A group of 12 young footballers aged 13-14 years with 4 adult helpers from Penybont Junior Football Club has recently completed a very successful visit to Bad Rappenau, Llandrindod Wells’s twin town in southern Germany. The visit was hosted by the Bad Rappenau Twinning Association and enabled the Mid Wales youngsters to meet and interact with their contemporaries from Bad Rappenau.
The group travelled to Germany by air from Manchester Airport and were met at Frankfurt Airport by representatives of the Bad Rappenau Twinning Association. For 5 young members of the group it was their first experience of travel abroad. In Bad Rappenau the visitors were hosted in a large well equipped sports centre with catering organised by members of the Bad Rappenau Twinning Committee.
The group enjoyed four full days of activities organized for them by Bad Rappenau Twinning, including a challenging game of football against an older German football team in temperatures rising to over 32 degrees centigrade. During their stay the youngsters were able to cool down with visits to Bad Rappenau’s spectacular outdoor spa swimming pool complex that were thoroughly enjoyed by everyone, particularly the diving boards.
Highlights of the trip included two visits to the Rhine-Neckar football stadium, home of local Bundesliga team TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. First the youngsters watched an exciting Bundesliga match against SV Werder Bremen which Hoffenheim won 3-2 with a winning goal in the last few minutes. On the other visit the group was taken on a tour of the 30,000 capacity stadium.
Nigel Mason, leader of the group, said that all participants enjoyed every minute of their visit. He spoke of the fantastic hospitality given by the German hosts and said that two of the Welsh helpers, who were farmers, were honoured to be offered a visit to a dairy farm run by one of the Bad Rappenau helpers.
Joyce Hope, Chairman of Llandrindod Wells and Area Twinning Association, said the Association tries to encourage youth visits to the twin towns of Bad Rappenau and Contrexéville. To pay for these visits the Association relies on voluntary contributions and fund raising. The next fundraising event will be a BINGO NIGHT at the Rock Park Heritage Centre on Friday 20 September at 7.00pm with cash prizes. The evening event is open to all and costs £5 (including full book of tickets).
Llandrindod Twinning Association wants to make twinning accessible to all sectors of the community and any local group wishing to make an exchange visit should contact the Association through its website https://llandrindodtwinning.wordpress.com/ or by phoning the Secretary on 01597 822111.
Llandrindod Wells Twinning Association 