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Crowning finale of the EUROSCHOOLS YOUTH CAMP 200825.09.2008
For one last time the international teams came together on the “playground of cultures” in Vaduz. And to their surprise one very special guest came to celebrate with them the spirit of intercultural exchange on the football pitch.
UEFA vice-president Şenes Erzik watched closely the exciting fair play football matches and spoke to the youngsters at the closing ceremony: “Football is open to everyone, irrespective of size, shape, colour or faith. Participating is more important than winning: goals are the most beautiful thing in football - not trophies or money - and children understand this”. After a symbolic handover of self-painted European flags to the hereditary Prince of Liechtenstein, all teenagers went back to Schaan for the big aftershow party with the Knackeboul rap-crew!
Despite the tearful goodbye before their journey home, the participants look forward to keep in touch with each other and cultivate their friendships in the future – It has been a truly enriching experience for all of them.

   
Tournament Kick Off in Vaduz25.09.2008
Today all participants lined up in international teams for the big tournament in Vaduz. After the Fair Play Football workshops in the morning it was time to put the theory into praxis. In the shadow of the prince’s castle they scored goals like football superstars, cheered and discussed the fair play rules in the dialogue zone. Throughout the whole day the power-up radio station was broadcasting interesting interviews and music hits from all over Europe.

   
All participants finally united in Liechtenstein!25.09.2008
Finally it was time for the big meeting of the two camps. Around midday all delegations from 53 nations came together in Schaan, Liechtenstein. Everybody was excited to meet his counterpart. The first formation of groups could already be noticed when it was time to take the car for a sightseeing tour through Vaduz.
After watching a thrilling U17 football match live in the stadium the youngsters returned to the YOUTH CAMP headquarter to meet their team members for the upcoming Fair Play Football tournament on Friday. In a collective brainstorm each group came up with creative team names like “the freestylers”, “the lucky losers”, “Stalin-fighters” or “Dreamteam”. In anticipation of a sunny and fantastic football day, all 53 nations went to bed under one roof.

   
A beautiful last day in Trogen25.09.2008
CAMP CH
After the last workshops in the morning, the EUROSCHOOLS YOUTH CAMP 2008 received a very special guest.
Willi Lemke, the Special Adviser to the United Nations Secretary-General on Sport for Development and Peace and former Manager of the football club Werder Bremen is a big supporter of the project and wanted to personally participate in the workshops.
“I am happy to see people from different countries, different colours and different religions in this tent, united through respect. And I just want to tell you one thing: peace is the most important thing in the world and I think this Camp should be a model for the social life in Europe. I send you kind regards of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon.”
Before the dinner all participants had the chance to go do some sightseeing in St. Gallen. In the evening it was time for the big closing ceremony. After sending greeting cards into the sky of Trogen everybody came together in the big tent to watch some fantastic performances of the Greek and the Ukrainian delegations, a Macedonian rap, a traditional Tibetan dance and a medley from the Swiss superstar Jesse Brown. During the aftershow-party with DJ Alex, all the youngsters danced till late at night.

   
Last day with lots of excitement and Sunshine!25.09.2008
CAMP AT
Today the topic of the course was “Me and my rights” and the focus was put on Children’s Rights. Afterwards every course group started a reflection-round on what happened during the last days. The results were amazing and reflected the things that the youngsters learned and worked on in since Monday.
In the afternoon youngsters, teachers, educators and the course-coaches had different possibilities to spend their time: 12 persons could go climbing in the climbing hall. The delegations from Belgium, Latvia, Estonia and Cyprus as well as many more people did the hiking tour in the mountains. Due to the fantastic weather it must have been marvellous.
Another group stayed at the hostel and participated in a workshop called “Check your Limitz” – they tested their reaction and speed and many different other things to do with physical education. The fourth and largest group went on a sightseeing-tour to Innsbruck – the capital of the Austrian county Tyrol. Again, due to the beautiful weather they had a great time, when walking through the scenic old city center.
In the evening we had a little “good bye YOUTH CAMP Steinach” – celebration. Some delegations prepared presentations on their countries and their schools. The delegation from Belarus made a DVD on their school and Minsk – the capital from Belarus. Other teams like Latvia had powerpoint presentations, the Estonian delegation painted pictures of national symbols. The Swedish delegation had a small video about activities at their school. We watched a DVD on Romanian traditions and the Hungarian delegation sang a song. The Austrian school SMS 14 Hadersdorf showed a presentation of their activities for the EUROSCHOOLS-project last year. They were the ambassadors of the Czech Republic. And the Czech delegation introduced us to their country.
It was a long celebration with some technical problems, which did not really matter – Course coach Nelson who conducted through the programme was a brilliant entertainer!
But the highlight of the evening – definitely was the disco with DJane Sonja. She rocked the hall until 11:30.
And tomorrow the whole camp is going to leave for Liechtenstein. Everybody is already excited and really looking forward because from tomorrow until Saturday it’s only football that counts!

   
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