Tell the volunteers out loud with your voice “Thank you very much”

They drive the team bus, stand on the training ground in the heat, rain and cold, serve drinks, mow the lawn, comfort, coach, cheer, jump in the air for joy and catch when there is no success. And that day after day after day – two hundred thousandfold! Because there are about as many volunteers who volunteer in Upper Austria’s 2,500 sports clubs.

With the action “Thank you very much!” the OÖNachrichten and the Sportland Oberösterreich bring these 200,000 people in front of the curtain and want to thank our readers for this commitment.

1000 euros for the district winners

In the past few weeks, the OÖN have called for volunteers to be nominated, and now nachrichten.at can be used to vote on who will emerge as the district winner in the respective region – the prize for the winner will be 1000 euros.

One of the nominees is Franz Pichler from Hagenberg im Mühlkreis. For the 52-year-old, getting involved in the club, the place and society is a matter of course. “I am grateful that as a child I was able to consume these qualities that club life offers – qualities that others created at the time. I want to give that back a bit now”says he, who has so many functions in the club that he rightly says: “It’s like a side job.”

Pichler is currently coaching the club’s U13 team, where his daughter also plays. But that’s not all: the chairman of ASV Hagenberg coordinates and organizes – including hiking days – and also takes care of the pitch. If necessary, also at a late night time when, like this year, an international club – Al Fateh SC from Saudi Arabia – is completing its training camp in Hagenberg. Current project: to convert the floodlights to energy-saving LED lamps.

However, he also notices that fewer and fewer people are willing to commit to a permanent club. “Helping once is not a problem, but taking on responsibility makes it increasingly difficult to find someone”, says Pichler. And that despite the fact that a healthy club life gives so much back. “It’s a pleasure when the boys come to training and greet each other with a belly flop. Friendships for life are formed here.”

Join in, vote!

But Pichler also has a real job, he is a technical employee – he used to play in the club for a long time and was also a member of the parish council. “But that is no longer the case.” His two sons also play in the club and actually the whole family is involved.

You can find out who else is among the nominees at nachrichten.at/ehrenamt. You can still vote here until September 10th to decide who should be the respective district winner.