It’s rolling again in the Bundesliga and in just a few weeks amateur football in Lower Austria will wake up from hibernation. The anticipation of goals is great for many. But two years of the pandemic have not left their mark on small clubs either. Many clubs have had to withdraw one or more of their youth teams. The reason is not too few children, but too few trainers, as was also shown by a local inspection in Markersdorf near St. Pölten and in St. Andrä-Wördern (Tulln district).
There is no sign of a lack of enthusiastic little kickers here. In St. Andrä-Wördern, over 60 children born between 2011 and 2016 are registered with the club. For the club from the 1st class Northwest, that’s twice as many as a year ago. “As far as the children are concerned, we have gratifyingly strong growth, but we are having a much harder time finding a coach,” explained youth supervisor Andreas Moritz to noe.ORF.at. “We are currently not able to find adults who want to have the free time and enthusiasm. In the worst case, this could mean that we have to send children away again.”
Something similar can be heard in the 1st class West/Central, where the lack of supervisors becomes clear using the example of USC Markersdorf. The fear of losing entire cohorts of children due to lockdowns and restrictions was followed by an influx that nobody expected.
“As soon as our training started again, children suddenly appeared that we didn’t even know existed,” said U11 coach Georg Hiesberger. “We could easily have two more teams compete in championships. But without a coach or, to put it simply, people who put their hearts into it, it just doesn’t work.”
Deficiency has many reasons
The causes of the bottleneck in the youth sector cannot be determined in concrete terms. The factors of time and effort alone should act as a deterrent for many. “It takes 15 to 20 hours a week,” calculated Hiesberger. “Not everyone can reconcile training planning, training design and the games at the weekend with work and family.”
Some would try it for half a year and then stop again or move to larger clubs in order to be able to apply privately acquired training in a more professional setting. Like Edin Suljicic, who left Markersdorf for the second division and cooperation partner SKN St. Pölten. “Even if it hurt me to give up my U13, the level of the children in small clubs is often so different that I can’t get very far with what I’ve learned. So a bigger club was the logical next step for me.”
President Johann Gartner assured that the Lower Austria football association was also aware of the problem. After two years of the pandemic, he welcomes the upward trend in the youth sector and the return of initiatives in school sports. In order to counteract the lack of supervisors, higher compensation and better framework conditions are needed.
“Clubs currently pay a maximum of 540 euros a month, if at all possible. An amount that has not been raised for a decade and would have to be increased by 20 percent to reflect the loss in value of money alone. There are also tax issues here. However, since payment is rarely the main focus in children’s football, new approaches are also needed in terms of liability or training.”
Overall, the federal government is required to take up proposals from the state associations. In Markersdorf and St. Andrä-Wördern, it is hoped that additional incentives will soon close the gap in youth supervisors. In addition, any help is welcome there and there, even without a trainer’s license.
