Hartplatz, Hurricanes, Hamburg

Raphael Iltisberger, Hamburg

Raphael Iltisberger is originally from Limburg in Germany and is a member of the Hamburg Hurricanes, an amateur football club founded by expats and consisting of more than 80 players representing over 30 nationalities.

Can you introduce yourself and tell us about your football life? 

 My name is Raphael Iltisberger and I am originally from a small town close to Frankfurt called Limburg. Like so many other German kids, I played football from a young age in one of the local clubs, TuS Dietkirchen. It is a small club, but they are actually quite renowned for their work with young players. The men's 1st team plays in the 5th division nationally, which is quite a feat to achieve for a village of 2,000 people. 

During my teens, I lost interest and stopped playing, focusing on other sports instead. I did judo for about 10 years and was pretty good at it, but eventually lost interest when I was around 15 years old. I also played table tennis for about seven years. During my studies, I moved to China and eventually became interested in playing football again. My university offered the option to go to Shanghai or New York as part of the curriculum. I thought New York was too expensive and somewhat culturally familiar, so I thought going to Shanghai would be a great way to discover something completely new to me. I ended up really enjoying my time there. I played in a league with foreigners and locals, and always cherished the global community there. It made playing football so interesting both on and off the pitch.

When I eventually moved to Hamburg, I looked for a club that would not only allow me to keep playing, but that would also support and cherish the idea of using football to transcend boundaries, uniting people from all nations. That is when I found the Hamburg Hurricanes. I have played as defender (centre-back or full-back) for the past two seasons.

Can you tell us the history of the Hurricanes?

Hamburg Hurricanes is now around 10 years old, and started off as a kick-about between some friends in a local park in Hamburg. That got quite popular with other people in the international community in Hamburg, and eventually, it was decided to register a proper club with competitive league games. 

The club is important for the international community because it was founded by expats looking to involve people from all over the world in the local football scene. It was somewhat difficult for the founders as well as many other foreigners to integrate into the more established German clubs, so they decided to form their own one instead.

Over the years, it became the go-to club for international players in Hamburg, as well as for internationally-minded Germans living in Hamburg temporarily or permanently. As the first team was promoted several times, a second and third team have been added over the years.

I believe there are a few key factors for the strong attraction that the Hurricanes have been able to exercise over the years. First, it not only openly welcomed people from all nations, creeds, and walks of life (provided they follow a few basic rules and principles) but it consisted of a very diverse group of these people from day one. 

While nowadays - thankfully - a lot of clubs welcome diversity, the fact that diversity was infused into the club’s spirit from day one made it easier for new players to connect to the group directly, rather than being added to a quite homogenous group. 

Second, a lot of the guys who started early on really put in enormous amounts of work to grow the whole club to a larger, more ambitious, and more professional level. Third, enforcing mutual respect and solidarity, and supporting social initiatives also helped gain the Hurricanes a great reputation.

What did you try to show with the photos? Was there any wider meaning?

The photos mostly show the 3rd team of our club, which I have played in since 2020. Some, such as the pre-match group photo, also show our 1st team at the final game of the 2021/22 season. Everything was taken on our former pitch in the north of Hamburg. 

In December 2021, the clubhouse of our former home pitch burned down, including all changing rooms, showers, and toilets. After nine months, we got a new pitch with facilities, showers and changing rooms in good condition. Like the old one, this new pitch is also an ash pitch (called a ‘Hartplatz’) of which there are still quite a few in Hamburg. Unfortunately, there is no clubhouse next to it, but maybe we can establish a small venue on the other side of the street as a kind of clubhouse in the near future.

I tried to show the various faces proudly representing our club as well as some live action during the games. It was also important for me to show what happens at half-time, and to both capture scenes in the moment, as well as when people knew I was there with the camera.

Another thing I always loved about the club is how diverse the backgrounds of people are - not only in terms of where they are from, but also in terms of what they do in their lives. We have teachers, students, people who manage large businesses, IT guys, small-time business owners, and so much more.

What is your favourite photo?

I love the photo that shows a bunch of the guys sitting on benches and the ground during half-time at one of our matches. We had a difficult time on the pitch that day, but after we received the half-time speech from our coach, someone made a joke and most of us started laughing, enjoying ourselves despite the result. 

Of course, we want to win like any other team, but just as important is to uphold the feeling of community, having fun together, and respecting both ourselves as well as the opponents and referees. You can also see one guy not really joining the laughter - that is not because he is the subject of the joke. Rather, it shows the different ways players in our team, as much as any other team, deal with setbacks and difficulties. So, you could say it represents the scope and breadth of the emotions one can experience during half-time.

What role does football play in your community and German society?

In Germany, football is still by far the most popular sport. Nearly every village has one or several clubs, often with several senior teams registered in the local leagues. Beyond the sheer mass of people playing, it is also still very common for the locals to come out and support their local team on Sundays and meet their friends there. Though in my own personal circle, football does actually not really play a big role. Beyond the guys in the club, relatively few of my friends are actively playing football.

What does football mean to you?

I am still very passionate about football. While I do not have a team I support as a fan, I love being carried away by an exciting, high-class match. While I am anything but a good player on the pitch, I still cherish the community and would love to be on the pitch again some time soon. 

Late last year, I actually moved away from Hamburg to the south of Germany, back to my hometown, so sadly I cannot be on the pitch for the Hurricanes right now. But I still miss Hamburg and especially the great team spirit of the Hurricanes. We will see how long we will stay here and where we are headed next. There are still loads of places we want to see in the world.

What is the future for football in Hamburg and Germany?

I believe the absolute power of football as the number one sport in Germany is somewhat diminishing in favour of other sports. Football will definitely remain number one for the foreseeable future in terms of popularity, but other sports are gaining ground. 

Of course, we have to distinguish between the popularity of football at the grassroots level, and the huge corporations that have evolved out of large football clubs, and which are dominating the Champions League and most major leagues. I see more and more people being disgusted by the developments of this kind of football, where clubs are increasingly becoming toys and status symbols for the ultra-rich.

My guess is that these clubs will see fewer supporters in Europe, when more people realise that the essence of the club they have supported from childhood has been extracted, packaged, and sold to the highest bidder for personal gain and to satisfy their vanity, and that the club they gave all their support to has thus been turned into a hollow shell. In turn, these businesses will surely generate a steady new stream of supporters elsewhere. Of course, that is not true for all clubs in all countries, but the direction is clear.