December 16, 2014, New York: FC Bayern Munich (FCB), one of the most valuable clubs in world soccer, and the Goethe-Institut (GI), Germany’s cultural institute, have today announced they will be working with the American Association of Teachers of German (AATG) to promote the German culture among AATG’s 3,000 teachers and its potentially 400,000 American students in 2015.
FC Bayern and the Goethe-Institut are two of the most recognized and trusted German institutions, and as such, are ambassadors for Germany in the U.S. Considering soccer is an integral part of German society, and it’s also the fastest growing sport in the States, it made sense for FCB and GI to partner to promote the country’s rich culture, language and passion for soccer with American kids.
The partnership will kick-off with a contest in February 2015 that will bring students to Germany in the summer of 2015 to experience FC Bayern Munich, including watching its World Cup winners live in action, meeting team members and touring Allianz Arena.
AATG teachers will present the contest to their students in classrooms across the U.S. Submissions will be accepted through GI’s platform “Step into German” then promoted on FCB’s club platforms, including its U.S. website and Facebook page.
Rudolf Vidal, Managing Director of FC Bayern Munich U.S. commented: “Working with GI is taking us another step closer to our goal of building up the soccer industry and expanding FCB’s footprint here in the States. We believe our partnership with GI will entice kids to learn more about the German culture by leveraging their excitement and passion for FC Bayern and soccer.”
Dr. Christoph Veldhues, the Goethe-Institut’s Director of Language Programs North America, adds: “This cooperation, with the upcoming contest being but the first step, finally recognizes sport as an important part of culture. German language and soccer are the perfect match to promote language programs to students in the US on a wide scale.”
More Inforamtion: http://www.goethe.de/stepintogerman or http://www.fcbayernmunich.com/us/
____________________________________________________________________________________________