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Jessica Sturmberg: How does “connected sport” work?
Tommy Wheeler: From an economic point of view like a consulting company. From the social perspective, Alba Berlin acts in a marketplace of experiences and ideas together with all sports clubs that turn to the German basketball champion. So far, for example, Brose Bamberg from the basketball Bundesliga and Werder Bremen, the returnee to the soccer Bundesliga – plus many amateur clubs. This happens first via a phone call or an email. And then Alba’s Vice President Henning Harnisch and his team get in touch with the interested party.
This means that the former basketball professional drives to the club in question alone or with colleagues, has an initial conversation, and then at some point there is an initial event where you introduce yourself and then try to start walking. That means you contact local politicians, authorities, daycare centers, schools, social organizations, whereby Alba is always available with advice and action with his expertise, but of course also the other clubs that are already there.
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Sturmberg: This concept requires many actors to participate. How open is the situation on the part of the municipalities and schools?
Wheeler: It always depends on the position and acceptance of the clubs in their region and community. But I spoke to the older Cassel gymnastics community from 1848, for example, and they are very well known in the Kassel area. A multi-sector association that is well networked, but also appears in public again and again, for example at family network meetings, district working groups and other events. This means that the clubs must of course also be proactive. Like Alba in Berlin, the association now works with numerous day-care centers and schools.
17 locations so far
Sturmberg: Alba Berlin is a Berlin club and has been known for years for its commitment, especially in socially disadvantaged districts, that’s a concept that should catch on, where else does it exist?
Wheeler: There are currently 17 locations across Germany, three of which are in Berlin. But since the initiative has only been around for a good year, it will certainly continue to grow. Something was definitely created that Igor Riyabinin, Alba’s head of social affairs and sustainability, who helped develop the project, described to me as a new sporting idea for Germany. Under the title: “How do you get started in sport?” with the aim of being a citizen of sport, i.e. doing sport for a lifetime. Voluntarily of course.
This is what Alba’s Vice President Henning Harnisch stands for, for whom no journey is too far to make this project known or to draw the attention of responsible persons to it. Incidentally, also with the approach of networking and coordinating with social organizations that use sport for their work.
Sturmberg: And the whole thing is not just for the young generation, i.e. children and young people, but should it include all age groups?
Wheeler: This project is aimed primarily at children and young people. But it’s not the case that you only want to work with sports clubs, but also with sports associations, with daycare centers, with local schools and with many other social organizations too. Ultimately, one would like to set up a large project for Germany as a whole, where one day the DOSB could possibly come into play, which is primarily concerned with top-class sport.
So you have a vision at Alba, you’ve had it for a long time. And that’s what you want: In the next few years, to make this “Sport networked” project a big idea for popular sport in Germany.
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