After 18 years as chairman and 26 years on the board, Gernot Barounig resigned his position at the general meeting at the end of last week and handed it over to a new team. For the first time in the club’s more than 90-year history, Bianca Irsigler is a woman at the head of ATZ Linz.
The 28-year-old, who says she made a quick decision when asked, grew up at the club. “I’ve been playing tennis here since I was six years old,” says Irsigler. As sporting director, she has had an important role in recent years.
Now, as chairman, she is taking on the challenge of continuing on the successful path of the association. With a younger team around him, Irsigler wants to ensure that the community is preserved. For many of the 480 members, the tennis facility in Urfahr is like a second living room. “Many groups of friends have emerged here.”
With the three women’s and five men’s teams, she wants to continue to do well in the championships, and youth work remains a focus. Irsigler and her team want to organize more tournaments for young people and general classes. “We want to increase that again.”
Delivery in “excellent condition”
Looking back, Barounig’s personal highlight is also of a sporting nature. The chairman describes his participation in the men’s I promotion back to the state league in 2010 as the highlight of his 18-year chairmanship. With the biggest mistake of this time he does not hide behind the mountain. “I underestimated the ongoing and never-ending need for renovation and modernization of the club’s infrastructure due to the size of the facility.” Basically, however, he is happy to look back on successful years and to be able to hand over the club “in excellent condition”.
“The new, young impetus is certainly good for the club,” says Barounig, who is handing over the management with a correspondingly good feeling. He remains with the club as a “simple tennis player”. Most recently more as a “winter than as a summer player”, as he says.
Despite her young age, his successor is happy about the positive feedback she has received. “I was a bit skeptical at first about how my appointment would be viewed by the older members of the club,” says Irsigler, recalling that her predecessor Barounig took over the office of chairman at the age of 29, just a year older than her.
Source: Nachrichten
