April 21, 2005 - One hundred and fifty young people, representing seven nations will meet in
Lüdenscheid, Taganrog's
Sister City in the final week of the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany
TM within the framework of the International Youth Camp - 2006
(Jugendcamp-2006) to be held June 30-July 10, 2006.
In reference to the World Cup's motto "A time to make friends"
TM ("Die Welt zu Gast bei Freunden"
TM), school students from
Lüdenscheid's sister cities
- Calderdale (U.K.), Den Helder (Netherlands), Leuven (Belgium), Myslenice (Poland), Romilly-sur-Seine (France) and Taganrog (Russia) will be given the
chance to put together creative projects based around sports and international understanding. The focus of attention will lie on encounters between different
cultures, united by the 2006 FIFA World Cup
TM. In sports there can be only one winner, "but next year we all may win many new friends".
Earlier in April 2005, a working meeting was held in
Lüdenscheid, Germany, as the representatives of youth and sports committees gathered in the Haus der Jugend (House of Youth) to discuss the concept of this project. It was mutually agreed that boys and girls 14 to 16 years old would be the right age group. Not the sports of higher results, but fun and games in the circle of friends will be the main elements of the Youth Camp Program. Each Sister City's group will make a presentation of its home city, also presenting the most typical national sport. Street soccer, volleyball, beach volleyball and night basketball would be the main sport events. Disco, jeu sans frontiÈres and two tours out of the city complete the program. Other organizational questions were discussed, the representatives of Taganrog and other
Lüdenscheid's sister cities visited sports grounds and the Bergstadt Gymnasium, where the young people and their caretakers would stay in 2006.
"We are happy that our cities will work together on this project of Jugendcamp-2006, further promoting our exchanges, building friendships between our cities and educating our children about the world. And so here, in
Lüdenscheid, we have a chance to act and we're going to take it," said Mr. Mirgorodskiy, Taganrog Foreign Relations Officer at the reception held by Dieter Dzewas, Mayor of
Lüdenscheid.
Wolfgang Löhn,
Lüdenscheid's Public Relations Officer responsible for Sister City programs resumed, saying, "the meeting has been a great success. We have achieved true results and our guests are going back home inspired by the Youth Camp organizers."
Taganrog Department of Education, Department of Youth and Sports Committee will be working on the selection of young people to represent the city of Taganrog at the International Youth Camp 2006.
