Under the sign of the Lily: The year 2024

SV Darmstadt 98 has been bundling its sustainable and social campaigns under the name “Under the Sign of the Lily” since 2012. The social campaign has always been an integral part of Lilien club life. Therefore, SV 98 will also be organising many social and sustainable events in 2024. Here is an overview of the year.

Together with the Darmstadt technology company PEAK, SV Darmstadt 98 launched the social initiative PEAK98 around a decade ago. The aim is to support the clubs and institutions in the area with donations. For this purpose, donations are diligently collected on every SV 98 home game day. In addition to the amounts from SV Darmstadt 98 and PEAK for a goal scored, for example, fans can also help out and buy PEAK tickets worth 1 euro before the game. Thanks to your help, an impressive 61,401 euros were collected in the first half of the season alone.

On May 29th, the “Europe Stadium Football Festival” took place in the Merck Stadium at the Böllenfalltor, which was created in collaboration between “Lernort Stadion e.V. – Bölle macht Bildung” and SV Darmstadt 98. The aim was to get the 300 young participants excited about a diverse and democratic Europe in a youth-friendly and fun way before the 2024 European Championships in Germany. The decisive factor for this was the European elections, in which young people aged 16 were eligible to vote for the first time this year. The campaign was divided into two program points: In the morning there were various workshops covering topics such as participation and European elections, sustainability, gender equality in football, human rights and wishes for Europe. After a lunch break, the participants were able to take part in numerous other fun and informative activities around the stadium – for example a stadium tour or a raffle. Throughout the year, 38 school classes were in the Merck Stadium at Böllenfalltor and completed individual workshops tailored to the group.. This meant that the learning center was able to reach over 750 children and young people and introduce them to topics such as fair play and promoting democracy.

SV Darmstadt 98 has been actively committed to the integration of refugees – with various projects since 2015. In 2020, the offer was expanded with the “Fit forward” project. This combines both sport and professional integration. The open soccer meeting is aimed at people with and without refugee experience and takes place weekly at the Soccers Treff Darmstadt. In addition to playing football, the program includes application training, meetings with the club’s partners and other integrative measures. The aim is to give refugees access to sport and the professional world through low-threshold offers and to promote intercultural exchange.

As part of its social campaign “Under the Sign of the Lily”, SV Darmstadt 98 has been supporting the Joblinks initiative since 2016, which gives young people – regardless of their origin – equal opportunities. This is divided into two programs: The classic program for young people between the ages of 15 and 24 from difficult social backgrounds who need support in finding a job and training. The JOBLINGE Compass, on the other hand, is aimed at young refugees aged 18 to 25 with low to medium qualifications who are looking for help with integration into the labor market.

The RÖHM Environmental Days took place for the second time from May 6th to 8th, 2024 in the Merck Stadium at Böllenfalltor in the ENTEGA VIP Lounge. The event served to educate students from schools in and around Darmstadt about the environment. Three school classes from grades seven and eight took part in this three-day event each day and competed against each other in an “environmental rally,” in which the winning class received tickets to a home game. The classes completed various stations where they learned a lot about waste separation and different types of plastic. At one station, the students were able to learn about the properties of PLEXIGLAS® from Röhm in an experimental way. The feedback and the long waiting lists showed how well the format has been received by school classes so far.

In order to strengthen and promote voluntary commitment, the volunteer award was launched by SV Darmstadt 98 and the liability insurance fund. For the second time this year, they jointly awarded the prize and presented the check for the SVD Bundesliga game against TSG Hoffenheim. The winner was determined by jury decision in three categories. In the “Education & Knowledge Transfer” category, VfR Fehlheim 1929 e.V. won and in the “Ecology & Sustainability” category, FC Ober-Abtsteinbach e.V. won. The “Fair Play Prize” went to the Referee Sports Association Odenwald e.V.. The winner for “Cohesion & Participation” was not decided by the jury, but rather via an audience vote, in which a total of 2,100 people took part participated. The gymnastics and sports club Griesheim 1899 e.V. was able to prevail in the vote and, like the other three clubs, also received prize money of 3,000 euros.

On May 21, 2024, the event “START IN SOUTH HESSEN” took place under the motto “Together for the protection of children and young people in sports clubs” as part of the “Break your silence” campaign. The aim was to raise awareness among sports clubs in southern Hesse about protecting children and young people from sexual violence and to promote preventative measures. The opening of this campaign took place in the ENTEGA VIP lounge in the Merck Stadium at Böllenfalltor. The police chief of South Hesse, Björn Gutzeit, and the vice president of SV Darmstadt 98, Markus Pfitzner, opened the event. Darmstadt’s mayor Hanno Benz and Rafael Reißer from the Darmstadt-Dieburg sports district also spoke about the important role of sports clubs in prevention work. In addition, the police and child protection experts gave some expert suggestions to the participants and at the same time presented the SG Weiterstadt protection concept and the “Safe Kids” alliance.

