As always, a large part of the general assembly of BV Borussia 09 e.V. that took place on Sunday afternoon was taken up by departmental reports.

YOUTH FOOTBALL

Head of department Wolfgang Springer looked back on another successful season: “The 2022/2023 season record of our youth teams, who compete for points, cups and championships, has been more than impressive. All teams finished in the upper echelons of the table in the final standings.” Once again, the performances and results of the oldest youth categories were outstanding: the U19s completed the league campaign unbeaten and became West German champions once again but narrowly missed out on defending their German Championship following a 4-2 defeat after extra-time after to 1. FSV Mainz 05 in the final. They reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Youth League again and were the most successful German team again. Ten players moved up to the senior level with the first team and the U23s at the end of the season.

The fact the U17s were not as successful as they have been in previous years was explained by the head of department as follows: “During the current season, we’ve managed to integrate four or five U17 players into the U19s. This was at the expense of the team success of the U17s, who lost footballing substance and quality, but was therefore partly responsible for the outstanding performance of the U19s.” But the top talents of the B-Youth age category did shine individually. Almugera Kabar, Charles Herrmann, Kjell Wätjen and Paris Brunner formed the strongest club contingent in the victorious German national team at the U17 European Championships. Borussia Dortmund currently have a total of 16 players in the DFB’s national youth teams.

The U14s have been symbolic of the good performance by the young teams, about whom Wolfgang Springer said: “The U14 team also became the West German champions last season and also claimed victory in the derby on two occasions. With 126 goals scored and a goal difference of +100, the team underlined their attacking prowess.”

WOMEN’S FOOTBALL

Head of department Svenja Schlenker reflected upon on two perfect seasons: “69 girls and women, trained by a total of nine coaches, play football under the Borussia Dortmund umbrella. 10,440 minutes of football have led to three championships, three Kreispokal wins and one indoor city championship. That has resulted in three promotions to date.” One team has now become three: the first team currently top the Landesliga table, as do the second team in the Bezirksliga while the U17s are top of the Kreisliga table in what is their debut season. The day before the general meeting, they won their first title by beating Berghofen by a 2-0 scoreline in the Kreispokal final.

“We provide the best-possible support for our young players, some of whom are only 14 years old, and receive a lot of assistance in the form of additional training sessions at our football academy,” said Schlenker, adding: “Another example of the increasingly professional structures is the permanent appointment of our first-team head coach, Thomas Sulewski.” He has also held the position of sporting coordinator since August. “This ensures that we always have a concrete overview of the development of all three teams and, above all, of each of the 69 players.”

The highlight of last season was reaching the quarter-final of the Westfalenpokal, “when we pushed heavy favourites VfL Bochum, who play three divisions higher, to the verge of a defeat,” continued Svenja Schlenker: “Unfortunately, we lost 3-2 in the end and suffered our only loss in a competitive match to date. But that showed us where we want to get to and motivated us all the more to work even harder.”

HANDBALL

Head of Department Rupert Thiele spoke of a “season of highs and lows, an emotional rollercoaster ride with unforgettable moments and memories that will last forever” – the attendance record for a club match in German women’s handball with 11,112 fans packed into the Westfalenhalle to watch the 26-23 victory against Siófok in the European League, the historic comeback in the quarter-final against Nantes and the bronze medal at the Final Four tournament in Graz. The sporting situation is currently impacted by the long-term absence of key players Dana Bleckmann and Lena Degenhardt: “This jeopardises our entire objective for the season and we are working flat out to readjust the squad.” The venue situation continues to be problematic, as Thiele explained: “From the 2025/26 season, it is mandatory to have an indoor arena with two stands facing each other. No such hall exists in Dortmund. So where should we play? I don’t have an answer to this question at the moment, but I can say this much: we will need a home from 2025.”

