Dear new club member,

 

A warm welcome to our sports club!

 

Important: Please read this page to the end. Zur deutschen Version 🇩🇪 geht es hier:

 

We hope that you will have a lot of fun, and that you will feel comfortable in our club. 

You are welcome to make suggestions as well as criticism.

 

For playing in our club and receiving information and updates about our club, you should now take a few steps, including reading this page until the very end. This page contains a lot of useful information for you. Thanks for your time and attention.

 

 

1.) First of all, an important note about theft:

Unfortunately, many thieves know that it is relatively easy to steal from the changing rooms of sports clubs or gyms. When playing in the hall, nobody will notice if someone comes in from outside and crawls the bags, backpacks and trouser pockets in the changing rooms for valuable items. It already happened a few times!

Therefore: Purses, smartphones, even expensive branded clothes, shoes, please ALWAYS bring them into the hall.

And please don't just lock bicycles, but also connect them to something (tree, post, railing). Also in the anteroom! Because even locked bicycles can simply be carried away if not locked to something solid and immovable.

 

 

2.) TAKEACTIVE APP

The most important thing is to install an appointment booking app called "takeactive", and set up a user account as soon as possible.

We use this booking system to control the number of participants, and make special trainings bookable. Wih the help of this app or web application you are able to book the offered time slots, change bookings, cancel your bookings, if needed, etc.

 

Download the TakeActive app here: 

• Google Play Store for Android 
• Apple App Store for IOS
• No smartphone? No problem! Just use the web version: www.takeactive.com.

Detailed information on how to use TakeActive is available here, please click. The app is very simple to use, but in case yo encounter any trouble, please let us know. Please take your time and read this page "how to install and use takeactive" carefully.

 

 

3.) some important membership details:

Here again the note: everything will come to an end at some point, even the whole universe one day. The good news: there is still a long way to go! But it could be that you want to leave the club, or maybe you have to, because of family reasons, another job, another city, complicated injury, a neutron star explosion near the earth or whatsoever. BUT !!! you have to tell us. As long as the association does not get to know, you remain a member, with all rights and obligations. The most important obligation in this context is the payment of the membership fees, on which the association depends in order to be able to cover the current expenses. As long as we have not been instructed otherwise, quarterly contributions are booked automatically on January 10, April 10, July 10, and October 10.

• If you change your bank details, or close an account, with the consequence that the SEPA debits on January 10, April 10, July 10, and October 10 are not possible, please also let us know. Why? If a direct debit does not work, the association has to pay 9-10 € in fees to the bank.
• In case of not agreeing, please do not immediately call back SEPA debits. You have 8 full weeks to do this, no need to hurry. Thus, if you have any questions or don't agree about the amount of the contribution, first contact the club president (Henrik).

 

4.) WhatsApp, Signal, email ... 

We communicate through messenger channels, such as WhatsApp and Signal. It is not absolutely necessary to join these groups, but especially the info channels very helpful. We suggest to join at least the info channel (Signal or WhatsApp).

If you have indicated a WhatsApp mobile number or Signal number while filling out the membership application form, you soon will get a message, containing various "join-group"-links. It will help to find a teammate for a tournament, to arrange after-game meet-ups; or simply to receive info and updates about playing schedules, locations; or to get updates on training opportunities.

 

Important: we want to maintain a friendly atmosphere in these messenger channels. Some channels are even exclusively information channels with no possibility of responding to information. Others are our social platforms, everyone is allowed to post, but please do not have private disputes, quarrels, or address topics that have nothing to do with sport or club life. Thanks.

 

 

5.) How to take part in club decisions and politics?

We held a general meeting at least once a year. The general assembly is the place where all voting participants (from 18, and full members after 3 months of membership) can vote on the topics, decisions and the future direction of the association. Don't forget: What is the club? This are we all together. Participation in this general meeting is not compulsory, but anyone wishing to express his/her opinion and exercise voting rights must attend the meeting in person. This is what association law provides.

