37 million steps for step kickt!

The second round of the “step kickt!” project was successfully completed at the end of the 2021/22 season. “step kickt!” is an interactive step competition organized by the DFL Foundation and the Cleven Foundation in cooperation with professional clubs from the Bundesliga, 2nd Bundesliga and 3rd Liga. The project is designed to actively motivate children to exercise more. To introduce the project, the children receive free fitness wristbands. These measure the steps taken, which can be viewed at any time on the step kickt! website.

In the 2021/22 season, the third and fourth grades of the Michael Ende School took part in the project on behalf of VfL. Over the period, the 137 participating children collected a total of 37,597,193 steps and covered a distance of 25,190 km. They were supported by their project mentor Herbert Bockhorn, who guided the children through the project with several video messages. In total, schoolchildren from twelve professional clubs took part in “step kickt! schoolchildren from twelve professional clubs took part. More than 536 million steps were collected. Together, the children walked around the world around nine times and covered an incredible 359,269 km!

In addition to the physical activity challenge, the schoolchildren were also involved in a number of highlight events during the season. For example, VfL chef Kai “Tomate” Emmendörffer gave them an insight into a healthy and balanced diet as part of a cooking course. Another highlight event focused on the topic of exercise. Here, the children were able to diligently collect additional steps. Finally, the children’s parents were given exciting insights into the topics of nutrition, sports and motivation during a parents’ evening.

“step kickt!” is part of the BOCHUMER GESUNDHEIT (BOCHUM HEALTH) theme and is intended to actively motivate children to exercise more. The project will also be continued at VfL Bochum in the coming season.