Inga Grabow formulated one of the crucial memorable sentences of the day in Hall 6 of the Congress Centre Hamburg (CCH): ‘Everyone can’t do one thing. That’s why we’re all the identical.’ Together along with her husband Marcel Grabow, she organises and trains the groups of the Ibbenbürener Kickers, an inclusive soccer membership, on a voluntary foundation. Founded 4 years in the past, the membership is open to everybody – no matter age, gender, expertise or background, with or and not using a incapacity and in vibrant blended groups. ‘For us, it’s concerning the expertise, not the end result,’ stated Grabow, summarising the core concept of inclusive soccer to the representatives of the 21 DFB regional associations in attendance.

On that morning on the CCH, the Ibbenbürener Kickers had been one of many golf equipment, alongside SV Werder Bremen, that used the stage on the ‘Inclusion in Football’ workshop initiated by Volkswagen and the German Football Association to offer an perception into their work as an inclusive soccer membership.

DFB Vice President Schaffert needs to advertise visibility for inclusive soccer

In his keynote speech on the alternatives and advantages of inclusion in organised soccer, DFB Vice President Ralph-Uwe Schaffert emphasised simply how vital this work is for soccer to develop its integrative energy: ‘There are a large number of people with disabilities in Germany, whether physical or mental. It is important for these people to be able to participate in sport. As a major sports association with over seven million members, we in particular must set an example here.’ He believes it to be essential to take a look at the subject with a potential-orientated somewhat than a ‘deficit-orientated view’. A key query might be: ‘What can people who join a club with a disability do even better than people without a disability?’ Even if there are obstacles in on a regular basis membership and affiliation life because of personnel, infrastructural or monetary conditions, makes an attempt ought to be made to beat these preliminary obstacles.

The Sepp Herberger Foundation, which Schaffert additionally chairs, exists throughout the DFB to advertise and organise handicap soccer in Germany and to offer it a house in organised sport. Wheelchair, deaf and blind footballers in addition to sheltered-workshop- and amputee gamers can all be discovered beneath its umbrella.

The lighthouse tasks embody the annual Football Inclusion Days, which might be held as soon as once more this yr from 10 to 12 May at Roncalliplatz in Cologne, along with the German Football League for the Blind, which was based in 2008 and is the one one among its form in Europe. The UEFA EURO 2024 can also be for use for handicap soccer, Schaffert revealed in Hamburg: ‘We are planning so-called “inclusion days light” for all host cities in order to reach a wider audience.’

HSV President Jansen: Inclusion not a advertising and marketing instrument

Professional soccer might present a tailwind for extra visibility in inclusive soccer. Marcell Jansen additionally agreed with this. In the panel dialogue ‘The role of Inclusive Football from the Perspective of Professional Clubs, Companies and Associations’, the president of Hamburger SV admitted: ‘As a Bundesliga club, whether in the premier or first division, we could certainly go one better and, for example, increase visibility in the run-up to professional matches.’

In normal, the subject of inclusion is changing into more and more vital throughout the golf equipment. For instance, HSV has been providing amputee soccer since 2021 and just lately included a match day within the West Curve Championship, the championship of HSV followers with over 60 groups. At the identical time, nevertheless, Jansen warned towards utilizing the subject of inclusion for false promoting functions. When requested whether or not inclusion contributes to the model of an expert membership, he answered clearly: ‘As a club, you have to have the basic conviction that you are committed to inclusion. This is not a marketing tool, but a self-image.’

A self-determined life for individuals with disabilities

Volkswagen has additionally taken up the reason for supporting soccer in all its range, from the grassroots to the highest – and underpins this with numerous communication campaigns, amongst different issues. For instance, a social media sequence on the subject of integration was just lately produced beneath the hashtag #einfußball concerning the soccer membership Türkiyemspor Berlin 1978. This is precisely what it’s all about, stated Sandra Waidelich, Head of Marketing & Sales Experience Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, throughout the SPOBIS spherical desk: ‘It doesn’t matter whether or not they’re individuals with or with out disabilities, the place they arrive from, what their sexual orientation is or what their non secular beliefs are.’ Her firm has ‘a social attitude and we want to convey this to the outside world’.

In addition to the DFB partnership, the Group is subsequently additionally a accomplice of the Sepp Herberger Foundation and the Football Inclusion Days. ‘We are a mobility provider and want to play our part in enabling people with disabilities to lead a self-determined life,’ emphasised Waidelich.

At the centre of society

Alexander Fangmann introduced a unique however crucial side to the controversy on inclusive soccer. In the view of the record-breaking participant of the nationwide Blind Football staff, golf equipment and associations mustn’t simply ask themselves what they’ll do to assist individuals with disabilities. Rather, they need to take into account what occurs to a membership when members now not discover appropriate programmes and go away the membership. Because, for instance, the enjoyable of sport is misplaced as a result of strain to carry out. Inclusive sport presents an amazing alternative not solely to draw members, but in addition to retain them.

In Hamburg, it as soon as once more turned clear that inclusion and variety are important for sustainable success in soccer. And in enterprise, too.