Things got hot in the Bürgerparkstadion on June 8th and 9th, as 600 participants from the U10 and U14 age groups, divided into 24 cities, took part in the 14th “Football Meets Culture” final tournament. The program takes place annually in cooperation with the city’s football clubs in the Bundesliga and 2nd Bundesliga. SV Darmstadt 98 has been working together with the Bernhard Adelung School for several years, which took part in the tournament with lily jerseys. In addition to the football training units, the campaign also offers skills and language training. Children and young people from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds can benefit greatly from fun support in language, movement and culture. At the football festival, the players were not only able to shine in terms of football, but also experienced solidarity, fair play and teamwork first hand.

The Darmstadt model “Protect Children – Support Families” is celebrating its 12th anniversary this year. As part of the campaign, 1,600 families are visited every year. In the first year of the child’s life, the specialist service informs, advises and supports families so that they can get started safely and easily. In keeping with the 98th Darmstadt baby “Baby Elisabeth”, Captain Clemens Riedel congratulated the child on its birth. The family also received a stadium tour of the Merck Stadium at the Böllenfalltor and then a small present, which was handed over by Lilien player Christoph Zimmermann. In the 15 years of cooperation, a total of 20,000 welcome gifts were distributed.

Not only do the professionals train at and in the Merck Stadium at the Böllenfalltor, but also the four-legged friends: On September 2nd, the South Hesse rescue dog team was a guest at the home venue of SV 98. The content of the training was to give the dogs various rescue missions in one for the four-legged friends to simulate a difficult environment, for which the stadium was very well suited due to the stands and the many stairs. Particular focus was placed on trailing, in which the dogs had to search for specific people in the stadium using a scent carrier. To do this, volunteers hid throughout the site. Such training is intended to help dogs to be well prepared for emergencies.

HEAG Holding and SV Darmstadt 98 organised the HEAG Politics Days from September 9th to 13th. During these four days, the students from four school classes (Georg-Christoph-Lichtenbergschule Ober-Ramstadt, Viktoria Schule Darmstadt, Lichtenbergschule Darmstadt and Albrecht-Dürer-Schule Weiterstadt) learned a lot about the topics of democracy, media literacy and political participation. The focus of the event was on politically relevant topics, especially these days. A particular focus was on social media: How do I recognise fake news? How do I distinguish between opinions and well-founded reports? Further workshops should provide suggestions for thinking critically about political processes. The HEAG Politics Days impressively demonstrated how education and sport can be linked together to give young people a comprehensive insight into political processes and social values.

On September 21st, Karolinenplatz in Darmstadt was the place where a special football festival took place. Together with the city of Darmstadt, the Hessian Football Association and the Sepp Herberger Foundation, SV Darmstadt 98 was a proud partner for the final matchday of the Blind Football Bundesliga. In doing so, the lilies made a big statement both in terms of sport and society. In the end, FC St. Pauli was able to celebrate its fourth championship title. In an exciting final, the Hanseatic League beat SF BG Blista Marburg 1-0. The trophy was presented by, among others, the vice president of SV 98, Markus Pfitzner. The final match day on Karolinenplatz was not only a celebration of sport, but also a symbol of social cohesion. SV Darmstadt 98 will continue to promote the idea of ​​inclusion in football with full conviction and actively support such events.

Garbage and waste have been a major problem for the environment for years. That’s why SV Darmstadt 98, together with Krombacher, launched the Clean-Up Day, which took place on September 29th this year. SV 98 and the brewery organised this clean-up campaign for the fifth time. Around 100 hard-working Lilien fans helped to clear the stadium grounds and surrounding area as well as the homestead area of ​​rubbish and rubbish. Bags of plastic, packaging waste, cigarette butts and much more were collected. The subsequent professional disposal was carried out by the EAD Darmstadt city cleaning service. At the end, Lilien partner Krombacher invited the helpers to eat and watch the second division in the Lilienschänke as a thank you. As a highlight, Clemens Riedel, Fabian Nürnberger and Marco Thiede also stopped by for a get-together.

In order to draw attention to the challenging life on the street, SV Darmstadt 98 held its second open-air overnight stay in the Merck Stadium at Böllenfalltor from November 1st to 2nd. Around 50 fans and interested parties took part in the overnight stay this year. For a donation, participants were able to register for the event and take part in exciting lectures to raise awareness of the issue of homelessness. This year’s donations went to the MuKis facility, an accommodation for women and children. The event began with a welcome from Lilien Vice President Volker Harr, which was followed by a press conference by the city of Darmstadt with Mayor Barbara Akdeniz. Prof. Dr. gave further impressions of homeless life. Christian Kolbe and David Lorenz from the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, before a former homeless person shared his experiences with the audience. The last lecture was given by Philip Höfer, who introduced the street football club benefit e.V., which is committed to helping homeless people. The participants ended the evening with potato soup from the Lilienschänke and a cozy get-together before dispersing into their sleeping bags in the stadium.

Every Sunday, the Homeless Help Darmstadt initiative distributes warm meals, groceries and much more to the homeless and those in need at Europaplatz in Darmstadt. On November 10th, the volunteers received active support from the 98ers. Kai Klefisch, Matej Maglica, Sergio Lopez and Nico Baier helped distribute food to those in need. In addition to the active support with the food distribution, SV Darmstadt 98 was also able to hand over the donations in kind that were collected during the overnight stay campaign at the beginning of November in the Merck Stadium at Böllenfalltor.