© FC Bayern
FC Bayern celebrated its 125th birthday at Munich's Nockherberg this year - so it was a special and fitting location to organise an exclusive ‘Meet the president’ event for young people from the TEENS CLUB. The club attaches great importance to its history and yet always has one eye on the future, said Herbert Hainer as part of the discussion. The event was consciously scheduled during the run up to the Annual General Meeting on 2 November (start: 10:30 CET) because members are only able to participate in that event from the age of 18. "It's important to us to include the perspective of young members," said Hainer. "We wanted to collate the concerns and opinions of the younger generation before the AGM so that we could incorporate them."
TEENS CLUB member Simon had travelled from Kaiserslautern especially for the ‘Meet the president’ event and was thrilled: "It's just great that we have the chance to get involved in the conversation with the president - FC Bayern really is a family. This club has been an important part of my life for as long as I can remember." Lisa-Marie told us in her endearing Bavarian dialect that she had already made many friends through the German record champions' TEENS CLUB: "And it was great how openly Herbert Hainer discussed our concerns with us today."
Teenagers as the "future of our organisation and our society"
Teenagers are "the future of the club and our society", the president explained to the young people at the start of the panel discussion moderated by FCB managing directors Benny Folkmann and Kiki Hasenpusch. "Young people have new ideas, a different perspective on things - we're happy to have their input. I always take a lot back to Säbener Straße from events like this." Hainer added that it’s important to him "that FC Bayern is a home for everyone, for kids, teenagers and our silver generation - and through our formats such as our TEENS CLUB, our volunteer programme ‘PACK MA’S’ (Let’s do this) and our 'ZAM AKTIV' (active together) exercise programme at schools and daycare centres, we offer everyone the opportunity to get involved."
© FC Bayern
The 20 young people, who were drawn by lot and had previously worked with FCB staff members Manuel Bisenius, Emil Piening and Joel Prosenbauer on the content of the TEENS CLUB, asked the president everything they wanted to know during the hour-long discussion, from personal issues, transfers and ticketing to women's football and the club's social commitment, including the topic of inclusion, which is very close to Hainer's heart.
Regarding their professional careers, the president's advice to everyone was: "Do what fulfils you, what you enjoy. For example, it fills me with pride every day to be able to work as president of FC Bayern." The event was rounded off with plenty of opportunities for photos.