Participating in some kind of sports is a key element in the personality development of young people. Bayer is passionate about sports for young people and wants to encourage them to remain active in sports all their lives.
Talented young athletes will find the best possible training conditions at “Bayer” sports clubs, including an ideal infrastructure at Bayer sports facilities, qualified coaching staff and an interdisciplinary approach. With the elite sports and soccer schools, sports/part-time boarding schools, Bayer AG's athletes' class, and sports schools for children, Bayer also makes a point of supporting initiatives that enable talented young athletes to practice top-level sport while completing their education and vocational training.
In 2002, the DOSB (German Olympic Sports Association) recognized the Landrat-Lucas-Gymnasium in Leverkusen as one of 39 elite sports schools in Germany. The school's close cooperation with TSV 04 Bayer Leverkusen provides targeted support for gifted young athletes and it is considered one of the most successful schools in Germany when it comes to fostering talent. In November 2008, the school was also awarded the title of “Elite Soccer School” by the DFB (German Soccer Federation) for its collaboration with TSV Bayer 04 and Bayer 04 Fussball GmbH. TSV Bayer Dormagen collaborates with the Norbert Gymnasium Knechtsteden in a similar way.
Bayer 04's Kurtekotten youth soccer center boasts the DFB's highest certification rating of 3 stars plus and is the number one training facility for tomorrow's soccer stars. Every year since 1992, up to 15 talented young men and women in Bayer AG's athletes' class have been given the opportunity to combine their sporting career with commercial training.
Many of today's sports stars benefited from this combined focus on sporting, educational and personal development and went on to become successful international elite athletes.
The efforts made by “Bayer” sports clubs to foster young talent have now won the “Green band for displaying exemplary commitment to promoting young talented individuals” on more than 25 occasions. This honor is bestowed by the German Olympic Sports Association (DOSB) and Commerzbank.