Teamsport Germany is the institutionalized interest group of the five largest German team sports associations, which is actively committed to improving the sporting, political and economic framework conditions for team sports. Teamsport Germany was founded in March 2017. The members include the German Basketball Association (DBB), the Deutscher Eishockey-Bund (DEB), the German Football Association (DFB), the German Handball Association (DHB) and the German Volleyball Association (DVV). Thomas Willenbacher is the head of the capital office of Teamsport Deutschland and, as a representative of interests, was in constant dialogue with politicians after the outbreak of the Corona pandemic in order to argue for the interests of the team sports associations. In an interview with deb-online.de, he explains the importance of the Teamsport Deutschland association.
deb-online.de: "It is now exactly one year since the Corona aid for professional sports was approved. What is the review of this phase of dialogue up to the approval?"
Thomas Willenbacher (Head of the Capital City Office for Team Sports in Germany): “Overall positive. Team sports Germany began discussions with politicians very early on after it became clear that the pandemic would lead to significant restrictions in team sports or that sport would come to a complete standstill. We have held regular discussions with the Budget Committee and the BMI, including with the Federal Minister of the Interior Horst Seehofer. Ultimately, the budget committee decided on Corona aid for professional sports and the BMI implemented this in the equity guidelines. At the same time, internal collaboration within team sports must also be emphasized. We developed common positions in regular meetings and always spoke with one voice. This approach has shown how much we can achieve together when we work together.”
deb-online.de: “In September, the third leagues outside of football were also included in the package. What was the decisive factor here? What influence did the work of the Teamsport Germany alliance have in this phase?”
Willenbacher: “What was crucial was that we were able to prove that the third leagues can also be classified as professional sports and that there were also significant loss of spectators here. Just that one DEB promoted this with Franz Reindl and also showed in our internal meetings how professionally the clubs in the 3rd league and upper league work and how impressively high the number of spectators are. This meant that Teamsport Germany was able to provide these facts to political decision-makers and quickly received support. At the same time, the pot for Corona aid for professional sports was also increased - another positive signal from politicians that they expressly wanted to help us and still want to.
deb-online.de: “What is the current status of Corona aid for professional sports?”
Willenbacher: "As announced, the federal government has now extended the Corona aid for professional sports until December 31.12.2021, 325. This year, the aid program has a volume of around 75 million euros and even exceeds the amount that can be claimed by those entitled to apply by several times. Around XNUMX million euros have been paid out so far this year and last year it was a similar amount."
deb-online.de: “Why is Teamsport Deutschland as an association so important for the individual team sports associations?”
Willenbacher: “Especially initially because – just like in a team – you are stronger together than alone. The associations that form Teamsport Germany share common challenges. We bundle these together and translate them into political positions. Apart from the currently prevailing topic of Corona, these include, for example, the framework conditions for major international sporting events, elite sports reform, sports facility infrastructure or the strengthening of volunteer work. Teamsport Germany represents around 8,5 million members in over 38.000 clubs with around 150.000 teams in organized sports. This means we represent over a third of all memberships in the DOSB – that has political weight.”
deb-online.de: “What can Teamsport Germany contribute on the way out of the pandemic, what is the focus for the next few months?”
Willenbacher: “In the coming months, we will primarily work on paving the way back to a certain level of normality and of course hope that this will work with the “three Gs” – those who have been vaccinated, those who have recovered and those who have been tested. The focus is of course on ensuring that sport can take place again normally and with as few restrictions as possible - that is what we are committed to in politics. This also means that competitions with spectators can take place - in professional as well as in popular and young talent sports. In addition, we will continue to closely monitor the extension of the Corona aid for professional sports and provide the clubs with advice and support, as a complete return of spectators to the halls may not yet be expected.
deb-online.de: “How is the cooperation between the associations going and how was and is the input from ice hockey to be evaluated?”
Willenbacher: “The collaboration is characterized by great solidarity and mutual respect. The Corona crisis has also shown this; even in difficult phases that were very demanding for everyone, we successfully stayed true to this path. Our shareholders' meeting takes place twice a year, where we discuss our topics and positions in a large group with the presidents and general secretaries or chairmen of the board. The DEB is an important driver and supporter of Teamsport Germany and always provides us with important information and actively supports us in finding and formulating our political positions.”
deb-online.de: “Did Teamsport Deutschland always have the bigger picture in mind or was the focus primarily on professional sport?”
Willenbacher: “No, the task of Teamsport Germany is to keep an eye on the whole thing - according to the member associations, who also always keep an eye on their sports from the grassroots to the top. Professional and elite sport is of course an important pillar in sports development. The national players are recruited from here and the professionals are driving forces and role models in the respective team sports. However, we have worked intensively to ensure that popular and youth sports can take place again. We first had to prioritize in order to avert the greatest economic damage and avoid bankruptcies. At the same time, we saw the danger that without regular young talent sports, members would be lost and the further development of the sports would therefore be jeopardized. “We therefore campaigned for exceptions to the corona restrictions in the youth and young talent competitive sports sector at both the Sports Ministers’ Conference and the Prime Minister’s Conference.”