Every side of the club: Borussia Dortmund carves out talent

Youth Football

Since the introduction of German youth leagues in 2003 and 2007 in the A and B categories, "What Borussia Dortmund has achieved is unprecedented," said the leader of the youth department, Wolfgang Springer. "For the fifth consecutive time, Borussia have been crowned German champions." In 2014 and 2015 the U17s won the title, in 2016 and 2017 it was the U19s and in 2018, the U17s won the title again and celebrated a 3-2 victory after a tussle with FC Bayern Munich in the final. Springer said, "It's without a doubt an excellent result and well-deserved for the coach, teams and staff alike. It shows that we aren't just strong in one age group, but that our work is sustainable. It's not just the U17s who are in the headlines, but also the teams that play for points in the West German leagues." That is how the U14s ended their 2017/18 season in the West German Youth Cup, unbeaten champions with 64 out of a possible 66 points and goal difference of 95:9. From the U15s upwards, 37 youth players represented Germany from Borussia Dortmund.

Handball

Andreas Heiermann has been in charge of the department for 12 years. "We haven't been in this good of a position for 15 years. Behind this development is a plan to further evolve, to work hard and last but not least, to have people that will give everything for BVB." The first women's team ended the 2017/18 season in 4th place and qualified, for the first time in 15 years, for a European competition. Heiermann called the youth squad a 'treasure trove'. "Our youth A team fought its way into the final four in the youth German Championships and our B youth team were crowned German champions." It was the first ever championship title for the Handball team. There are eight current national team players in the BVB youth squad and 14 Borussians won a silver medal with the Goethe Secondary School in the World School Championships in Qatar.

Table tennis

It was a choppy last season for the second division team. After the second half of the season, in danger of entering the relegation zone, "The team really showed what they're made of. They were one of the three best teams teams in the league and ended up in an impressive fourth place in the table," said head of department Bernd Möllmann. In the West German Championships, Erik Bottroff defended his only title and the senior team qualified for the West German championships and fought their way into the final. In the youth leagues, Kirill Fadeev won his first youth title.

Adaptive sports

Hasan Caglikalp, who was staying with his team at an international tournament in Nice, was thanked by Dr Rauball who spoke on behalf on the of the blind footballers and torball players, "For all his support which makes our work so much easier and for the help and work of all the employees. We feel great being a part of the BVB family." On the sporting side, the blind football team earned fourth place in a tournament in Krakow and third place in Prague. "We're not happy with fifth place in the Bundesliga, but we are happy with how the team has developed." Two of them are in the national team squad.

The Fan Club

Torsten Schild reported the diverse activities of the department, in which 300 volunteers take part in 09 work groups. He also stressed their passion in the fight against racism and discrimination and said, which was received with great applause from fan members, that "There are two premises that are to be observed without any ifs and buts from the fan department's point of view: The liberal democratic constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany and the BVB values statute. If you understand values of tolerance, open-mindedness and respect to be politics, then we will have to disappoint you. These values must be welcomed and defended in the stadium! The others are loud, but we are louder!" In terms of sports Schild noted, "One of the biggest successes of the dedicated Dortmund fan scene is probably the news that Monday games should be abolished again."(Br)