With the establishment of the sponsoring association on June 27, 1996, some active handball players together with committed parents in the Krone restaurant laid the foundation for a targeted promotion of youth work at the HSC Haltern-Sythen.

At that time, the management board responsibility was assumed by Hubert Middrup, Dr. Johannes Hermes, Christoph Kaiser and Franz-Josef Neuhaus. The positive effects of the work quickly became apparent, because as early as 1999 around 200 children and young people were on the record in 15 teams.

A lot has happened since then and the current chairwoman, Jutta Spiekermann, is delighted with the teamwork in the association and the wide range of support that is now available. She herself played actively in the club in the association league until she was 30 and took over the office from her predecessor Carsten Radas in 2013.

"For me, switching to the development association was a logical step," she says. The last deciding factor was a visit to the Sythener handball days. She was totally enthusiastic at the time and it was clear to her: "I want to be part of that too."

And there really was enough to do. The organization and staging of a large outdoor youth tournament was a mammoth task, but at the same time also the highlight of the funding work. At its peak, up to 300 children in 28 teams played handball at the same time with great enthusiasm on four open-air fields.

After a short time, the tournament was enthusiastically accepted and thus known far beyond the district's borders. Finally playing outside outside the often stuffy halls in summer is something very special for the youngsters too.

The cooperation with the Sythener open-air pool association enabled the active to have a cool bath as a special experience after the exhausting game on the field.

Already in February the invitation was sent to the possible participants and then game plans were drawn up, referees signed up and the preparation of the course with bouncy castle and tombola planned. However, the whole work was always accompanied by concern about the weather.

"If bad weather was reported in the days before, the WhatsApp group ran amok," says Jutta Spiekermann. After moving to the ETuS facility, the event had to be canceled in 2019 due to the overlapping of different school events, and the corona pandemic prevented it from taking place last year.

Spiekermann is very satisfied with the work of around 50 volunteer tournament helpers so far, the good cooperation in the organization team and particularly praises the committed work of the Berse family.

In addition, the development association has a whole host of other tasks. For example, for many years the youth teams have been supported in taking part in the “Partille Cup” in Sweden, which many former participants still rave about today.

In addition, the development association takes care of the uniform appearance of the teams by purchasing suitable sportswear. With the organization of a large handball family festival and a season closing party, other main tasks gradually emerged.

This also includes the procurement of training equipment and since 2005 the club has also taken over the catering in the hall at the home games of the senior teams. An important point for the main club from 2017 was the deployment of an FSJler.

This measure is also flanked by the association with a cost share. The association currently has 25 members and an average of ten to twenty funding applications are submitted each year.

In addition to deputy chairman Andreas Rinklake, the management team also includes cashier Christoph Kaiser and managing director Peter Braun. “We work really well together and so far we have always approved all applications unanimously,” says Jutta Spiekermann.

She hopes that the children will soon be able to do sports together again and would be happy to receive further support.