Bavaria's sports clubs lost many members in the pandemic.
Especially children and teenagers.
The clubs now want to win them back for themselves.
Munich - We are looking for Nina. She is 13 years old and has been doing gymnastics in the club for seven years. The secondary school student is conscientious and attaches great importance to sustainability, healthy eating and social networks. “Nina” doesn't really exist - and yet she stands for young people between the ages of eleven and 25. They want to win back the Bavarian sports clubs - after they too often cancel their memberships even without a forced Corona break. The Bavarian State Sports Association (BLSV) wants to scientifically analyze your sports, communication and consumer behavior and use the results.
“From the age of 15, many young people leave sports clubs.
We want to reduce this quota, ”says Susanne Burger, managing director of the BLSV.
Topics such as nutrition and virtual exchange should not only find their way into schools, but also into sports clubs.
"We have to pick up children and young people with new offers." This includes, for example, sending sports icons such as ex-skier Felix Neureuther to primary schools, says BLSV President Jörg Ammon.
This should encourage more children to exercise.
Corona: Over 100,000 children and young people are leaving sports clubs
So Bavarian sport is in a spirit of optimism and after 18 months of pandemic is looking to the future with new ideas. “Indoor and contact sports in particular have suffered. The time of the closings was not easy economically and financially, but overall Bavarian sport got through quite well, ”sums up Ammon. “In Spain, for example, squad and professional sport stood still for a long time. Here you were allowed to train except for a short period. ”Shutting down amateur sport completely was initially the right approach. After all, there had been no vaccinations yet.
Until 2019, the BLSV recorded steady growth in the number of members in the sports clubs.
"So we attribute the declining numbers from 2020 and 2021 to Corona *," says Ammon.
In 2019, 4.5 million Bavarians were still registered in the sports club.
The number is currently 4.32 million.
Ammon finds the results particularly worrying with regard to the children.
In 2019 around a million were registered in the club.
In 2021 there are only around 896,000. Accordingly, 106,676 children left.
In the six-year-old group, that's 25 percent.
Sports professionals drum for more exercise and Bavaria's clubs
“The more rural the region, the better for the clubs. The loyalty is high here and the financial loss due to the large number of volunteers is lower, ”says Ammon. “The city of Munich and the surrounding area were hit hardest.” In the meantime, however, many clubs have been positively surprised. “Many children returned in the summer. Therefore, some clubs have also signaled that they will not take a break during the summer holidays. ”For example TSV Grünwald and TSV Starnberg.
With a view to winter, Ammon no longer expects a lockdown: "With the three Gs - vaccinated, recovered or tested - indoor sports should also be maintained." The BLSV is now actively participating in the Free State's vaccination campaign.
“We see vaccination as a social task and the only solution to the pandemic.” Even professional footballer Leroy Sané is now promoting it.
Another icon that is intended to lure children back to Bavaria's sports fields and halls.
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