Ideal Club for Sports Communication and Education

The Idealverein für Sportkommunikation und Bildung e.V. (ISB) is a non-profit registered association based in Schweinfurt, Bavaria, Germany. It was founded on 2 December 2007, when eleven young people met at the Hotel "Alte Reichsbank" in Schweinfurt to establish the organisation. Since then it has developed into a regional and increasingly national actor in sports-related education, youth welfare and social integration. The association is a member of the Bavarian State Sports Association (Bayerischer Landes-Sportverband, BLSV). ISB differs from a conventional sports club in several ways. It does not maintain traditional sports departments; instead it works thematically through purpose-driven operations (Zweckbetriebe). Members are seen primarily as co-creators who should actively shape club policy and carry its guiding principles, rather than simply consume sport. Its sports and exercise programmes, which reach more than 350 young people each week, are open to all interested persons, with no distinction between members and non-members. Many participants are introduced to sport through ISB and later join a conventional sports club in the region. The association's activities began with holiday and all-day school programmes in the Schweinfurt region in 2008. Later it added specialised courses, open meeting points and cooperation with companies. For more than a decade it has shared its knowledge through educational offerings and partnerships with other organisations beyond the region. In 2019 it founded its first subsidiary for international programmes, and in 2024 it added a residential home for young volunteers. ISB has gained particular recognition for its work in integration and in the area of all-day schooling. In 2016 the Bavarian Sports Youth (Bayerische Sportjugend, BSJ) within the BLSV commissioned ISB to help other Bavarian sports clubs become structurally capable of acting as full cooperation partners of schools or as providers of childcare in all-day school settings. To make this model of the "moving all-day school" financially viable, the association developed several approaches, the first of which was published as the "Schweinfurter Modell der Bewegten Ganztagsschule". Two ISB programmes, the "Zentrum für Diagnostik und Prävention" (ZDP) and "Vereint in Bewegung" (ViB), were selected by the German Sport University Cologne as one of three German contributions and published in the Europe-wide study "Promotion Social Integration and Volunteering in Sports Clubs" led by the University of Southern Denmark, where they are described as good-practice examples. The association also maintains an academy with courses, offers opportunities to work with it, and engages in political and civil-society dialogue, for example through participation in a reception at the German Federal Chancellery on strengthening democratic culture in sport. It has a youth organisation, the ISB-Jugend, whose youth day is its highest youth body. ISB describes its purpose as enabling health for all and bringing more people and systems into movement, acting first as a path-breaker and then as a companion for ideas. It maintains statutes and regulations, a mission statement developed with its stakeholders, and a corporate governance codex.

The Idealverein für Sportkommunikation und Bildung e.V. (ISB) was founded on 2 December 2007, when eleven young people gathered at the Hotel "Alte Reichsbank" in Schweinfurt to establish the association. From the outset it was conceived as a non-profit registered association (gemeinnütziger, eingetragener Verein) and it later became a member of the Bavarian State Sports Association (Bayerischer Landes-Sportverband, BLSV). The association's first holiday and all-day school programmes began in the Schweinfurt region in 2008 and have run continuously since then. Over the following years ISB added specialised courses, open meeting points and cooperation with companies. For more than a decade it has carried its findings to other organisations beyond the region in the form of educational offerings and partnerships. ISB developed a structure unusual for a sports club: it maintains no sports departments and instead works thematically in purpose-driven operations (Zweckbetriebe). Members are regarded primarily as co-creators who should actively advance club policy and support its guiding ideas, rather than simply consume sport. Its sports and exercise programmes, which reach more than 350 young people weekly, are open to all interested persons regardless of membership. Many young people are introduced to sport through these programmes and subsequently join a conventional sports club in the region. A major step in the association's development came in 2016, when the Bavarian Sports Youth (Bayerische Sportjugend, BSJ) within the BLSV commissioned ISB, based on its long experience in advising on and practising all-day schooling, to structurally enable other Bavarian sports clubs to become active in all-day schooling as full cooperation partners of schools or as providers of childcare. To make this model of the "moving all-day school" financially viable, ISB developed several approaches; the first was published as the "Schweinfurter Modell der Bewegten Ganztagsschule", describing how educational and childcare services at all-day schools can be delivered by sports clubs, including with the help of volunteer services. Since 2014 this model's placement sites have been certified with the QUIFD seal for quality in volunteer services. The PHINEO gAG noted in a thematic report that this approach achieves a high degree of social impact. ISB has stated that it will continue to open up further business fields for organised sport. ISB gained particular supra-regional significance through its engagement in integration. Two association programmes, the "Zentrum für Diagnostik und Prävention" (ZDP) and "Vereint in Bewegung" (ViB), were selected by the German Sport University Cologne as one of three intended German contributions and published in the Europe-wide study "Promotion Social Integration and Volunteering in Sports Clubs" led by the University of Southern Denmark, where they are described as good-practice examples. The report highlights among other things that the association not only applies its knowledge but also passes it on by advising other clubs. In 2019 ISB founded its first subsidiary for its international programmes. In 2024 it added a residential home for young volunteers. The association maintains statutes and regulations as its legal basis, a mission statement revised regularly by all stakeholder groups, and a corporate governance codex with a particular focus on responsibility. It also engages politically and in civil society, for example through participation in a reception at the German Federal Chancellery on strengthening democratic culture in sport. Its youth organisation, the ISB-Jugend, held its XIX. Youth Day on 20 May 2026, addressing co-determination, democracy and personnel decisions for the coming two years.

• Eleven young people found the Idealverein für Sportkommunikation und Bildung at the Hotel "Alte Reichsbank" in Schweinfurt.

• First holiday and all-day school programmes begin in the Schweinfurt region and run continuously thereafter.

• Placement sites of the association's all-day school model are certified with the QUIFD seal for quality in volunteer services.

• The Bavarian Sports Youth (BSJ) within the BLSV commissions ISB to enable other Bavarian sports clubs to work in all-day schooling.

• ISB founds its first subsidiary for its international programmes.

• ISB adds a residential home for young volunteers.

• The XIX. Youth Day of the ISB-Jugend convenes, focusing on co-determination, democracy and personnel decisions.

A non-profit sports association with an unusual structure for a sports club: no sports departments, thematic purpose-driven operations, members as co-creators, and a focus on bridging sport, youth welfare and education. It positions itself as a path-breaker and companion for enabling health for all and bringing people and systems into movement.

• Holiday and all-day school programmes

  Sports and exercise programmes for children and young people in the Schweinfurt region, running since 2008.

• Specialised courses and open meeting points

  Additional offerings added over the years alongside cooperation with companies.

• Schweinfurter Modell der Bewegten Ganztagsschule

  A published model describing how educational and childcare services at all-day schools can be delivered by sports clubs, including with volunteer services.

• BSJ-Agentur Sport im Ganztag

  A service commissioned by the Bavarian Sports Youth to enable other Bavarian sports clubs to work in all-day schooling.

• Zentrum für Diagnostik und Prävention (ZDP)

  An association programme recognised as a good-practice example in the European study on social integration and volunteering in sports clubs.

• Vereint in Bewegung (ViB)

  An association programme recognised as a good-practice example in the European study on social integration and volunteering in sports clubs.

• ISB-Akademie

  The association's academy offering courses and educational programmes.

1. 1Idealverein für Sportkommunikation und Bildung e.V. (ISB) – official websiteisb-online.org
2. 2Wir über uns – ISB official websiteisb-online.org
3. 3Ideal club for sports communication and education – Wikidatawikidata.org
4. 4Idealverein für Sportkommunikation und Bildung – Wikipedia (German)de.wikipedia.org