In the run-up to Leverkusen's Bundesliga Matchday 6 encounter at home to newly promoted Holstein Kiel on 5 October (15:30 CEST), the Schlebusch district is coming into focus with various activities organised by the works club. After holding their own training session, Haim and Merino Gonzalez spent plenty of time with the 30 children at the primary school.
For former Nuremberg player Haim, the project was something close to her heart. Until her move from the relegated Bundesliga side to Bayer 04, the 27-year-old had also worked full-time as a teacher at a secondary school. "Normally I always had to deal with older pupils, who aren't as easily enthused as the primary school children," said Haim. "The atmosphere was great right from the start, the children were very excited. The children had lots of friends throughout the lesson and were very enthusiastic. I definitely want to work at a school again when my footballing career is over."
After a short football warm-up exercise, the Bayer 04 players let the children compete in a penalty shootout, with Merino Gonzalez and Haim trying their hand at goalkeeping. Afterwards, the pupils, divided into three alternating teams, played a game across the entire field. Afterwards, the Leverkusen duo patiently took time to answer the children's many questions and autograph requests. As a gift, they each received two tickets for the women's home game against German champions FC Bayern Munich on Sunday 20 October (18:30 CEST).
"It was a lot of fun for me to experience a class like this from the perspective of a teacher because I still go to school myself," said 17-year-old Merino Gonzalez. "The children had so much fun, you could see the smiles on their faces. That makes me very happy." So happy that the campaign doesn't have to be a one-off experience for her. "I could even imagine wanting to work as a teacher myself after my career," added the striker.
Bayer 04 is holding the so-called District Matchdays for the second year running in the 2024/25 season. In each district of Leverkusen, a range of activities and workshops with the pros will take place ahead of selected Bundesliga home games. There's also a district shirt for each action day. The Schlebusch shirt is now available HERE.
You can find more information about the district matchdays HERE.
Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personal Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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