Dear members of the association,
sports enthusiasts,
Dear Lunzenauer,

Just a month ago, we reported on our successes in 2020 with our information circular here in the Official Journal, outlined an outlook for the club year 2021 and announced further improvements to our association's work.

Already today, we want to follow our words with action and bring to life the promised ‘interview series’.

The sports club Fortschritt Lunzenau in conversation with its department heads:

Today: Jens Schindler, table tennis department

Hi Jens, introduce yourself to our readers and describe your career in our sports club:

‘My name is Jens Schindler, I was born in Hartmannsdorf in 1964 and I have been living in Lunzenauer since 1985. I'm sure many of you know me because I was a caretaker at school. I also worked at the local paper mill. Since 1995 I feel like I belong to the sports club, but I have not been a member of the club from the beginning. I am happy to remember my time together with club founder Siegfried Berthold and Dietmar Kühn. This sense of belonging was already conditioned by the association membership of my children at that time and was strengthened in 2010. This was done, among other things, by means of a newspaper article on the topic of table tennis in the SVFL. This was followed by my membership in the club and playing my active table tennis. This was during the period of responsibility of the then head of department, Ronny Kühn. A good four years later, I took over the position of head of department. Today, in addition to being head of department, I am also a trainer and a ‘girl for everything’ – and I am happy and happy to do so.”

This means that we are already with your department, which is ‘still’ at home in the gym on Altenburger Straße, which, due to the coronavirus outbreak, has not yet been able to hold the planned ‘Tischtennisturnier für allemann’ (table tennis tournament for everyone) and has a club honorary member and original rock in its ranks with Peter Wolf. Describe the ‘now’ of your table tennis team:

‘Then I would first like to mention the names of Hans-Jürgen Misch and Bernd Nienhold in addition to honorary member and original rock Peter Wolf. At the beginning of the 1980s, these three founded the department in the school gymnasium and are all still active today. I would also like to comment on our ‘home’ in the gym on Altenburger Straße. The ‘still’ can be seen in relation to the new multifunctional building. As a department, we have very much loved our current venue, 6 records can be placed and played on – and everyone wants to play at the same time during training. Presenting yourself in the new building is not easy for everyone at the moment. On the sporting part: We do not have any junior concerns, but we are looking forward to every new interested party. We are more than satisfied with the sporting development. Achieved individual and youth championships make us very proud!”

Right after the question: Where do you see the table tennis department in the future, maybe in 2 years?

‘In the first League of Circles. We want to and will do that. Our teams will by no means be basement children in the current occupation. In the field of youth, we want and will continue to build on the successes already achieved. Names such as Max Sitte, Jannes Lange and Pascal Ramm symbolize this. We want to have kept or increased the number of members of about 25 so far, the inclusion of table tennis enthusiastic athletes, including from a migrant background, is and should continue to be a practice. The mix of young and old, from 10 to 80 years, will hopefully remain. But maybe then we will have a bigger share of female players.”

The board wants to accompany you on this path, create the necessary framework conditions for further development, say support and, of course, stay in conversation on a regular basis. So Jens, hand on heart: What have you always wanted to tell your board?

"Oh, yes, my wishes and those of my boys – albeit with small "holpries" – have all come true. I didn't think it would all go so fast. I am thinking of the purchase of the new table tennis tables. Even today I still see the emotional picture of the appearance of our team in uniform jerseys in Hartmannsdorf before my mind's eye. With such a positive experience, of course, the eyes of a department manager sparkle. The regular meetings of the department heads with the board are okay. So I am very satisfied at the moment.”

This form of communication and then also public is also new territory for us. We are happy about this format and are also proud of the idea. So we want to give you the opportunity to answer a question that has not been asked at all:

‘I have a question: When can we play in the new multifunctional building? And if so, how many at the same time??? (Jens himself had to laugh here)’

The interviewer immediately passed this question on to our President Tommy Haeder. Here is his answer:

"In principle, we are currently really happy to see that the initial plans are now turning the new multifunctional building into reality with the start of construction. Completion is planned for early summer 2022. With the expansion of the club home, the new covered spectator terrace with sales container, a new seat grandstand, we want to simultaneously further enhance our sports venue stadium on Rochlitzer Straße and make it the central focal point of our club life. However, we in the Executive Board are all aware that we will and want to continue to use the city gyms in the future. After all, the new building with the 180-square-meter sports hall is ultimately intended to solve the capacity problems of the training times, which have recently become increasingly acute. Together with all department heads, we will finally think about which sports groups will train when and where in the summer at the latest. What is ultimately important for us is that all club members find very good conditions and can play happily and hopefully successfully in the SVFL sport. In the next two years, there will be major challenges that we can only tackle together. These are made even more difficult by the coronavirus pandemic.”

Jens, thank you very much for the open way of conducting the interview and the willingness to open this interview round first.

Together we wished for the end:

The current quality and quantity of cooperation between the Board of Directors and Heads of Department should be maintained. So we have an honest and solid basis for the further development of our sports club and specifically for the table tennis department.

Interested parties who would like to actively play table tennis can find more information on our club homepage www.sv-fortschritt-lunzenau.de or by e-mail at info@sv-fortschritt-lunzenau.de – we look forward to welcoming every new participant!

Andreas Rosin
Vice-President
SV Fortschritt Lunzenau e.V.