Janis Bach did not have a quiet summer

Göttingen. His job description is long, his to-do list is even longer: Janis Bach is responsible for three areas at BG Göttingen: merchandising, ticketing and match day organization. A busy period lies behind him, as there have been serious changes in every area in recent months. We met him before the violets’ first Bundesliga home game on Sunday (3 p.m.) against the Rostock Seawolves.

“Actually, the summer months are the time to work off what has been left undone,” says the 29-year-old, who is still unfamiliar with the word “routine” in his job. In autumn 2021, after completing his bachelor’s degree in sociology and social and business psychology at the University of Göttingen, he did an internship for three months at the basketball Bundesliga club because he wanted to get to know the club. When he had just started another internship at the beginning of this year, the call came from BG Managing Director Frank Meinertshagen – and the job offer.

“I knew what I was getting myself into”

The previous holder of the post, Jonas Friedrich, wanted to change careers and needed a successor. And because Bach was already familiar with the profession, he was offered the position. “I didn’t have to think long because I really enjoyed the internship. And of course I knew what I was getting myself into.” It was also a good fit privately, he had just moved in with his girlfriend Josephine Thoms and both had gotten their bitch Luna, an animal welfare dog from Romania.

On February 1, he was a permanent employee and was trained by Friedrich for another month. Then, between March 6th and May 1st, eight home games followed in nine weeks. The baptism of fire for the new match day organizer. Worse was to come, but that wasn’t foreseeable at the time.

Supplier change runs silently

During the summer break, BG Göttingen changed suppliers. “It was still work-related,” says Bach. The new partner “Macron”, based in Bologna, Italy, proved to be very reliable and well organized. “I had a German-speaking contact person and got answers to my questions very quickly,” says Bach. He had to organize the equipment for the professionals and the youth teams, the travel equipment, the jersey design and the so-called “team wear” that is sold in the fan shop. “It all went very quietly,” says the former soccer and tennis player, who got to know basketball better while playing with friends on the open-air court at the Max-Planck-Gymnasium in Göttingen.

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On the other hand, changing the ticket provider was more complicated. “So much has to be organized in the background with the customer data so that, for example, the fans don’t even notice when they book their season ticket that there have been changes,” explains Bach. “Many things were completely different – from the bookings in the backend to new printers, ticket sleeves and scanners at the entrance.” It was like learning “how to start an airplane”. But he also got help here directly from the provider “eventimsports”. “And all my colleagues helped me where they could,” said the newcomer, who received support from the entire team.

Changes to the hall are only “peanuts” in comparison

And then came the “little thing with the bombs,” says Bach with a wink. After the bombs were defuse at the end of July, it was clear that the soundings would continue and that gaming operations in the Sparkassen-Arena were in danger. The search for indoor alternatives and the two-pronged planning with the ice rink in Kassel as an alternative began. The day before the representatives of the basketball league and the television wanted to take a look at the situation on site, the relieving news came that it was possible to play in Göttingen.

“I was only able to plan, but I couldn’t change anything about the situation,” says the 29-year-old, describing the time of waiting. He was “super happy” that the Sparkassen-Arena remained the venue. “Then all the changes we had to make – from relocating the entrances to new locations for counters and merchandising – were just a small problem in relation to that, basically peanuts.”

For Bach, the tasks of organizing the match day include booking the hotel rooms for the referees, making arrangements with the medical service and fire protection guard, coordinating the training dates for the opposing team, organizing the evening box office, filling the refereeing panel from a pool of qualified license holders, and reception of the TV team six hours before the tip-off and of course the construction and dismantling of the hall.

“The matchdays are long – and they would be even longer if not so many volunteers lent a hand with set-up and tear-down. Jonas Friedrich did a great job, I’ll proof it,” says Bach, who in retrospect describes the summer with its three construction sites as “extraordinary”. “It was just a lot now. It will probably never be like this again.” There is a lot of hope in this sentence.