World-class training for world-class, that was once: Manfred Kokot (r.) wins the 100 meters at the 1976 sports festival
The German University of Physical Culture (DHfK) began teaching on October 22, 1950, and in 1990 the end of this world-class institution was sealed. Quite a few people said it was an “unforgivable mistake” at the time. The Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI), which was then responsible for competitive sports, consistently ignored their voices. Likewise the Saxon state government, which also gave the thumbs down. The need for well-trained coaches is now so great that Eric Frenzel, a former world-class athlete, is allowed to work as a national coach in the Nordic Combined despite not having a professional qualification. Previously a no-go. Today an expression of a situation that caused the Saxon Free State to do a somersault backwards and paved the way for a DHfK in bonsai format. The new course of study for trainers is now scheduled to start under the roof of the sports science faculty at the University of Leipzig, probably at the beginning of the winter semester of 2025 – almost exactly 75 years after the DHfK was founded.
On the way to the “little renaissance,” a non-public expert hearing took place at the end of March to determine the newcomer’s profile more precisely. There have been discussions about this in the Free State between ministries, universities, the State Sports Association (LSB), the Olympic Training Center (OSP) and sports scientists for two years. “The constellation after the preliminary discussions was a bit like that of chicken and egg,” explains Falk Lange from the press office of the leading science ministry in Dresden jW-Inquiry. »As long as there is no reliable concept, we cannot make any final decisions about financial and human resources. And as long as it is not clear what staff and money is available, questions remain about the specific design of the course of study.
It is clear that a three-year academic, but at the same time very practical, training is planned, with a basic course and subsequent specialization in individual sports. You could start with up to 30 students, according to the motto: Make an offer first and adjust it when the number of applicants is high enough. It is important for Falk Lange to emphasize that the development of the new course in Leipzig is now being pursued “largely autonomously”. This increases the chances of also integrating the staff from the neighboring Institute for Applied Training Science (IAT) into future teaching operations. The institute, which is closely linked to top-class sport, is located just a stone’s throw from the university’s sports campus.
For Professor Lutz Nordmann, head of the coaching academy (TA) of the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) in Cologne, a thorough needs analysis was first needed. “It is important to train in a targeted and tailor-made manner.” Normally it should be the case that organized sport in the form of the DOSB would have to announce precisely how many trainers are needed and where, in order to answer the question of how and where this can be achieved on this basis is. »But that’s exactly what hasn’t worked for over 30 years. The new course of study certainly won’t change anything significantly,” said the former DHfK graduate jW. In the latest draft of a competitive sports law, the coaches and their worries and needs are not mentioned at all. Let alone the reference to a “coaching gap” that is yawning open. Four years ago it was already clear that in the entire German sports system, almost half of the almost 3,500 trainers financed by the federal, state or Bundeswehr are over 50 years old. Every year around 120 of them have to be replaced to compensate for age-related departures.
How is this supposed to succeed if TA, as the only real training center for this professional group, only sends out 30 graduates into practice every year? The majority are delegates from their associations who have been delegated to this course and for whom positions have already been reserved, so to speak. This is exactly what the TA director, who will be retiring on May 31st, understands by “perfect fit”, while the coaching course in Leipzig relies on the classic application and, after graduation, on the regulations of the “free market”. Lutz Nordmann definitely accepts this model as a supplement to the TA. Simply because it promises a generally recognized academic degree, while its TA graduates can only bring their diploma to bachelor’s format with outside help and cooperation, such as courses at the Baunatal Vocational Academy or the Saarbrücken University for Prevention and Health.
“We are constantly dependent on these vehicles, which is embarrassing,” says the outgoing TA director angrily. Despite having a university degree, the “Leipzig Way” is hardly suitable for tackling the problem with the athletes’ most important partners in an energetic and timely manner. Instead of being “petitioners to the universities”, sport and especially the DOSB should focus on its own strengths and promote original trainer training “in-house”. “In my opinion, both models have their advantages and they complement each other,” says Christian Dahms, general manager of the LSB Sachsen based in Leipzig. “The most important thing is that politicians are aware of the problem of trainers and their training.”
