Talents going hand in hand: A very special day | OneFootball

U18 host SOS Children's Village and Sonneninsel at the Academy

It will be a day that all involved will remember for a long time! In the middle of April, around 25 girls and boys as well as their families or guardians from Sonneninsel Seekirchen and the SOS Children's Village visited our U18 team at the Red Bull Football Academy. A day was spent together full of fun and games - along with some important exchanges.

Just like the pros, the children were collected by our team bus in Seekirchen and driven to the Red Bull Football Academy. After a short greeting, the families and children were split into two groups and guided through the academy complex, where they gained exciting insights into the everyday life of our young footballers. A special moment saw each child receive a specially prepared Bulls Camp training set in the dressing room, consisting of a shirt, shorts and socks - not for wearing right away, but for taking home. The U18 players and staff meanwhile were given insights into the work of Sonneninsel and SOS Children's Villages in a seminar room - making for a valuable change of perspectives!

A training session held together afterwards was full of fun, games and a diverse range of activities, which were designed and overseen by the U18 players (in consultation with their coaches). After around 60 minutes of training in the football hall there were group photos and a goal celebration challenge with Turbo für Talente kits also being presented and group photos taken.

It was all finished off by dinner together in the dining hall of the academy, in which Bullidibumm paid a visit and handed out autograph cards before the team bus brought the families back to Seekirchen – with countless impressions, emotions and great memories to cherish.

What are Sonneninsel and SOS Children's Villages?

Sonneninsel in Seekirchen near Salzburg is an aftercare centre for families with seriously or chronically ill children. It offers free stays with individually tailored programmes for recovering and returning to everyday life. The centre is financed exclusively through donations.

The SOS Children's Village in Seekirchen has provided a loving and stable home since 1964 for children and young people who cannot live with their birth families. In family-like structures with SOS Children's Village mothers or fathers, the children grow up in a protected environment and receive individual support.