Club Management Course part 3 - Module Law and Public Relations

Legal Insights

Our instructor Sven Naucke tried to lighten the topic with legal humour. Unlike previous topics, there were no opportunities for group work. To avoid a purely frontal approach, we addressed various cases and situations using the participants' case studies. This was a didactically sound solution.

The focus of the day was on coaches and their earnings, insurance, labour law, sports jurisdiction, the basics of data protection, supervisory duties, and the criminal law aspects of club work. We will cover the club law block in a separate section in July.

Thanks to my C-license coaching training, I was fortunate to be familiar with the aspects of coaching, supervisory duties, and data protection. In summary, there were, of course, other helpful facts to note:

• The minimum wage is not relevant for the coach allowance (aka Übungsleiterpauschale). I can employ coaches at a rate below the minimum wage. The situation is different for mini-jobbers – the minimum wage is also relevant for clubs.
• Employees must be informed of their remaining holiday time. If the employer fails to do so, the holiday does not expire but remains valid and accumulates.
• Negligence is assessed objectively based on average, whereas criminal law is subjectively evaluated based on the specific case. This is a significant difference in the assessment.

Insights on Public Relations

Our lecturer, Anne Nyhuis, introduced us to the topic of public relations, which is closely related to marketing. Her core message is not to do something headless – ​​e.g., a flyer, because everyone else does it – but to develop a strategy beforehand. This strategy must be clear about what and who we want to reach with our public relations work.

In a 25-minute group exercise, we worked in teams of four to brainstorm the initial idea for a public relations campaign. Through the lively exchange and the diverse experiences and perspectives, initial plans were developed, which can then be expanded upon individually or in teams. These were based on case studies from the participants, which provided enormous added value for them. The other participants were thus able to experience the direct connection to the association's work. I found it impressive that the short time investment (25 minutes!) resulted in a solid concept that one person couldn't have achieved alone, at least not me. Not even with ChatGPT.

In addition to this eye-opener, Anne shared some tips and distilled the insights from the discussions:

• Maintaining personal contact with the local press is crucial to avoid getting lost in the chaos of news.
• When sending an email (to anyone, but even more so for journalists), the subject is essential. It serves as a quick filter in an overflowing inbox.
• Select and describe target groups based on interests rather than traditional sociodemographic parameters → This reminded me of the insights from the FAST channel Ad market. There, personalized advertising is only assigned based on gender and age in an emergency due to a lack of other data.
• The topic of storytelling – i.e., how do I package my information – should focus on the members and their stories, not the club's history. Nobody is interested in the history-class-like presentation about the clubhouse, built in 1955 and renovated in 1975.

Conclusion

I didn't gain as much from these two modules as I did from the topics of communication or event management. Nevertheless, the days were good and enriching because the group engaged in lively exchanges and was highly committed. This has created an excellent network of friendly people who live the club the way I imagine it – helpful, open-hearted, committed, and always with their fellow people in mind.

Next comes the second block of law, followed by finance and taxes spread over two days – a total of three weekend days in July. Whoever came up with this should be punished. So, with the sun probably shining brightly, we can at least spend our breaks on a fantastic roof terrace in the House of Sports with inspiring conversations.