On Friday “Mister Judo” Franz Haugeneder will be 81 years old! With which the man quietly thinks of farewell for the first time, who, as the former founder and current president or chairman, transformed the UJZ Mühlviertel into an empire that is around 50 km long and 30 km wide. Which makes this sports club unique in Austria, at least geographically. . .
His secret wish for his upcoming day of honor? That a successor may be found for what he has created in half a century. “Everyone here is wondering how things should go on,” says Franz Haugeneder, “but I can’t help because then I could carry on with it myself. But I’ll be 81 on Friday – and even if I’m physically and mentally fit, it has to be over at some point.” Although “sometime” will be in the coming year, as Haugeneder has now revealed to the “Krone”. Who was everything in the 2000-strong village of Niederwaldkirchen: 18 years mayor! 31 Principal! And now in his 50th year at the Union Judo Center Mühlviertel. Whose founder he is. President. chairman. Girl for everything. Judo in regular lessons on the timetableAt an association that, thanks primarily to school cooperations – in Niederwaldkirchen, for example, judo is part of the regular lessons on the timetable – includes 18 locations. They range from Ulrichsberg to Linz-Urfahr and from Oberkappel to Helfenberg. “Although I was president of the Austrian federation for six years, I never had any stress,” says Haugeneder, who himself has never even trained on a judo mat. “I only do sports at home,” says the man, who gets up at 3:30 a.m. every day. To do gymnastics. “It keeps me fit,” he emphasizes, who is also responsible for the selection of the legionnaires, thanks to whom the twelfth national league title is to come this year. “We have to get him,” demands Haugeneder, whose greatest moment was Pepi Reiter’s 1984 Olympic bronze. The 1984 Olympic bronze still shines like gold A medal that continues to shine like gold for Haugeneder: “Because without it we’ll never get our sports hall would have.” Which was and is the most important thing for him. For the UJZ it is more a question of how things should continue after Haugeneder?
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