Hands go up quickly. Only one of the seven children hesitates on this autumnal Friday afternoon on the shores of Lake Constance. Who could imagine a professional career in cycling, was the question put to the young athletes. The girls and boys here in the south of Germany almost reflexively agree. The only one who is not immediately on board has simply never done a race.
100 years!
RSV Seerose Friedrichshafen turned one hundred years old this year. But the word "old" does not match the first impression that the traditional sports club from Friedrichshafen in Baden-Württemberg makes when you first meet it. The club has had an eventful festive year, has used its milestone birthday for public relations work and the search for sponsors - and has maintained its momentum even at the end of this season.
On this autumnal Friday afternoon, the supervisors of the youth departments have asked for a relaxed sweat session - and a dynamic group of children, young people, parents and supervisors of many age groups roll into the rather dull scenery on the lakeside promenade in good spirits.
Nowadays, it is remarkable when a cycling club manages to attract a large number of young people to the sport. This has been happening at RSV Seerose for several years now, and what's more, the sporting programme attracts a majority of girls to the sport.
We are now promoting youth work!
It is a remarkable success story that has taken place here in a registered association. "We have a very active membership," says Stefan Huber, the first chairman of the RSV. "If someone says that we are now promoting youth work, then the club is behind it."
And that is now easy, because the work of recent years has long since proven itself on the world stage of the sport. With Liane Lippert, the Seerose has produced a rider who learnt the sport in Friedrichshafen and is now one of the best in the World Tour - Clara Koppenburg and Laura Süßemilch are also top athletes who now ride for the Friedrichshafen club.
The great crisis
A good decade ago, it looked as if the club would break up. The Seerose had already made a name for itself back then, was very successful in sport and was the founding site of the first Stoppomat - a timekeeping system for mountain bikers that could be used at any time, which club members set up on the road to the Höchsten. There are now such facilities on many popular climbs, and at the time it was a pioneering idea. It symbolised the sporting ambitions of the RSV Seerose Friedrichshafen.
However, the club's chronicles reveal that the organisation ran into a crisis on the way to one of its greatest summits. The club was in the process of organising the German Mountain Championships on the highest peak when the board fell out. This was reported by Kurt Lippert, father of today's club star Liane Lippert.
Carers and supporters
He joined the club "right in the middle of the split" and, like everyone else at the time, had to choose sides - and this year, after ten years of research, he has compiled a 50-page club chronicle. "After the club split, depression ruled at first," recalls Lippert. The elite riders and the middle-aged amateur athletes had left the club. Gradually, new people began to fill the vacancies - and Lippert took care of the "collapsed" youth work.
Lippert, now 66 years old, is considered the mastermind behind the RSV Seerose's upswing in junior and women's cycling. When he joined the club, his eight-year-old daughter was already a passionate cyclist - she is now a German road champion. A youth group grew up around Liane Lippert.
Her father supported her and helped with the organisation. "Youth work is a bit like falling in love, it triggers a lasting addiction to more," says the retired customs officer, who is now retiring from club work at the end of the year after many years on the board and training around 200 young people - he only wants to train the very youngest until they reach the U13s.
Picture gallery of Liane Lippert
So far, everyone has been talking about him. "Kurt," say the children on the shores of Lake Constance in response to the question of why they decided to take up cycling in the first place. Nele Büngener, now ten years old and a member of the club for two years, says the same. Lippert, an acquaintance of the family, invited her to training. He showed her how to brake and change gear. Nele has been racing for a long time now. "At school, the teachers often ask me how it was."
Nowadays, it is remarkable when a cycling club succeeds in attracting a large number of young people to the sport
Club life is lively, hearty and familiar. On Friday evening, after the youngsters have had a quick sweat on Lake Constance, the Seerose organises its annual barbecue. It's pouring with rain and cool, men and women huddle around the fire under the tent roof with bottles of beer in their hands, while the little ones play football on the wet grass.
Family affair
Inside the Tunau youth group meeting centre, most of the beer benches are occupied under the neon lights, the Swabian sounds exuberant. The club now has a good 200 members, which is a historic high. For many, sport is a family affair. There are currently seven children in the youngest group and ten in the U15 - which often draws their parents to the Seerose.
