Club Christmas gifts should reach everyone without blowing the club budget. The trick is to decide first who you are giving to: the children and young people, all members, or the volunteers who keep the club running. You will find ideas here for each of these groups, from a small gesture to a book for every team.
Who does the club give Christmas gifts to?
Usually there are three groups with different wishes. Children love something they can hold and an experience with their team. Adult members appreciate a gesture that shows the club is thinking of them. And volunteers such as coaches, team staff, the groundskeeper, the treasurer and the committee mainly want to be noticed.
Count first: how many children in which teams, how many active and non-playing members, how many helpers. Only then can you see how much there is per head and which idea fits your budget.
Christmas gifts for the children in your club
For children, what matters is that every team is treated the same and the gift has something to do with their sport.
1. A high-vis vest with the club badge
In winter it gets dark early on the way to training. A high-vis vest or a reflector with the badge makes the children visible and gets worn every day. A gift the parents are just as happy about.
2. St Nicholas comes to training
On 6 December, the German St Nicholas Day, or at the session before it, St Nicholas visits every children's team with a chocolate St Nicholas for every child and a few words about the season. A committee member in costume is all you need, and the coaches supply the words.
3. A team yearbook for every team
If the club orders for several children's and youth teams together, each team gets its own Flashbook: every child has a double-page spread with two photos and their answers, and on top of that come a team photo, team awards and pages for signatures. Because the price depends on the number of teams in one order, ordering together pays off. For children, the parents fill in the questionnaire. Find out more under children's photos and data protection.
This is how the price per book depends on the number of your club's teams in one order, each including design, printing and delivery to Germany and Austria:
- 1 to 2 teams
- €24.90
- from 3 teams
- €22.90
- from 5 teams
- €19.90
Each family pays via a payment link, or the club pays for everyone by invoice within 14 days. Up to 4 sponsor pages are included in the price. Find out more about the book for all your teams under sports club yearbook (what Germans call a Freundebuch).
Small Christmas gifts for club members
For all club members, a small gesture is enough. It should suit the club and make sure people come by in the new year.
4. A beanie with the club badge
Knitted beanies in club colours fit almost everyone and carry the club through the winter. Order children's sizes too, and a few extra for new members in January.
5. A voucher for the clubhouse
A drink or a bratwurst at the first home game of the new year. The money stays in the club, and the members get together.
6. A Christmas letter from the committee
A look back at the club year: what each section achieved, which teams are new, who helped out. Signed by hand and sent by post, it also reaches the non-playing members.
7. An open sports hall between Christmas and New Year
A morning between Christmas and New Year when the sports hall or pitch is open to all members and their families: parents versus kids, sections mixed together, hot punch afterwards. Book the hall time early with the local council or the hall operator.
Christmas gifts for volunteers in your club
Without coaches, team staff, referees, the groundskeeper and the committee, there would be no club. Christmas is a good moment to tell them so.
8. An evening just for the helpers
A meal where the committee serves and the volunteers simply stay seated. A few short words, no compulsory programme.
9. Make your volunteers visible
Introduce them in the club magazine, on the website or on the noticeboard, with a photo and a sentence about what they do. Our guide How to make a match programme shows how to put one together.
10. A thank you handed over by the team itself
For coaches, a thank you means most when it comes from their own team. The club can get it started, and you will find ideas under Christmas gifts for coaches.
Gifts from the club's funds: check first
Non-profit clubs have rules for gifts to members. Ask your treasurer, the club's tax adviser or your sports association before you spend club money on them. This is not legal advice.
If funds are tight, there are other ways: a sponsor pays for the beanies, the supporters' association pays for St Nicholas, and with the book each family pays for its own. Our guide to sports club sponsorship explains how to approach sponsors.
How to make sure the gift reaches everyone
- A list of all teams with the number of children, sizes and a contact person, so nothing is ordered twice or runs short.
- The coaches hand out the gifts in their team, and the committee takes care of non-playing members and volunteers.
- Treat every section the same: if the football children get something, the gymnastics children get it too.
- Set a fixed date for handing out, for example the party before the holidays. You will find ideas for it under Christmas party ideas for sports teams.
Books for Christmas 2026: Order by 10 December 2026 and make sure that in every team all questionnaires are filled in by then. Then the books will arrive in time for Christmas. Printing starts as soon as everyone who ordered has paid.