In 2004, the Budo-Club Mühlheim was the first winner of the “Stars of Sports” – in the meantime, the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) has distributed more than eight million euros to popular sports clubs. Clubs with good ideas can now apply again.
Thomas Hofmann can still remember well what it was like in the spring of 2004. He went to the Frankfurt Ball Sports Hall with half a dozen club colleagues, because his Hessian Budo Club Mühlheim was one of three prizewinners at the first edition of the “Stars of the Sports” has been nominated.
It wasn’t a long way for the Hessian judoka – everyone was actually looking forward to a slightly different goal. “We all wanted to go to Berlin for the award ceremony, but then the event was moved to our neighborhood at short notice and we were admittedly a little disappointed,” remembers Hofmann, who heads the disabled sports department in the Mühlheim club.
Disappointment turned into excitement
The disappointment among the Mühlheimers soon turned into enthusiasm: it turned out in the course of the evening that Hofmann and his colleagues made it big: they won “The Great Star in Gold”, first place. “For us, of course, it was a huge thing – we were totally in the spotlight.”recalls Hofmann. “Dieter Kürten and Frank Busemann were the moderators. When they called us the overall winners, we were really floored”, so Hofmann.
The Mühlheimers were the first winners in the “stars”. The jury was completely won over by her concept, initiated in 1998, of installing an inclusion group for disabled and non-disabled people in the club. And the award once again provided a good boost for the club. “We got a lot of visitors, the interest in our club was suddenly huge”recalls Hofmann.
12,000 euros in the travel fund
The Mühlheimers won around 12,000 euros in prize money – money that the club could use very well. It flowed directly into the athletes’ previously chronically empty travel budget. “We always had and still have the problem with our inclusion group that our potential competitions and events take place all over Germany. In the past, we often simply stayed overnight in the gyms – but with the money we were then able to at least occasionally spend the night in hotels for distant events organize for our athletes”, so Hofmann.
Ten years after the Mühlheimers, TSV Schott Mainz was happy about first place and “gold”. The children’s sports academy of the association (KiSA), which focuses on the holistic promotion of physical activity in the youngest from the age of three, was awarded. Because the “street play culture” among the kids has decreased significantly today, the natural coordination training suffers – this is counteracted in Mainz with the KiSA.
Exercise and nutrition – TSV Schott Mainz takes care of that
In the meantime, another focus has been placed on knowledge transfer in nutritional issues. “Especially during and after Corona, we noticed a blatant lack of exercise coupled with unhealthy eating behavior even in the youngest ones,” explains Silke Wernet, press officer of the association. She also reports a “boost” that winning the prize ten years ago triggered in the club. “As the mother of a child, I was affected myself at the time, because I initially only got a place for my son at the very end of the long waiting list at KiSa due to the large number of people in the club.”she remembers.
The “Stars of Sports” are awarded annually according to a pyramid-like system to grassroots sports clubs that have a sustainable impact. Particularly good ideas and extraordinary commitment of the clubs, which are usually organized on a voluntary basis, are rewarded. It shouldn’t be about “higher, faster, further”, but about values such as fairness, tolerance, responsibility or climate protection. The focus is on the social commitment of the sports clubs and the merit of their volunteers.
Chances of winning on three levels
Participating clubs can win on three levels. At regional level there is up to 2,000 euros for the club treasury, at state level 2,500 euros, and a cash prize of 10,000 euros awaits the national winner. With first place at regional level, the winner automatically qualifies for the state final – whoever wins here is in the national final in Berlin.
Winner 2022: FC Internationale Berlin
The competition is now entering its 20th year. In 2023, around 87,000 clubs in Germany can apply to the “Stars of Sports” with special examples of their social commitment. The competition, jointly organized by the DOSB and the Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken, welcomes applications that can be submitted for the current round by June 30, 2023.
Apply from summer for 2024
For example, we are looking for initiatives in the areas of education and qualifications, health, integration and inclusion, climate protection, digitization, democracy promotion or membership recruitment. The finalists can expect an honor at the highest level at the award ceremony for the “Big Star of Sports in Gold” in Berlin in January 2024.
The application phase for the 2024 competition will then start seamlessly on July 1, 2023 and end on June 30, 2024. With this regulation, the participating sports clubs can submit their applications all year round.