Kurt Lippert is not there this evening. He is on holiday. It is also "extremely difficult" to let go. On the phone, he has expressed his concerns that the club, which is now at the peak of its history, could soon experience a downward trend again. Club chairman Stefan Huber is aware of these worries, he knows about Lippert's admonition and passion. There is always a dependency on finding people to get involved, he says.
Training nerd revitalises junior staff work
But at the moment, as you can hear, he trusts in the commitment of the men and women who have come to Seerose in Lippert's slipstream. "These are people who are not interested in club bureaucracy," says Huber. The active volunteers have done a lot in recent years to get new carers involved.
Arthur Viselskij also learnt from Lippert that a lot is in development at the Seerose. "I used to ride in another club on the road, but club life had fallen asleep there," says the 23-year-old machine maintenance technician, "here I had the opportunity to really get involved."
Today, Viselskij is revitalising the work with young talent, calling himself a "training nerd" and incorporating systematic findings from sports science into his work with the older players in youth sport. "There is room to develop something here," says Viselskij, who will complete his coaching licence next year together with Moritz Bensch.
RSV Seerose Friedrichshafen - Sport as a family affair
For some, parents with an affinity for cycling come to the club with their children. For others, mums and dads bring their children along. For Torsten Becker, 45, this was a matter of course. The former U23 national league rider works as a project manager at MTU - his son Benjamin is the youngest licensed rider at the Seerose. The now eight-year-old has been training for one and a half years and is now racing. His father has also become an integral part of the youth programme, coaching the older age groups with Arthur Viselskij. "I also see my own interests and sometimes ride with the younger ones," he says.
After ten years of racing, you have a completely different view of the sport. He can pass that on, says Becker. This interlinking is a point that many of the dialogue partners at the Seerose mention. When ten-year-old Nele trains with Liane Lippert and learns about reading races, when the experienced amateur athletes report their tours in the WhatsApp group and younger people join them, or at the club's regular rides.
Of course, modern communication is not an easy topic in a club with such a long tradition. The momentum that has prevailed at the Seerose for several years did not come from traditional club structures. Instead, a lot of things happened spontaneously. Racing cyclists met on the street, a training group collected digital contacts, and new people were constantly networking via Messenger.
Many of them joined the association as a result. Chairman Stefan Huber is a member of all chat groups that have to do with the association, and a lot of messages come through. On the one hand, that speaks for a flourishing life.
Tradition meets digitalisation
On the other hand, Huber reports on more traditional club members who no longer keep up with live communication. In the past, there were set dates for trips in different performance classes, but today the person in charge can change the plan at short notice. During our visit to Lake Constance, we learnt that there can certainly be gaps in communication in such an agile club.
The agreed participation in the regular Saturday morning ride is cancelled because the organiser has not got back to us. Unfortunately, this means that there is no chance to take part in the RSV Seerose's recreational sport, which Kurt Lippert describes as the club's "centrepiece".
Anniversary year 2022
The anniversary year 2022 was a good opportunity for RSV Seerose Friedrichshafen to promote the club and cycling. Yvonne Link, the second chairwoman, is in charge of the network. She is a managing director in the construction industry and knows how to get things moving and make contacts. She joined the association five years ago when she took part in a three-hour Christmas spinning course organised by Seerose. She then joined the board because her eldest son also raced for the club.
The anniversary year 2022 was a good opportunity for RSV Seerose to promote the club and cycling
Today, she drives new projects. "If I put my name on it, something clever has to happen," says Link. She says this on behalf of the sponsors, some of whom the Seerose has gained by looking at the jersey. Link has worked to ensure that the club also enables children from lower-income families to enjoy the hobby; she has organised not only rental bikes, but also funding.
Last year, Link's team succeeded in organising a race day in Friedrichshafen city centre. This attracted donations and attention. Yvonne Link wants to capitalise on this wave. She is already talking to tradespeople about organising a water lily race in the city centre in 2023. Link believes this will bring life to the city centre - and to the association, of course.