 

We invite all members by email and our messenger information channels (WhatsApp and Signal, see § 4). If someone would like to be informed about these meetings and the decisions and the results of the meeting by postage letter, e.g. due to lack of a computer, please inform the club administration board personally, in writing or by telephone.

 

Of course, it is always important, in general for all communication, that the club has your correct data. The association is not responsible if messages or meeting invitations cannot be delivered due to address errors.

Please always inform us about the change of email address, mobile phone number, bank account, home address. Thanks. 

 

 

6.) What is an association (sport club)? What does it mean to be a member of such a "Sportverein"?

Some people have very adventurous ideas about what this is, a German "Sportverein e.V.". Important to know: we are not a fitness center or a commercial sports center. There are also no investors or profit participants. We all are the club. All membership fees will be spent exclusively for the club, for sport equipment, shuttlecocks, association fees, insurance, coaches, use of the hall, tournaments, etc. There is also no commercial service center that makes everything available to members. All the work that is done is taken over by the members, who either receive no money at all or receive a small allowance for expenses. Only in this way can we be as affordable as we are. It can only work if at least some members participate in this work. So if you want to get more involved: great! Just let us know if, for example, you want to be in-charge of opening and closing the hall at a certain timeslot.

Once again to explain to you: you are not a client of an organisation, where usually you pay a monthly fee and have the right for a certain service, like with you mobile phone provider or your electric energy provider, or a commercial fitness club. You are a member of a club, that is a group of people, and all members together, that is the club, including you. The club has to collect money in order to cover the usual expenses and to avoid bancruptcy. But there is no list of services, which are offered for a certain amount of money, neither there are two sides like provider and client. The club, once again, it means: we all, including you. What we get, what we can use, depends from the goodwill of the city administration (gym allocations) and from all our work (usually the work of a few volunteers, sadly to say), and from the collected membership fees, which allows the club to hire coaches and to buy sport equipment like Badminton shuttles etc..

 

 

7.) What can I do, if I face conflicts and problems with other club member(s), which I am not able to solve?

For conflicts within the club, or cases of discrimination, insulting, harassment, which you are not able to solve with the club member(s) bothering you, please consult our equality rights officer at the club, Elaine. Her mail address: click here.

 

 

8.) useful shortlinks to visit various information areas of our website:

It might not be easy to remember www.badminton-treptow.de. But we have created a shortlink to this website, everybody who plays Badminton should be able to remember easily:   21-19.de  (the closest possible result without going into extra time).

 

Several subdomain shortlinks help to search quickly for information, as:

When?   http://schedule.21-19.de   

Where?  http://locations.21-19.de

tae.21-19.de   (takeactive-tutorial, how to install the app and establish a user account)

contract.21-19.de   (contract conditions between you and the club)

fee.21-19.de   (membership contribution fees)

dle.21-19.de  or download.21-19.de   (download area, incl. invitations to the yearly held annual meeting)

 

 

9.) interested to play league competition games?

If you are interested in this kind of Badminton challenge, and feel eager to compete, and if you are really ready to dedicate some Saturdays and/or Sundays every season (usually September - March) you are welcome to express your interest. Please send a mail to our sports director Guntaj, or to Lisa. 

 

 

10.) racket strings got broken?

Two club members offer restringing services at low prices:  Henrik (click here) and Darko (click here). 

 

 

11.) Garbage? Cleaning?

Checking the gym after playing, it looks like some club members have the idea, that the membership fee includes a full cleaning service for them. Almost every evening we have to clear the gym from chocolate wrappings, banana peels, empty bottles, paper bags from food etc. ☠️☠️☠️.

THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE. Please use the garbage can 👍, otherwise you may get into trouble, as the organisers are already totally fed up with this behaviour and have an eye on this. Understandable? We think: yes, no doubt about that. 

In this context: please dispose broken shuttles only in our "broken shuttles" - boxes. The organisers do not get any money, and while the players are already on their way home, they have to spend their time to collect broken shuttles from everywhere, thoughtlessly thrown from club members into every corner and under the benches . That's not funny. NOT ACCEPTABLE AS WELL. 

