Saarland's sports club for LGBTQIA+ and friends
Our club can now look back proudly on a history spanning more than 30 years. We started out as a loose badminton group in October 1992, founded by three sport-loving people who set out to create an LGBTQIA+ sports community. Back then we played at the former HETTLAGE leisure centre on the Heidenkopferdell – first on Wednesdays, later with Saturdays added too.
Eventually the group needed a name, especially once we planned to enter tournaments across Germany. We soon settled on a fitting one: "ROSA FEDER SchwuBaSaar" – Pink Feather Gay Badminton Saarland. After about a year of playing practice, we dared to challenge the Hamburg club to a friendly match. Needless to say, we lost badly. But we'd caught the bug: from then on we hired a coach who drilled us to a higher level of play.
In 2002 the rather stereotype-laden name was changed and a registered sports club was founded: COURAGE! Saar-Lor-Lux e.V.
Over 70 members, success across Europe and the world
By now we've grown to more than 70 members and achieved remarkable results over the years, mostly in badminton (see our Hall of Fame).
There are LGBTQIA+ sports clubs all over the world. Many of them regularly host tournaments, which is how we've gotten to know some fascinating cities: Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, Frankfurt a.M., Paris, Eindhoven, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Montréal and Sydney, to name just a few.
A club for every kind of sports fan
Of course, our club doesn't want to be known for badminton alone. We've offered other sports in the past, such as swimming, volleyball and inline skating. Sadly, those sections had to close due to lack of demand – but we hope to revive them, and maybe add new ones, in the future. For that we need motivated people who want to introduce their favourite sport to fellow "Couragierte" (Courage! members) under our club's roof.
An LGBTQIA+ sports club doesn't mean that only LGBTQIA+ people are members. What unites us is not just the fun of playing badminton, but also an accepting and tolerant worldview.
Statutes, membership application & fee schedule
To read, print (currently in German) or just join online right away.