3 tips on how anyone can organize a fun sports event that gives back to society

At the beginning of April I made the biggest step of my career and joined the adidas Group’s adidas Fund team.

With the Fund we aim to drive positive social change by supporting organisations that use sports to teach and coach children on life skills such as self-confidence, respect and teamwork.

“Working with the adidas Fund is a dream job for me as I have a passion for health, sport and helping those who need it.”

Peter Ulbrich, Project coordinator Global Brands

My first project for the Fund was quite a challenge: organizing and hosting the KICKFAIR Youth Leader Camp – a large, three-day sports event including workshops, various sports, more food then I could ever imagine and a street football tournament.

Football as a platform

KICKFAIR is a non-profit organization that uses football as a means of launching many diverse projects in the fields of education, learning, and training.

The partnership with adidas provides KICKFAIR with support, equipment, administration and volunteers.

What we did this time was host 38 of their leaders from Germany, Kenya, Rwanda and Israel here at the adidas World of Sport.

When the dust had settled and I had time to reflect, these are the 3 key points I took away about how to have a successful event.

1. Find passionate people

Finding others who also have the same passion, interest and energy as you to create change is definitely the biggest point I took away from the event.

Likeminded individuals coming together are a catalyst for moving forward, having fun and creating something special.

In this case during the KICKFAIR event, having others who were passionate about helping these future leaders gave the whole event a special feel and helped it run smoothly.

The fact that everyone who was there wanted to be there was evident by the boundless energy and smiling throughout all three days.

It didn’t matter whether it was a workshop volunteer, the chef from the BBQ or the tournament participants, the passion from all involved was electric and made the event something special for the KICKFAIR Youth Leaders.

2. Be organized AND flexible

Fair to say, that there is a considerable amount of organization that is needed in order to have a three day event run smoothly.

It became evident early that timing is a key factor in the organization of an event.

During the KICKFAIR event and tournament I went through different situations where timing was good, and when timing was off.

I also learnt that during the organization process it is vital to keep in mind the small things.

Having every tiny detail prepared not only helps the event run efficiently, but also makes the entire thing look more professional.

That said, even when you think you have everything covered, something else comes up.

A great lesson from all of this was that I had to also do the classic adidas Fund thing, “stay flexible”.

“Getting flustered and stressed doesn’t help the situation, but actually solving the problem while keeping up positive energy is the best way to fix the situation.”

Peter Ulbrich, Project coordinator Global Brands

3. Create an experience

Without an exciting and warm atmosphere even the most organized and well timed event will not have a great feel to it.

The KICKFAIR event was definitely a roaring success because of the overall experience it created.

The Youth Leaders did a fantastic job during the Street Football Tournament to get all the adidas volunteers involved and to build an atmosphere worthy of the adidas spirit.

With music playing, good conversation and lots of cheering and hi fiving the whole tournament was smiling and laughing throughout.

Of course, it was not only the Youth Leaders making the events atmosphere, but also the adidas participants.

Their positive energy and willingness to help these young leaders develop and grow made the KICKFAIR tournament a great experience.

Summing it up

The KICKFAIR Youth Leader Camp was a fantastic event for me to gain knowledge about project and event management and to gain valuable experience within the adidas Fund.

Creating positive change with fellow adidas colleagues on campus, while using sport as a tool, was an amazing experience and one I know that the Youth Leader Camp participants also thoroughly enjoyed.

A big thank you once again to all who were involved in the entire camp.