Please help to keep the gym clean and do not increase the work of the organisers. Thanks.

 

 

12.) Swap shuttlecocks?

Unfortunately, the shuttlecock consumption is by far our biggest cost factor. In 2022 we used up around 22,000 feather shuttles. Isn't that crazy? To avoid that the € 22,000 in costs do not turn into a € 30,000 bill, we ask all members to extend the use of shuttlecocks, even if they have degraded a little. The shuttles may fly a little slower, but this small handicap also applies to the opponent. As long as they don't buckle or have become extremely slow, the shuttles are still playable. We observe more and more often that still playable shuttlecocks are simply thrown away, according to the motto "well, we have enough fresh ones". The costs are not taken into account.

If our members continue with this egoistic behavior, we either have to reduce the shuttlecock output or increase the membership fees. Please consider that in almost all other badminton clubs in town the players have to bring their own shuttles. This is expensive and time consuming. In our club you have a very comfortable situation. Please help to make sure that we will be able to offer this benefit in the future as well.

 

 

13.) the gym floor is slippery, what can you do?

Better ask yourself: what can I do?

What makes the floor slippery? While playing Badminton fine rubber powder gets rubbed off from the sport shoe soles. This makes the floor slippery, together with other dust particles. Stripping off these particles from the sole will reestablish the "grip" for a short while. The better idea: take the lead, better to say, take the broom and sweep off the floor. Attention: after sweeping the floor PLEASE take the broom outside the gym and remove the dust and particles 👍. Everybody can help and contribute a little of time to improve the situation 👍. Cleaning the floor will reduce the slipperiness for some hours, not longer, thus this procedure should be repeated from time to time. 

⚠️Warning❗ Those, who get caught shaking the collected dust off the broom in some hidden corner inside the gym ☠️☠️☠️, might be hanged and quartered. 

 

 

 

14.) after the game:

Unfortunately, it happens again and again that people forget things: drinking bottles, sports shoes, rackets, jackets, even telephones and keys are regularly left in the hall ☠️. This is bad for you, and bad for those who clean up and lock the hall at the end. Especially since we don't have any more space in our "lost-and-found"-crates. Unfortunately, it still happens almost every evening.
We advise: every time you step outside through the door, stop for a moment and think about whether you have collected everything, or check again your pockets and bags. Please get used to this little "ceremony". This trick with the door (stop and think, while stepping through such a door) also helps in all other situations of your life.

 

 

15.) on your way home ...

Berlin is relatively safe regarding criminality, but unfortunately not 100%. If you feel unsafe or frightened on your way home, especially after late evening Badminton games, just wait a little for a club fellow on the same way to the S-Bahn-Station. Usually no need to wait for a long time. Another hint: Pepper spray, to be worn at a key chain, for quick access. Even if you will never need to use it, it will let you feel safe.

 

 

16.) some comparisons:

If you are unhappy with membership fees or with timings, or partial overcrowding, or whatsoever, please consider:

As far as we know, there is no other Badminton club in this city, offering similar conditions even close to the ones in our club.

If you find another club like ours, please let us know about this hidden secret.

- offering to play every day of the week, including Saturdays and Sundays the whole day.

- playing at a lot of gyms in various parts of Berlin (in our case center and southeast oriented)

- always real feather shuttlecocks available

- group training included, for children, for beginners, for advanced players, for league players

- club mates from around 50 countries of the world ready to play and communicate with you

- possibilities to play league and tournament competition, if you are eager to compete. Actually (2022/2023) 6 teams in the competition.

- three club members offering restringing of broken rackets at low prices

Our advise: instead of wanting even more or not being satisfied with some minor details ... please compare and be thankful for what you get in our club. This will improve your mood as well. 

 

And some problems can be solved by you. It is in your own hands.

Slippery floor? Take the broom and clean the courts!

Garbage, dirty gym? Collect the garbage and dispose in the trashcan.

Wanna play at a different location, because Plänterwald too far? May be we even can open additional gyms. But we need people to do the opening and closing job. You?