Why the DFB Foundations are involved
For several years now, the DFB foundations Egidius Braun and Sepp Herberger have been working closely with the German Foundation for Civic Engagement and Volunteer Work (DSEE). When the Ehrentag was launched by the Federal President, the decision was clear for Tobias Wrzesinski, managing director of the two DFB foundations: “Volunteering and soccer are inseparable.”
Over 60,000 soccer games take place every weekend in Germany – made possible by people who referee, organize, bake, drive, comfort, tidy up, or chalk the pitch. They are the foundation of the game and uphold the culture of popular sport.
The DFB foundations therefore play a central role when it comes to promoting engagement.
Focus areas of support
The DFB foundations Egidius Braun and Sepp Herberger, as well as the National Team Foundation, bring their decades of experience and their own funding priorities to the Ehrentag:
DFB foundations Egidius Braun & Sepp Herberger
- Promotion of young volunteer talent
- Support for projects in the area of inclusion
- Support for social initiatives related to soccer
National Team Foundation
- Promotion of volunteers in aid organizations such as food banks and railway station missions
- Support for projects that strengthen social cohesion
Their joint message: Volunteering and civic engagement (not only) support soccer and hold our society together.
An important contribution to the visibility of volunteer work
While public attention in soccer is often focused on the Bundesliga, the DFB foundations deliberately focus on the grassroots—on those who work behind the scenes to ensure that millions of soccer players can practice their sport week after week.
Tobias Wrzesinski emphasizes: “Without volunteers, the ball wouldn’t roll. We constantly ask ourselves: What can we do to support the people who are involved at the grassroots level?”
With their commitment to the Ehrentag, the DFB foundations are helping to shine a spotlight on this often invisible and indispensable work.
Role model and place of learning: What football can contribute
Football has strong, active structures of voluntary commitment—a resource that can also inspire other areas. A culture of recognition, recruiting young talent, and involving young people, women, people with a migration background, or people with disabilities are topics that are already being addressed intensively in football.
At the same time, Wrzesinski emphasizes that volunteering is valuable everywhere – whether on or off the sports field: “Volunteering is always individual and important everywhere.”
Commitment as a way of life – and why more is needed
Over 30 million people volunteer in Germany. But DSEE, the DFB foundations Egidius Braun and Sepp Herberger, and the National Team Foundation want to attract even more people. That’s because many underestimate how much joy and personal enrichment volunteering brings.
The Ehrentag is designed to support precisely that: inviting people to try things out without obligation, get to know local clubs and contribute their own talents.
The role of the National Team Foundation
As a prominent voice in German football, the National Team Foundation is specifically involved in social issues. The focus is also on socially significant institutions such as food banks and railway station missions.
By supporting the Ehrentag, the foundation also aims to strengthen volunteers, who often work unnoticed by the general public and provide indispensable services for the common good.
A common goal: to inspire more people to get involved
The DFB foundations and the National Team Foundation are using their reach, networks, and expertise to give volunteering the stage it deserves. The Ehrentag, which is also financially supported by the foundations, is a new, powerful building block—and a visible sign that soccer and volunteering are inseparable. On and off the field.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
You’d like to support Ehrentag? Get in touch with us!
You’d like to support Ehrentag with your company and your commitment goes beyond a participatory activity? Then we’d love to get to know you! Get in touch via ehrentag@d-s-e-e.de.
