A passion for girls’ football: Leipzig’s 6,000th Volunteer Pass goes to a coach at Roter Stern Leipzig

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A special milestone for the Leipzig Volunteer Pass: in June 2026, the 6,000th Leipzig Volunteer Pass was awarded. The anniversary pass was presented to Luise Popp, who has been volunteering as a coach at Roter Stern Leipzig for many years. The award recognises her long-standing commitment to girls’ football and voluntary work in Leipzig.

The presentation of the 6,000th Volunteer Pass took place at the Roter Stern Leipzig club grounds on Teichstraße. It provided an opportunity to gain an insight into Luise Popp’s voluntary work and the club’s wide-ranging activities.

Luise Popp has been a member of Roter Stern Leipzig since 2014. She initially played for the club’s women’s team. After taking a break to raise her children, she returned with them and has since been volunteering as a coach for the Bambini girls aged between six and eight.

What she particularly values about her voluntary work is the chance to support children in their development and to foster their enthusiasm for sport. “Club sport is more than just fitness; a club thrives when everyone pitches in and each individual feels part of the club,” says Luise Popp. She finds it particularly rewarding to see how the children grow together as a team. At the same time, she highlights the vital support provided by parents, whose commitment plays a key role in the success of club life.

Thomas Köhler, a member of staff at the Roter Stern Leipzig office, also emphasises the importance of this often unseen contribution: “Parents are very important in a sports club; they take on lots of little tasks, from looking after the youngest teams during matches to washing the kits. There’s generally a great deal of voluntary work going on in our club that isn’t immediately obvious.”

Roter Stern Leipzig

Roter Stern Leipzig was founded in 1999 and has, ever since, combined sporting activities with democratic values, diversity and a clear commitment to combating discrimination. What began as a football club has evolved into an established multi-sport club. Voluntary work has always formed the foundation of the club’s activities.

In the football section alone, around 50 coaches are currently volunteering. Furthermore, the development of the club’s sites – including the one on Teichstraße – as well as the construction of the social facilities were significantly supported by voluntary work. “Projects like these are fun and bring people together – and in the end, you can always see what you’ve achieved together,” says Luise Popp.

At the same time, the need for volunteer coaches remains high. Thomas Köhler explains: “We have waiting lists for our youth teams in many age groups, some of which are very long. Demand is very high. If we can get more coaches involved in this area, we’ll certainly be better able to meet that demand.”

Anyone wishing to volunteer at Roter Stern Leipzig is welcome at any time. Information on volunteering opportunities is available on the club’s website.

The EhrenamtsPass

The Leipzig Volunteer Agency is deeply committed to promoting voluntary work amongst the people of Leipzig. A key element of this is the recognition and appreciation of this commitment. Since 2004, clubs and organisations have been able to nominate their volunteers for the Leipzig Volunteer Pass. The Pass offers discounts at around 40 partner organisations in the fields of culture, catering and sport.

Whilst a few hundred Volunteer Passes were issued in the early years, the project team – most of whom are volunteers themselves – now issues over 6,000 Passes annually. This year, too, organisations can still nominate their volunteers who meet the criteria for receiving the Pass.

Further information on the EhrenamtsPass can be found on the website of the Leipzig Volunteer Agency.