ERelief, a little pride even sounds from the message from the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) on Tuesday. With 27 million memberships in its almost 87,000 clubs, German sport grew by 46,600 new athletes last year and thus remains the largest civil movement in the country, the organization reports.
0.17 percent growth is no small thing in times of a pandemic and social distancing, and the fact that the positive figures are largely due to children, the group of the population hardest hit by lack of exercise, is a good sign. In 2020, sports clubs in Germany lost 792,119 memberships, a drop of 2.85 percent.
Remarkable solidarity
However, the endurance test of organized sport in Germany will become even greater. In addition to the expected waves of infection in autumn and winter, the clubs are faced with another existential challenge due to the explosion in energy prices. The decline in the number of clubs observed since 2014 could accelerate.
It remains to be seen whether it will mainly affect small, volunteer-run sports clubs, as the DOSB suspects. In the current crisis, these clubs have shown remarkable cohesion. It is quite possible that athletes, active and passive, will continue to retain their membership, even though hot showers can no longer be taken after sport and the hall used is not closed because of the pandemic, but is hardly heated because of the insanely high gas and oil prices .
It is the big clubs that are suffering the most in the crisis. A membership statistic does not show this. Because the business model of the organizations run by full-time employees, like companies, includes courses and hours offered on a broad front. That doesn’t make them any worse than organizations that only allow members to do sports.
Modernization of sports facilities
But many who regularly buy a ten-card for the gym, who go swimming with the children or book the yoga course, lack the connection to and thus solidarity with the club. If the course fails, they’re gone.
The state is asked to support the country’s sports clubs and thus the self-organization of sport in the crisis. With the gas price brake, it is to be expected that he will not only help citizens and companies, but also sports clubs. In addition, there is the urgently needed energetic renovation and modernization of sports facilities.
A few years ago there was still a prospect of a new Golden Plan. If the program of the Ministry of Construction for buildings for youth and culture should remain, it must not only benefit municipal institutions. Many clubs have taken over sports facilities and large clubs have invested in infrastructure. You relieve the state in its care for exercise and health. They deserve help and not, as was the case in previous years, their disadvantage.
