The BLSV fears a dramatic decline in membership.
Even at TSV Jahn Freising, the corona crisis does not leave its mark - but the club holds against it.
Freising
- The corona pandemic is of great concern to the Bavarian State Sports Association (BLSV): it expects a dramatic loss of more than 100,000 members at the end of the year due to the two lockdowns.
In the case of children and adolescents in particular, a decline of 4.3 and 3.7 percent respectively has been recorded compared to 2019.
One of the largest popular sports clubs in the region is TSV Jahn Freising.
In the FT interview, chairman Franz Lupp describes how his club experienced and lived through the crisis - and to what extent the fears of the association apply.
Mr. Lupp, how many departments and members does your association currently have?
TSV Jahn has 14 departments and currently has 4,300 members.
What makes TSV Jahn Freising such a popular sports club?
We are an ambitious club that offers a wide range of sports for people from zero to 88 years of age.
And we have a lot of departments - that's what sets us apart from many others.
We don't have any paid sport in our club.
However, we are proud when one of our members takes part in German championships.
However, the focus is on enjoying sports together, i.e. the social component.
Do the concerns of the BLSV about the decline in membership also apply to TSV Jahn Freising?
That is difficult to answer at the moment because we will not be able to do an analysis of membership fluctuation until the end of the year.
On average, we have around 700 departures a year - this is the order of magnitude that this year seems to amount to.
But what we can already see: While we have had significantly more new registrations than de-registrations in recent years and our membership numbers have risen continuously, this will probably not be the case this year.
The difference is already significant.
Unlike perhaps in big cities, where the social bond to the association is not as high as it is here, the members are not yet running away from us because of the corona pandemic.
We are a non-profit association in which the members also get involved - in contrast to a fitness studio, which is to be seen as a pure service provider, which has to reimburse its customers for non-performance.
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Franz Lupp: "We were always ahead at the first lockdown."
© TSV Jahn Freising
Does the lockdown affect all departments equally? Which are particularly affected?
The first and now the second lockdown had different effects on the departments.
Our fitness groups, track and field athletes, and triathletes, for example, were able to train outdoors.
Two athletes can still practice at the same time on the large archery area.
Swimming, however, is not possible because the fresch closed.
How do you currently imagine club life at TSV Jahn?
For the normal member there is currently no club life.
Quite simply, it has to do with the fact that the government has strict guidelines that we have to adhere to.
At most one could say that there is a kind of club life through streaming offers.
What offers did the departments come up with during the months of the pandemic?
Right from the first lockdown, we were always ahead of the game and wherever possible and sensible, we either offered our members sports via video over the Internet or via streaming, or we still do.
This means that contact with the instructors is maintained.
What are the fundamental challenges facing such a large popular sports club as TSV Jahn Freising?
So far we have come through the pandemic relatively well.
However, if it takes a lot longer, it could be difficult for us.
The BLSV is committed to the return to indoor sports as soon as possible. Do you underline this requirement?
I see it differently.
First of all, we have to listen to the experts.
If they advise stopping indoor sports, then you have to stick to it.
What is out of the question for me at the moment is competitive sport.
You'd be with strange athletes.
It is different when you train in a fixed and manageable group.
But we are currently in a crisis.
Mistakes are always made.
I just hope decision makers learn from their mistakes too.
I just want to say that we as an association have dealt with the guidelines very carefully.
We have developed functioning hygiene concepts and, after careful consideration, also removed our basketball teams - with the exception of men I.
I am not aware of any case that club members in our sports facility have been infected with Corona.
Are streaming offers sufficient at the moment?
Certainly not in the long run.
With the wide range of offers in our departments, we also make an important contribution to public health - children and young people will also lack exercise in the long term.
But I also see another very important aspect, namely voluntary work.
Under the current conditions, self-motivation is becoming increasingly difficult, for example for the trainer.
At our club, everything still works very well.
Our members are loyal to their association.
In retrospect, how do you assess the sporting year of TSV Jahn Freising? What was positive?
So far, we have mastered the corona crisis as a club very well and have always been one tip ahead when it comes to solving problems.
So far, we have been able to rely on the support of our members and the trainers.
I would worry if the pandemic lasted much longer.
At the turn of the year one thinks about some resolutions and expresses wishes. How do these look for TSV Jahn Freising?
Hopefully Corona will go away as soon as possible.
We want to advance digitization in the club in the next year.
Because the crisis has shown how important and valuable it is, for example with streaming offers.
We want to reach our members even faster via email and also create new offers via apps.
We also want to expand our sports offers, for example parent-child fitness training.
Personally, I have one more wish: If the pandemic has subsided by the summer, we should organize a great summer party with all members - a post-corona festival, so to speak.
Also read: Reactions of the Freising ski clubs to the impending winter sports ban: "That will be pretty bitter"
