Uli Hoeneß: ‘For a society that moves’

FC Bayern is making a lasting contribution to the City of Munich's project to turn the Old Botanical Gardens into a “space for everyone”, with a donation of €50,000 from FC Bayern Hilfe eV as well as extensive support from the physical activity programme for schools and the German record champion's ‘Red against Racism’ initiative. “We are delighted that FC Bayern is once again actively involved in this project for Munich's urban society. It's all about attitude and commitment,” said club honorary president Uli Hoeneß as he joined Mayor Dieter Reiter, police commissioner Thomas Hampel and Andreas Voelmle, board member of the Dominik Brunner Foundation, to open a small football pitch made possible by FC Bayern Hilfe eV as well as an urban skate spot and a streetball pitch on the neighbouring Karl-Stützel-Platz.

Hoeneß, who is also on the board of FC Bayern Hilfe eV, took the opportunity to explain how the project fits in with the club's existing initiatives: “The aim of our physical activity programme for schools, in this case in collaboration with Luisengymnasium, is, like our ‘Red against Racism’ initiative, to bring people together, revitalise public spaces and create access to sport and encounters for everyone. Especially in today's world, it is also increasingly important that we take a stand against discrimination of all kinds with initiatives such as ‘Red against Racism’. What we need is a society that moves - physically and mentally.”

Bayern's physical activity programme is supported by members of the club who volunteer their time. Anyone interested can contact packmas@fcbayern.com for more information. In the case of the Old Botanical Gardens, an open sports course with the central theme of ‘Sport for all’ is planned for local residents in line with ‘Space for all’, as the club and the city want to work together to create spaces for sport and socialising. The aim is to create a weekly outdoor training session under the guidance of volunteer coaches, trainers and other committed people from the Bayern cosmos that is inclusive and available to all people in the neighbourhood and beyond, regardless of age, origin or fitness level.

Reiter is very pleased that “together we have succeeded in making the Old Botanical Garden safer and usable for the people of Munich,” having been in dialogue with president Herbert Hainer and Hoeneß right at the start of the project. With measures such as the pruning of trees, better lighting, increased deployment of police and video surveillance, the situation is “as it should be, with people enjoying spending time here again and feeling safe.

“To keep it that way, we have created attractive new sports facilities with FC Bayern and the Dominik Brunner Foundation. This tour de force was only possible because many players pulled together. That's why I'm delighted that Uli Hoeneß was also present at the opening alongside many others.” Voelmle from the Dominik Brunner Foundation added: “We want to flank the sporting fair play in the park with our offer of free civil courage seminars for the neighbouring schools. To this end, we offer both the new courses organised by our support association in the classes and training courses for teachers.”

The first athletes tested the football pitch immediately at the opening tournament, in which 18 teams will take part in the coming weeks. FC Bayern will be on site at the matches on 19 July with a ‘Red against Racism’ stand to raise awareness of the topic of diversity with various activities such as the specially developed quiz. The sports facilities, which the state capital was able to build with the support of FC Bayern Hilfe eV, the Dominik Brunner Foundation and the special ‘Inner Cities Revitalise’ fund from the State Ministry of Housing, Construction and Transport, are available to all citizens free of charge. The small football pitch made of artificial turf, the urban skate spot and the streetball pitch are new leisure facilities in the city centre.

Young coaches were recently able to take part in the Dirk Nowitzki Foundation's GameChanger programme at the FC Bayern Campus: