How can soccer clubs remain viable in the future? How can volunteer and professional roles be effectively combined? What structures do clubs need to ensure they remain attractive places for sports, community, and engagement in the years to come?

Sport-Club Charlottenburg (SCC) and the Berlin Football Association (BFV) are addressing these questions in a joint development project. Over a period of about 18 months, the club and the association aim to test new approaches to club organization, scrutinize existing structures, and jointly develop responses to the challenges of modern club management.

This is not about ready-made solutions or predefined models. Rather, the SCC and BFV view the project as a practical laboratory for club development in Berlin soccer—a space where experiences can be gathered, insights gained, and ideas developed that will ultimately benefit all Berlin clubs.

Setting out together

In recent months, both the SCC and the BFV had initially been working independently on similar issues related to club development, organizational culture, and the future of volunteer work. As part of the ongoing development of the Team Berlin strategy, these ideas were fleshed out in joint discussions.

It quickly became clear that this presented an opportunity to test theoretical concepts directly in practice. From this shared perspective emerged the idea of using the SCC’s soccer department as a practical laboratory and shaping the development through a partnership on equal footing.

Practical added value as the core focus of the project

The focus is on questions that concern many clubs in Berlin:

• How can volunteers be relieved of some of their workload?
• How can responsibilities be organized more clearly?
• Which tasks can be supported by full-time staff?
• How can we foster a modern and attractive club culture?
• What structures does an organization need to remain effective in the long term?

The goal is not just to talk about changes. The aim is to develop concrete solutions, test them, and refine them together.

“We think it’s great when ideas for the future come directly from the clubs. Change rarely happens on the drawing board. It happens where people are willing to question things, try new approaches, and even tolerate uncertainty for a while. That’s exactly what makes this project so exciting. The SCC has the courage to embark on this path—and we look forward to discovering together what insights this can yield for Berlin soccer as a whole,” says Malte Schruth, BFV Executive Board Member for Innovation, Club and Association Development & Qualification.

At the SCC, too, the project is seen as an opportunity to further develop the soccer department in a sustainable way together with the many dedicated volunteers.

“We don’t just want to manage existing structures; we want to actively shape them. We’re working against the mindset that some things have always been done a certain way. This project gives us the chance to try out things that often get left on the back burner in everyday life. If we figure out how to lighten the load on volunteers, distribute responsibility more effectively, and organize collaboration more easily, everyone will benefit in the end—the people in the club and perhaps many other clubs in Berlin as well,” says Uwe Weise, head of the soccer department at the SCC.

Five Phases Through the End of 2027

The project timeline is intentionally long-term and is divided into five sequential phases, see graphic.

The results will be analyzed, documented, and prepared for future use. The goal is to establish a sustainable foundation for the department’s future and to make the insights gained available to other clubs as well. To ensure the successful transfer of knowledge to other clubs, the newly created “Club and Association Development & School” department will play a key role (New Organizational Structure).

Learning Together, Developing Together

For Carmen Stauch, a project staff member at the SCC, the project’s particular strength lies in its collaborative partnership:

“The development processes initiated within the SCC’s soccer department are receiving an enormously positive boost from the BFV’s Team Berlin strategy. In this collaborative project, we aim to lay the groundwork for structuring the department in a way that ensures its long-term viability. Both the club and the association benefit equally from the results achieved and the insights gained. From the very beginning, the collaboration among all participants has been based on partnership and equality.”

The joint project is explicitly not intended to be a one-size-fits-all solution for all clubs. Every club has its own unique circumstances, challenges, and opportunities. Nevertheless, many issues in Berlin soccer are similar. This is precisely why the SCC and BFV want to gather experience together and make the insights available to others.

After all, the future of Berlin soccer is shaped where people take responsibility, dare to try new things, and are willing to learn together. True to the spirit of Team Berlin.