I am currently working on another story so in the meantime I give you a few odds and ends about some of the things that Fans and Teams have done or are working on.

 

Winners of the BVB Fan Tournament

 Borussia Dortmund Fan Projekt hosts Fan Club Tournament

Borussia Dortmund tradition continued on Carnival Sunday when at 10 AM 40 BVB-Fanclubteams from all over Germany met to play for the Champion of the Brinkhoff`s No.1 Cup.

Besides the over 400 Players, many spectators and prominent guests from the BVB, the Dortmund legends Siggi Held and Lars Ricken were in attendance as well as the Fanbeauftragten (Fan Coordinators) Jens Volke and Sebastian Walleit. The tournament was played on Sunday, 22 February at the Schul- und Sportzentrum Dortmund-Brackel Oesterstraße, Hallen I und II. One of the favorites “Die Abhängigen” from Herdecke was surprised early on by the Borussenfans Herne but the current Südtribünenmeister “Borussia Forever Lüdinghausen” managed to avoid an upset in the semi final after a shoot out win against GSG 09. The second semi final saw the surprise teams of the tournament, Fanclub International and “Kasche and Friends” go against each other. Matthias Kartner and his team have participated in Fanclub tournaments since 1995 (!) and most often they did not make it out of the opening rounds. This was their time as they not only beat “International” but also the heavy favorite from Lüdinghausen in the final.
Besides the bragging rights and the actual trophy the winning team will also be officially recognized at a Bundesliga game at the SIGNAL IDUNA PARK. The Fan Projekt Dortmund was very satisfied with the 17th Edition of the tournament and plans are already underway for next year’s edition.

Bayer Leverkusen-Fans to run Half Marathon

Stamina is required of Bayer Leverkusen Fans. After the success of the last two years the Fanprojekt Leverkusen is calling on all Bayer 04-Fans to prepare for the “Leverkusener Halbmarathon” on 7 June 2009. Training will begin on Tuesday, 3 March at 6 PM.

“Our training has become somewhat of a tradition. We have Fans among all age groups that are participating” said Fanprojektleader Stefan Thomé. “Some of our participating Fans in the Leverkusen Half Marathon last year also took part in the Cologne Marathon”.

VfB Stuttgart Serdar Tasci visited Kick Off Camp

Young Fans of VfB Stuttgart, that also like to play the game, used their Fasching vacation to participate in two Kick-Off-Camps organized by the VfB-Fußballschule. Both of the camps were indoors with perfect field conditions and nice temperatures at the Soccer Olymp Fellbach (just outside of Stuttgart).

Among the Highlights in the program was a visit from VfB Defender Serdar Tasci on Sunday the 22nd February, exclusively for the participants of the 1st Kick-Off-Camp. He was available for questions and autographs and enjoyed spending time with the youngsters. The participants of the second Camp in Fellbach were visited by “Fritzle” (the VfB Mascot).

Schalke 04 “Catweazle” auctions off legendary Drum

Among Schalke Fans everyone knows him: “Catweazle”, for 28 years he and his Drum were always found in the Nordkurve of the Parkstadion. Catweazle is now supporting the charity Gelsenkirchener Tafel e.V. and will auction of his Drum and Wig to raise money for them. The auction will also be supported by the Schalker Fan-Initiative e.V.

The auction began on 20 February at 19.04 PM on eBay. The opening bid was also fixed at 19,04 Euro and the auction will run for 10 days. The winning bidder can pick up the Drum, Drum Sticks and Wig at the Fan-Shop of the Schalker Fan-Initiative e.V. after paying in cash. “Catweazle” was first infected with the Schalke virus in 1958 when he visited Hannover to see Schalke win their last German title. Upon returning he helped paint the Train station Blue and White and spent some time as a guest of the Polizei. The only vacations he has ever taken were to support Schalke on the road.

Werder Bremen Ex Player Wynton Rufer for “100% Werder Worldwide”

Werder Bremen will always be International is the message that was announced on the 13th of February from the Ostkurve in the Weser-Stadion. The Green and Whites officially launched their social project “100% Werder Worldwide”, an expansion of the successful project started in 2002 “100 Schulen – 100 Vereine” (100 Schools – 100 Teams) on all Continents.

“We will incorporate our already existing contacts in over 20 countries with this new project and want to expand to create more partnerships” said Klaus-Dieter Fischer, President and Chief Operating Officer of the SV “Werder” v. 1899 e.V. who along with unveiling the new project also presented the new patron for “100% Werder Worldwide” the Ex Bremen Player and former New Zealand International Wynton Rufer.

MSV Duisburg with special pricing for Youth Teams

MSV Duisburg is offering special pricing for all regional Youth teams for the return legs of the 2008/2009 Season in the MSV-Arena.

From the youngest Bambini to the A-Jugend all Youth team players (and one Chaperone per 4 players) can attend a game in the MSV-Arena for only 5 Euros per game.

Alemannia Aachen will have a special jersey for Fans again

The last game at the Tivoli on 24 May will have Alemannia Aachen wearing a Special jersey on the field. Fans that order the jersey by 16 March will also have their name printed on the jersey. The Jersey will be in the layout of the 1969 Kit, the year Alemannia came in second place in the Bundesliga, and will be yellow with one Black stripe. DFL Rules allow for teams to wear a special Jersey for one game a year and some teams have had some interesting variations on that theme.