Since the end of May, a new trio has been leading the fortunes of the Groß-Karben gymnastics community. In that six months they turned a lot of things upside down and optimized things. And we have further plans for the future of the Karbener club.
“We need you! – Things are getting tight on the board!” could be read on posters and banners from the Groß-Karben gymnastics community everywhere in Karben in the summer of 2024. The board used unconventional means to find new board members inside and outside the traditional club. He called on all adults among the club members to become active and get involved in the club’s leadership. And he also published the search for volunteers who were willing to take on responsibility on social media and in the local press.
After initial difficulties, the search was crowned with success. At the general meeting on May 27th, the new elections of the board and members of the association council were among the top topics. The previous executive board with chairman Martin Menn, his deputy Dieter Kaltwasser and board member Natalja Grauberger no longer ran. Maximilian Maier was elected as the new chairman. His deputy is Stefan Polster. Milos Radojevic completes the new management trio as a further board member responsible primarily for process optimization and digitalization. Martin Menn, who was chairman of the gymnastics community for 26 years, was elected treasurer.
The new board trio had no time to get used to the job. There were numerous competitions, tournaments and visits coming up. These included, among other things, the Hesse championships and the German championships in the sport of ring tennis as well as the visit of the South African national team. The board members are all active in sports and are new citizens.
Sporty and newly added
Maier has lived in Karben since 2016, jogs and plays ring tennis. He had read the calls in the newspaper. His deputy has been living in Karben with his family for four years and keeps fit by playing badminton. His wife, who is the training manager at TG, informed him about the board search. Radojevic has also been a Karbener for four years and came into contact with the club through his children. His wife read the advertisement in the newspaper and encouraged the volleyball player to take on responsibility in the club.
The “new ones” have a lot to do with administration alone. In the TG, 850 members are active in sports in eight departments, plus 600 citizens from Karben and the surrounding area who take advantage of the club’s health sports offerings based on a doctor’s prescription. Your participation is not associated with membership in the club. “There is great demand and therefore queues in the rehabilitation sports area and in children’s gymnastics. The reasons are the lack of hall capacity and trainers,” says Maier.
In addition to his job and volunteer work, Polster is also training to become a club manager. Topics include employee management, apps such as payment and crowdfunding. “We want to make membership in the TG more attractive, offer more events, and all divisions should show more presence,” explains the trio. So they invited people to the exercise jungle again in October, will have a stand in front of the community center at the Christmas market and invite you to visit the “Winterwonderland” in front of the sports hall at the park from December 9th to January 4th, 2026. Here, visitors can do laps on the ice rink, rent skates if necessary, and enjoy hot drinks, sausages and crepes. “School classes have registered and want to hold their Christmas party at the ice rink,” says Polster.
The Winter Wonderland post alone increased TG’s reach on social media by 2,267 percent. Collaborations with daycare centers and schools are also planned, and the TG wants to launch fundraising campaigns. “We are a club and not a service provider. We offer our members more than just sport.”
Radojevic has many construction sites. He is in the process of optimizing internal club processes, digitizing and rethinking processes. The aim is to relieve trainers and those responsible so that they have to invest less time in administration and have more time for their sport.
One of the board’s first successes is that by optimizing insurance and contracts, it was able to permanently save a five-figure amount per year while simultaneously increasing benefits. “In addition, all payments are now possible digitally,” informs Radojevic. And adds: “A lot of things are already in place, the effort in day-to-day business alone in the areas of employee administration, contribution collection and the more than 80 trainer statements is lower. What used to take two employees two days is now all it takes at the push of a button. The basis has been completely digitalized.”
Support desired
The accounting software is currently being converted; AI tools are being used, among other things, and there are interfaces to the tax advisor. The billing with the health insurance companies will soon be changed, a new website with a members’ area will be created, and instead of the club newspaper “TG-Zett”, which was published three times a year, there will now be a newsletter several times.
The three board members are satisfied with what has been achieved so far and would like the support of members, employees and trainers in implementing all tasks and goals. By Christine Fauerbach
Worth a look