At youth level, the cooperation with the Goethe-Gymnasium continues to be excellent. It now holds the title of “Elite School of Sport”. “The cooperation with the school enables the young players to combine school and sport under optimal conditions,” said Thiele, who continued.  “The fact that both are possible has been demonstrated this year by the 2006/2007 cohort, who impressively won the German school championship title in May.” Borussia Dortmund’s female B-Youth team won the German championship, while the A-Youth made it to the quarter-finals.

TABLE-TENNIS

Due in part to the drop-off in performance of last year’s new signing Dimitrije Levajac, the league’s third-best player until the winter of 2022, the first team was unable to maintain second place after the first half of the 2. Table-Tennis Bundesliga season and finished in fourth place. “In our second team, youth international Wim Verdonschot shone in the Regionalliga.  He played his way past our former champions Wencheng Qi and Evgeny Fadeev and took second place in the player rankings,” reported department head Prof Dr Ursula Reitemeyer. The aim of promotion to the 3. Bundesliga failed due to injury-related absences, “but in the end we still managed an excellent third place”. According to Reitemeyer, the youngsters are a big source of joy for the department: “Kirill Fadeev, who at 22 is one of the youngest players in the 2. Table-Tennis Bundesliga, is now able to fulfil his great potential and only lost his first singles match in the top pairing in the sixth game of the season. Wim Verdonschot, who is still registered with the Regionalliga team, has now successfully played four matches for the Bundesliga team.” And: “We hope that the U19 team, which is at the top of the table, will be promoted to the highest youth division, the NRW-Liga.”

The Over-40 team achieved the biggest success of the past season: Borussia Dortmund became German champions in this division for the second time with a line-up of Evgeny Fadeev, Wencheng Qi, Patrick Lautenschläger, Bernd Möllmann and Darius Mielek!

INTEGRATIVE SPORT

Hasan Caglikalp reported on the debut of the blind footballers in the newly formed Europa League. “We have come to the realisation that it has been an additional burden and that we need to make some adjustments. However, we can be satisfied with third place for the time being.” The team finished fourth in the Bundesliga for the fourth year in a row. “We improved our play, but in the end we lacked a bit of cleverness in order to bring the championship title to Dortmund.” Caglikalp emphasised: “We will show a different side of ourselves next year. Nonetheless, we do have something positive: our Torball team won the championship for the first time since we’ve been involved at BVB and our women finished as runners-up. I am grateful we are part of the BVB family.”

FAN DEPARTMENT

Jakob Scholz reported “on behalf of almost 200 fans who work on a voluntary basis and almost 17,000 department members. And I am reporting on behalf of those who are standing up in light of the current developments in professional football and advocating for the interests of football fans on many issues. In the spring, the potential entry of an investor into the DFL showed us how important it is for the department to play a critical, informative and moderating role within the club. I am proud that we as a fan department, together with the Bündnis Südtribüne Dortmund (Dortmund South Stand Alliance), have managed to organise Germany’s first and only public information event on investors in the DFL.”

Scholz also cited numerous projects and working groups and singled one of them out: “Our working group ‘Uns verbindet Borussia’ has been committed to the interests of the people of Dortmund for more than 12 years. The visits to the children’s hospital, the “Gast-Haus” (an initiative to help homeless people), the cleaning of “Stolpersteine” to commemorate the Jews deported from Dortmund by the National Socialists and the annual wish tree campaign, which will once again fulfil the wishes of over 2,300 children in Dortmund this Christmas, show that we care about the people in this city. Borussia Dortmund is more than just the 11 players on the pitch!” He continued: “I can assure you that we will do everything in our power to remain an important voice for our members and the fans of Borussia Dortmund and to always remind Borussia Dortmund of its social responsibility and the roots of the sport of football. This club has a healthy understanding of democracy, and both our executive committee and management are open and grateful for the dialogue. Regardless of whether it’s about the statutes, the Super League, DFL investors or fundamental values.” Scholz also campaigned – to much applause! – in favour of abolishing the “unbearable VAR”. (br)