Theatre and Football Kick Off Together
How Holland compensates for failing to qualify for the World Cup

Young players' special
On May 31 the FIFA World Cup kicks off in South Korea. Many people in the Netherlands will pretend there is no event going on, condemned as we are to be only spectators. Not only on the level of the national team there is talk about a crisis in our national sport. Many clubs are hanging on by their teeth: the number of volunteers, the core of every club, is dwindling, violence and racism on the other hand are mounting, especially in the Youth Department. Football mirrors social developments very well. Two years ago, former referee and current artistic director of Formaat started an experiment by giving an Image Theatre workshop to young players of a club in Leiden. The results were stunning: after realising that the Ideal Image of becoming champions would be hampered by fighting on the pitch and subsequent suspensions, they implemented the non-violent alternatives they had developed during the workshop. The football club enthousiastically asked the national Football Association for more.

Safe Play
A series of negotiations with local and national organisations followed. The world of football is traditionally conservative when it comes to facing the facts, but early 2002 the balance tipped over towards a new approach. The cornerstones were laid for the development of an Image and Forum Theatre project devised for football clubs across the country. The project was dubbed Safe Play and is about to become part of a national campaign to counter the "survival of the fittest" developments among youth players. One of the most serious problems is the fact that some clubs employ outright racism as a form of psychological warfare. White players not older that 14-15 will deliberately provoke players of colour in order to make them commit serious fouls and be sent off. The spectators of some white clubs assist in intimidating coloured oponents.

Segregation
Another worrying development is the fact that many clubs are either black or white and those with a mixed culture are becoming a rarity. Football is becoming more and more a clash of cultures, and as clubs are run by volunteers, they lack tools to prevent some of the clashes turning into violence. One of the aspects which play an important role is the fact that part of the parents of youth players see the game as a preparation for the competition in real life. Instead of being a sport that is good for your health, social contacts and the development of social skills, some children learn at an early age that the only way to do it right is to win. And if you can't win the clean way, there's also the dirty way.

Tools
Safe Play is designed to create three kinds of tools for football clubs:

A further development of the workshop concept for youth players, aimed at fair play, comradeship and overcoming cultural difference

A training concept for trainers of youth squads to be able to apply the workshop concept themselves

A Forum to be attended to by the active members of a football club, aimed at addressing questions of mentality, cultural integration and the sense of community.

The premiere of the Forum is projected for February 2003. Although the first reactions in the world of sports was sceptical, more and more people are now looking forward to participate. As far as we know, it is the first time that theatre and football meet. We are looking for a major qualification of the theatre squad in the league of sports!

Under Pressure 10 - May 2002