'll work together to find a way to make a lasting impact on a large scale!