ABSTRACT
Competition, performance and improvement are traditional values and orientations of the sports system in general, and of sports clubs in particular. One implication of this value system is a limited inclusion of people into gymnastics and sports clubs. Clubs used to be more attractive for young people than for elderly people and more attractive for boys and men than for girls and women. This is well reflected in the membership statistics of the DSB, which indicate for the 1950s a male proportion of membership of 90 per cent and a dominance of young people of approximately 70 per cent (Hartmann-Tews 1996: 103ff).
