The Weilheim gymnastics and sports club (TSV) invited a number of entrepreneurs to breakfast on Friday and asked them for financial support in this sociable gathering.
Weilheim – Because an urgently needed new hall is expected to cost more than ten million euros and, according to chairman Björn Bartnik, will lead to “sport becoming significantly more expensive”. The mood in the 22 departments is tense, because everyone wants to ensure that their members have the best possible training time and as much training time as possible. “But we can’t do that given the limited capacities,” said Bartnik, describing the precarious situation to the listeners. His suggestion: You should advertise on the TSV website or support it in various campaigns to collect donations.
Entrepreneurs’ breakfast at TSV Weilheim – the club needs more space
The sports club, founded in 1847, is the second oldest in Bavaria and currently has around 4,800 members, almost half of whom are children and young people. More than 300 trainers work on a voluntary basis in eight different, partly dilapidated sports facilities, while the office in Weilheim is staffed by full-time staff.
The current problem: Members aged two to 100 need more space to practice their numerous sports, from aikido and fencing to basketball and badminton to athletics and rugby. “There are numerous waiting lists for our children’s groups,” said the chairman, but this is not due to a lack of trainers, but rather to insufficient hall capacity. The situation is particularly difficult for the basketball players: They played sports in the old Weilheim high school hall until it was demolished. But while the new high school hall is being built, there is no replacement hall, which is why the basketball players have to change their training location regularly. “In addition, we are only guests in all the halls that we currently use.” Because the buildings belong to either the district or the city. “We now have special software and our own place for hall logistics,” said Bartnik during a tour of the sports center on Pollinger Strasse.
There is also a fitness studio there with which the club wants to generate more income through extended opening hours. The money is urgently needed because the subsidies from the district and the city of Weilheim will probably no longer flow at the usual level in the future. “In the worst case scenario, we will face additional costs of 400,000 euros per year,” fears the TSV boss; He is a management consultant himself and wants to make the association more professional and economical. However, the amount of work that a purely voluntary board of directors can hardly manage.
A fundraising gala in the middle of the year brought in around 90,000 euros into the cash-strapped coffers. Other ideas for creating enough reserves for the ambitious hall project include, for example, a holiday sports camp for young people next year, renting it out to schools or an event location. In addition, the Weilheim entrepreneurs could help sport gain a positive image in the public eye. The city of Weilheim has already promised the TSV a place for the planned new sports hall – Björn Bartnik did not want to reveal where exactly at breakfast; However, he was not entirely satisfied with the possible location.
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