Iserlohn Kangaroos: What's special about the Primary School World Cup

Egypt beats the team from Montenegro in the final! If this result should hold at the real basketball world championship (25 August to 10 September in Indonesia, Japan and on the Philippines) in such a way, one would probably speak of a sporty sensation.

At the premiere of the Medice Basketball World Championship for elementary schools in Iserlohn's Matthias Grothe Hall, this is exactly what happened on Monday. A total of 20 teams from the three participating elementary schools - the Kilian School from Letmathe, the Saatschule from the Grüne and the Deilinghofen Elementary School from Hemer - represented the very countries that also determine the world champion "in the big ones".

Country jerseys were designed by the students themselves in art class

"Of course, the premiere has above all a sporting character," explains organizer Jan-Eric Keysers. In the project period since the Easter vacations, the youth coordinator of the Iserlohn Kangaroos had regularly visited the participating elementary school and prepared them for their world championship. "Very important for us as a club, however, was also the holistic character of this innovative project for third and fourth graders." That's because the elementary school World Cup encompasses not only the competition in the sports hall, but also the subjects of science and art. "In science class, the children studied the respective country they were assigned to represent at the World Cup, and in art class, they designed their own country jerseys. At the end of the final day, they were judged and the best one was awarded a prize. In the end, Mexico came out just ahead of Japan.

The new project was supported by the Iserlohn-based company Medice. Bärbel Pütter, who had taken over the patronage, followed the final day with great interest. "I am thrilled by what I have seen here today and am already looking forward to the new edition next year," said the wife of the late managing director Dr. Sigurd Pütter. "For us as a company, it is a special concern that in this way we inspire children in our region to think beyond borders, to take an interest in other countries in the world and to work as a team toward a common goal. We may also be able to get more kids into basketball this way and perhaps discover one or two stars of tomorrow."

Patron Bärbel Pütter is enthusiastic about the project

At the award ceremony, Bärbel Pütter and the Iserlohn Kangaroos sports assistants presented all the children with a World Cup medal, a certificate and a voucher for a visit to one of the Kangaroos' ProB games in the new season. The two finalists Montenegro and Egypt also received a beautiful glass trophy.

Source: Iserlohn Kangaroos: Das Besondere an der Grundschul-WM - ikz-online.de

Author: Christoph Schulte

Iserlohner Kreisanzeiger

Photo: Mirco Wewer