EFDN Member of the month – May 2024

EFDN Member of the month – May 2024

We are back with a new EFDN Member of the Month announcement! This May, we are delighted to announce Werder Bremen as our Member of the Month, accompanied by an interview with their Inclusive Sports Programmes Coordinator Daniel Hörmann.

This initiative aims to showcase the outstanding efforts of our member clubs, leagues or FA’s honouring their dedication to using football for positive change in tmorheir communities. Each month, we select a deserving member organisation based on its leadership, innovation, and impact on social responsibility. The chosen member gains exclusive visibility across our network and beyond, allowing their inspiring work to be recognised and celebrated.

To celebrate Werder Bremen’s nomination, Daniel Hörmann accepted our invitation for an interview, enabling us to discover the remarkable experiences as well as his personal stories and initiatives that led to the club being selected as the EFDN Member of the Month.

A short intoduction to Daniel Hörmann

My name is Daniel Hörmann, I’m 35 years old and I am the coordinator of the inclusive sports programmes at SV Werder Bremen since May 2023.

What makes you smile in your role? 

I am in the privileged position of coming to work every day with a smile on my face because I feel like I am doing something valuable with my time. I am very grateful for all the great people I work with every day, who have created many wonderful moments in my life.

What inspired you to work in the CSR/ESG field and what made you interested in making a difference in the football industry specifically?

In the past, I worked with people with disabilities in their homes and supported them in their everyday lives and really enjoyed this job. The position as coordinator at Werder Bremen allows me to combine my interest in social work with my passion for football and sport.

What core values guide your foundation’s work, and how do you ensure your initiatives have a lasting impact?

Our aim is to enable everyone to have a sporting biography. People with a disability still experience many barriers in this context and are excluded from many programmes. With our programmes at Werder Bremen, we also want to enable these people to lead a self-determined and self-confident life through the power of sport.

What’s your favourite project? 

I like all of our projects, but our inclusive football league, the ‘Bunte Liga’, is one of my favourites. This is where inclusive football teams from all over northern Germany come together to play football. It’s not about results, but about the experience. Fair play is always more important than winning. We organise this league together with the Football Association of Bremen, which enables us to reach many clubs from the surrounding area and achieve a sustainable impact, as the clubs professionalise and expand their inclusive sports programmes.

Can you share a memorable story that showcases the positive impact of your foundation’s work?

Some of our players have become coaches over time. It’s great to see these people slowly grow out of their role as players and take on more and more responsibility for the next generation. Inclusive sports programmes need good coaches, so it’s even better when they come from our own team members.

In the next few weeks there will also be two events in the context of inclusion:

• Wednesday 22.05: Bunte Liga kids matchday in the stadium on the pitch.
• Saturday 08.06: International inclusion cup from Germania Zündorf (near Cologne), where the Werder team will go by the first team’s bus.