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The project

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Jobs. Diversity. Football

Diversity Challenge

Project Closing Event

Schrift "Steilpass - Fußballjobs für alle" Dadrüber ein Pfeil der nach oben zeigt".

The project

Steilpass was the first nationwide pilot project for the development of diversity and inclusion in the work environment of football. From July 2022 until June 2026, the Bundesliga teams FC St. Pauli, SC Freiburg and VfL Wolfsburg are model locations in the Steilpass project. Each constituent part of the project is implemented with the involvement of all parties involved in the project consortium.

The Closing Event called „Steilpass for Diversity!“ of the pilot project is taking place in Wolfsburg on 04 – 05 May 2026 . 

In addition to support from the Steilpass project team, core components of the project are three work packages designed to educate and support employers on the topic:

Model tools for inclusive workplace design

Included employee surveys on diversity and inclusion and workplace accessibility audits.

These measures are designed to:

  • ascertain the current state of affairs and
  • identify specific needs of employees.

The aim was to bring about improvements to create football workplace conditions that are as diversity-sensitive and inclusive as possible. The results were evaluated anonymously by the Steilpass project team.  

Building of local cooperation networks on inclusion and diversity in the football workplace

At the Steilpass pilot club locations, regional expert forums on diversity and inclusion were held up to 2025. These events brought together club employees as well as local and national expert organisations and advisory services from within and beyond football, using a variety of formats.

The aim of this initiative is to build sustainable support networks and partnerships around the clubs, focusing on inclusion and diversity in the workplace.

In total, more than 500 cumulative participants from the workforce at the three club locations took part in the employee D&I forums as part of the project. Since then, the format initiated through the project is planned to be repeated annually.

Training and Mentoring Programme  

Another key focus of the project was the inclusive further training and mentoring programme, which was designed with the involvement of the pilot locations.

The aim of the programme was to inspire a highly diverse group of participants to pursue work in and around professional football clubs. The first Steilpass training cohort started in March 2024. A second round took place in 2025. Across both rounds, there were around 200 applications from across Germany for 31 available places.

The final participants were selected by the clubs through a specially developed, anonymised selection process based on competence-based criteria. Among the final participants were, among others:

  • 6% trans or non-binary people
  • 42% participants with disabilities or officially recognised severe disabilities
  • 39% women
  • 26% people with a personal or family migration background
  • at least 13% people of non-heterosexual orientation

Overall, 36% of participants in the Steilpass training programme were offered or took up paid employment or voluntary positions in football either during the course of the training or after its completion.

Foto of Solvejg Wolfers-Pommerenke in a black t-shirt, with folded arms and black hair at shoulder length

Solvejg Wolfers-Pommerenke

Operational Project Lead – Steilpass

Focus: Training Programme

Solvejg is an applied linguist and has been involved in work in soccer since 2016. After completing her doctorate on the topic of cohesion in a professional soccer team, she taught and researched at universities and gave trainings on „SprachKick“ for KickIn! Her core topics include discrimination-sensitive communication, intersectional feminism and humor.

Do you have any questions or suggestions on our training programme? 

E-mail: contact[at]steilpass-fussballjobs.de

Mobile: +49 155 6634 0014 (Monday to Thursday from 9 – 15 hrs)

(she) 

Foto of Johanna Hesselbarth with whiite long-sleeve shirt and long brown hair smiling

Johanna Hesselbarth

Operational Project Lead – Steilpass

Focus: Development of model tools & advice on Diversity & Inclusion (D&I)

Johanna studied Socioeconomics in Hamburg and subsequently Social Science Diversity Research in Göttingen and Vienna. She is particularly interested in how organisations deal with diversity as part of our social order. For Johanna, it is especially important to connect theory and practice.

Do you have questions or ideas about a discrimination-free working environment in football? Feel free to get in touch!

Email: kontakt[at]steilpass-fussballjobs.de
Mobile: +49 157 5874 5363 (best available Monday to Wednesday, 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.)

