Bavaria: How did clubs survive the pandemic? – Bavaria

With love for the club, says Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU), that’s a thing. There are those who say: “This is my club, I’ve been there through thick and thin” – an emotional bond, often since the parents. But also others who only see it all as “give and take”: If the club does not deliver the usual offer, as is inevitable during lockdown times, they say goodbye.

Expectations and a sense of service play a part in Herrmann’s perception, as they are reflected in society as a whole. The minister has recently debated the situation of the clubs with the interior committee in the state parliament, with a focus on sport. The umbrella organizations of organized sports in Bavaria report that normalization is only gradual. The loss of members due to Corona – a minus of 150,000 people in the state sports association – “has not yet been fully compensated for”. There is still a significant slump in new entrants. Nevertheless, the majority of sports clubs came through the crisis “better than feared”, said Herrmann, and he is now hoping for a “strong comeback”.

And in the breadth of club life, beyond gymnastics, bowling or football? Here, too, a mixed picture emerges, as research by the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft, funded by the Bavarian Ministry of Social Affairs, shows: “The effects of the pandemic are deepening rifts between member winners and losers.” The key is sustainable young talent strategies. Social Affairs Minister Ulrike Scharf (CSU) recently praised 67.4 percent of Bavarian citizens in their government statement. “Our welfare state is built on this great sense of community.” So how are the clubs in the Free State doing now after the forced break? A sample.

Wake-up caller searched in vain

It’s been around for more than four decades Traditional costume club Postbauer-Heng (District of Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz) – or there was one. The pandemic accelerated what had been apparent for a long time: the association work of the older members is asleep and there are no young people to wake them up again. In February, CEO Wolfram Krebs announced the dissolution. “There are no more die-hard Trachten wearers,” says Petra Igl. She is one of the kind herself and was with the costumers in Postbauer-Heng for 25 years.

For years, the remaining handful of members have tried in vain to inspire young people for customs, folk dance and folk music through the Trachtenverband Mittelfranken. Igl was always concerned with conveying the tradition woven into the costume, to represent her homeland: “Dirndl and traditional costume are not the same, she emphasizes several times. “Traditional costume means fabric, shoes, stockings, apron, blouse, jacket, hood, with customs are passed on to all of this.” Not anymore, at least not in Postbauer-Heng.

“People are in a party mood”

Folk festivals, celebrations, everything that is the antithesis to the pandemic swamp at home is well attended this summer. This type of customs maintenance is written in the Boys’ club “Funny Buam” from Zeitlarn (Regensburg district) on the flags. In June, the association celebrated its 45th anniversary, before that there was a Maypole Festival. “It went very well. People are in a party mood,” says Tobias Greiner, club treasurer. There are problems, however: with the offspring.

About a third of the 180 members are active, and only 15 remain at the monthly get-together. “We used to gain members through big parties. At the big founding party this year, only one came,” says Greiner. Some members, who were already loose anyway, lost sight of the fraternity through the pandemic and now have children or simply other interests. The “Funny Buam” are currently considering recruiting members via social media.

Play “before we are no longer allowed”

There are youth problems in the tennis department SV Wenzenbach in the Upper Palatinate, however, none. “The run on the summer training and the teams is huge,” says youth director Ludwig Erl. “We have major problems accommodating the more than 100 children.” The club is already thinking about building two new pitches and a hall. The last two Corona years were difficult for him too – and made him inventive. When training was banned, he posed in front of the camera in his living room with a skipping rope and bat and did cardio and ball drills online with a dozen 10-year-olds. For Erl and his protégés it was at least an advantage that the tennis season has a break in winter and is mostly played outdoors anyway.

It’s harder for a volleyball coach who has to form teams that then play their league games indoors in winter. Or not. When club sports were banned in winter, Alois Maier calculated from the SSV Wurmannsquick in the district of Rottal-Inn with the worst. “All the youth work that we have built up over the years is broken,” he predicted last December. Much has actually happened as feared – but there is also good news.

The games canceled in winter were made up for in May. Unusual for the players, like 19-year-old Annika Gottanka. On top of that, they had to somehow keep fit at home on their own for months. “Playing indoors in the summer heat, many didn’t want to go to training at first.” In the end, however, cohesion won – and ambition. “We’ve been promoted to the district league.”

“But we also suffered injuries,” says coach Maier. “The offspring for our women’s team is a seedling that has died.” It’s the youngsters who were 15 to 18 during the lockdowns. Of 25 young players, 21 have not returned. “It’s a dent that will persist over the long term.” He had to cancel the men’s team completely. They now want to use the summer in the club to train as much as possible, the league games are planned earlier. “Before we are no longer allowed,” says Gottanka.

That’s what drives many clubs: What’s coming in the fall? Standstill again when a new virus variant emerges? In the interior committee, MPs reported on another topic about the anxious view of autumn: energy. Whether it will still be possible to heat a sports hall or a shooting range, use a swimming pool? Herrmann announced that he would “keep an eye on developments”. And possibly to help with the club flat rates, as in the Corona period.

“Corona then gave us the rest”

The pandemic has hit the choirs particularly hard. Keep your distance, rehearse outside, sing with a mask? Hardly possible. Most choirs and music schools were only able to cancel concerts and rehearsals. For Stefan Grosch, Chairman of the Children’s and Youth Choir Ingolstadt Nightingales, the past two years have been a constant back and forth. “We rescheduled, looked for new dates, then suddenly new rules came up and we had to change everything again or cancel it completely.” There are three groups of nightingales: the very small children from the age of three, primary school children and the “big nightingales” with the 10 to 18 year olds. Young people in particular are difficult to get enthusiastic about. Five years ago, 25 were still singing with the big nightingales, “but Corona then gave us the rest,” says Grosch. Five youths remained. With a big advertising campaign, four more singers could be won. After all, the toddler groups are full, so the initiative tends to come from the parents.

According to Grosch, the adult choirs are highly motivated. He sings himself in the Ingolstadt motet choir, which is currently rehearsing with a full team of around 70 people. “In November, the creation of Joseph Haydn is planned in the ballroom of the Stadttheater. Everyone is eager to sing.” But after two years of the pandemic, he doesn’t really trust peace. “Reliability has been lost. When in doubt, Corona is back.”

Practice, practice, practice – celebrate

On the other hand, good news is that the volunteer fire brigades are “living their active club life” again, as Benjamin Blasini, chairman of the Zandt fire brigade (Cham district), puts it. The members are in a “spirit of optimism”, his fire brigade is “blessed with a lot of young people”, some even went into full-time service. The Lalling volunteer fire brigade (Deggendorf district) also has an outstanding membership record, which it has been able to maintain over the past few years: 250 members with a population of almost 1,600. “We raise our own offspring,” says Ludwig Jacob as the first commander. The members are not the problem, rather the practice backlog should be caught up at the moment. Three to four exercises a month are standard, plus special training, for example with machinists.

So with the fire brigade, club life works, why? “With us, the fire brigade is still a tradition and at the center of society,” says Benjamin Blasini from Zandt. In addition, they have a very young board of directors and thus remain approachable for the young firefighters. The Lallingers also take the festivals as they fall, adds Commander Jacob: “The fire brigade’s cider festival has been extremely well received. Everyone wants out, it’s nice.”

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