EuroGames 2024 Vienna
Catch'n Serve Ball to try out and a show match with prominent testimonials from politics, sport and society raised awareness of the sport in front of the Karlskirche in Vienna on 19.7. 2024 at 33 degrees. Minisoccer and interesting discussions with the organisation fairplay about inclusion and diversity in sport rounded off the varied program.
Not only the participants who had registered for the side event of the EuroGames - Europe's largest LGBTIQ sports festival - had a lot of fun playing, but also numerous Viennese and tourists from all over the world. Also, the team from VIDC fairplay, strong project partner of Catch'n Serve Ball Austria and co-organizer on site, participated. The absolute highlight, in addition to interesting discussions on the topic, was the celebrity match at 17:00.
Agnes Sirkka Prammer, Member of the National Council and the Green Party's spokesperson for sport, and Jennifer Kickert, President of Catch'n Serve Ball Austria and Vice Chairwoman of the Green Party in Vienna, were just as involved as the European partners of the SGS project (Sport for all Genders and Sexualities) and Magdalena Bina from the Carinthian state government, Department of Sport.
Austrian Vice-Chancellor and Minister of Sport Werner Kogler: "The Catch'n Serve Ball Austria project, formerly known as Mamanet, is also being funded directly by the Ministry of Sport for the eighth year in order to reach people who would otherwise find it difficult to access sport. It is an ideal response to the federal government's key objective of enabling as many people as possible to participate in club sport without barriers."
"Catch'n Serve Ball is a great, inclusive sport. Anyone can join in straight away, the rules are easy to understand and you quickly get the hang of it. With practice, there are lots of ways to make the game fast and exciting. The fact that everyone has their place in the team means that everyone is in the thick of it, no one is just there. I can recommend everyone to try it for themselves and hope that many clubs will include Catch'n Serve Ball in their program," said Agnes Prammer after the match.
Jennifer Kickert added: "Catch'n Serve Ball Austria is opening up its target group with this event. However, the focus remains on promoting mothers and women."
Anyone thinking that the heat meant it was over after one set: far from it! The match continued and the triumphant match point was well-deservedly won by Agnes Prammer, who has always supported Catch'n Serve Ball Austria.
Christian Ohrfandl from the Korbel Austria sales company, who is distributing the ERIMA Catch'n Serve Ball collection and soon the specially made Catch'n Serve balls, was also enthusiastic in the audience.
A big thank you to the organizers and staff of the EuroGames Vienna 2024 to our project partner fairplay and to all participants for the great atmosphere, openness, so much joy and courtesy and that in such a large place among many different people.
Players at the Celebrity Match:
- Agnes Sirkka Prammer (Member of the National Council and Green Party spokesperson for sport)
- Jennifer Kickert (President of Catch'n Serve Ball Austria, Vice Chairwoman of the Green Party Vienna)
- Magdalena Bina (Provincial Government of Carinthia - Sport)
- Birgit Braumüller (sports sociologist, Cologne)
- Angelica Saenz (LGBTIQ researcher & activist, Valencia)
- Rosario Coco (sports association & lawyer, Rome)
- Andrea Guliano (sports activist, Rome)
- Vera Popper (Coach, psychologist and organizational development consultant, part of the Queer Business Women Network and advocates for LGBTIQ+ rights)
- Amanda Stank (nutrition coach and personal trainer)
- Nicky Staritz (fair play, forever in football, political scientist))
- Michaela Wengler (fair play, beach volleyball player)
- Kurt Wachter (Head of fairplay)
2. August 2024 / news