(she/her)

Daniela Wurbs

Daniela Wurbs

– Steilpass strategic project management

Daniela has acquired extensive knowledge in the field of diversity, inclusion and anti-discrimination work in football in her career so far. She previously worked at Fanladen St. Pauli (Fan Project), was a co-founder and executive director of what is now the largest supporter organisation in Europe, Football Supporters Europe (FSE), and provided consultancy services in the field for the United Nations. Daniela is a qualified consultant for inclusive processes and sustainability in football management.

Do you have a question? Would like to work with us? Do you need our support?

Daniela looks forward to hearing from you!

E-mail: daniela[at]inklusion-fussball.de
Mobile: +49 159 0120 2055

(she)

Steilpass is run under the auspices of the BBAG,. A separate area of working was created within KickIn! – Advisory Service Inclusion in Football for its implementation.

Each constituent part of the project is implemented with the involvement of all the parties involved in the project consortium.

Steilpass model locations

SC Freiburg
VFL Wolfsburg
FC St. Pauli

Unterstützer*innen des Projekts 

DFL
Aktion Mensch
Logo SC Freiburg

Florian Hermann
Head of Human Resources, SC Freiburg

„Diverse voices lead to better discussions, decisions and outcomes. Steilpass is the central point of contact for us to develop and implement specific measures for holistic inclusion. We want to use the training programme to enthuse lots of people for the work at our club and put us on track towards a diverse and inclusive organisational culture.“
Logo VFL Wolfsburg

Tobias Weigt
Head of Human Resources VfL Wolfsburg

„One of our principal objectives at VfL Wolfsburg is to open the club up to everyone. We aren’t just thinking of our fans in the ground or at home in this respect, we also want to build a diverse workforce. We’re setting off on a journey to achieve this ambitious target with the help of Steilpass and look forward to meeting new, interesting and diverse people during the training offerings and enthusing them for the club.“
Logo FC St. Pauli

Laura Becker
Head of Human Resources, FC St. Pauli.

„The promotion of diversity through holistic inclusion is a core objective for FC St. Pauli as a club and a business. Steilpass offers a lot of support in becoming more professional, both internally and externally. We hope to awaken lots of interest for our exciting and diverse occupation with the training programme!“
Logo Kick IN

Daniela Wurbs
Head of KickIn! and strategic manager of the Steilpass project.

„The three model locations in the Steilpass project have recognised in exemplary fashion that diversity and inclusion are playing an increasingly important role in the football workplace. With the Steilpass training format and the parallel inclusive development of the clubs internally, we are highlighting an innovative way for professional football clubs to become more open for diverse employees in the future. We look forward to this exciting task!“

Get involved!

If you are a football club/association and:

– want to create more diversity-sensitive and inclusive conditions for volunteer and full-time staff and

– are interested in our work in the Steilpass project and have a question about it?

Please contact the Steilpass team! We’ll be happy to support you where we can!

Also take a look at the resources on this website: there you will find a quick online check, guidelines with tips and tools, as well as a collection of links to job platforms and advisory services for diverse job communities.

Are you a fan or member of one of the participating clubs with a question about the project?

Or you are simply interested in working at a football club or association? Or you simply have questions about the project?

If you have any questions, please contact our Steilpass team! We are happy to support you whenever possible!

Also check out our Steilpass collection “Jobs. Diversity. Football”.
There you will find current job openings from football clubs and associations, as well as links to professional support and advisory services.

DO YOU WANT TO SUPPORT US?

STEILPASS CREATES DIVERSITY IN FOOTBALL. SO DOES YOUR DONATION!

The Steilpass project needs your donation!

Only through your support and donations will we able to launch and consolidate the work in the Steilpass project for an inclusive and diverse football at the clubs and governing bodies.

As sponsors of the Steilpass project, the BBAG and our advisory service KickIn! are non-profits. We are therefore happy to issue a donation receipt on request. All one-off and regular donations are gratefully received and can be made through any of the following channels

Bank transfer

Account holder: BBAG e.V.
IBAN: DE16360501050000202432
BIC: SPESDE3EXXX

per PayPal 

IMPORTANT: Please always quote „Donation/Spende“ as the payment reference!

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