On Saturday, September 16, the Trier rugby department of FSV Tarforst will host another Verbandsliga tournament at the Waldstadion starting at 1 pm.

So if you want to watch some entertaining rugby games, you are welcome to come to the Waldstadion next Saturday from 1pm. As always, drinks and refreshments will be provided. The Trier Rugby Club will also be collecting donations on the day for the “LooseHeadz” organization, which is dedicated to mental health in rugby.

The background for the fundraising is the actual occasion of the tournament. For the second time, the Trier ruggers want to organize a small tournament remembering the late national player Bersi Küper, who played for Trier for a long time and had a lasting influence on the team. Teams from the NRW Verbandsliga will compete against each other and play for the Bersi Küper Cup. Players from North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate, as well as Luxembourg, are expected to attend.

In addition, former companions of Bersi are invited to play and stay. The upcoming day also invites people to talk about how a team sport like rugby can promote not only physical but also mental health. The close bond on the field carries over to the time spent together outside the 80 minutes of play. In this context, interpersonal exchanges, asking about well-being (“Are you okay?”) should seem a simple way to make mental ills transparent. However, various campaigns in countries with an affinity for rugby, such as Great Britain or Australia, show that such occasions for conversation about mental well-being arise too rarely, so that the personal problems of the individual remain supposedly invisible. With this small ulterior motive, the Bersi-Küper-Cup wants to serve as a thought-provoking impulse to show interest in one’s fellow human beings, to address concerns instead of dismissing them.