Association league
In most German sports associations, the association league is the designation for a regional or sub-regional division located in the middle of the German league system . The league is regularly organized by a regional association that is responsible for the relevant area and subordinate to the national sports association. Often it is the highest league in the area of the national association. If there is a national league in addition to the association league in one sport and region , the association league is usually the higher of the two divisions.
Individual sports
ice Hockey
Association leagues in ice hockey existed in the state ice sports associations of North Rhine-Westphalia (Verbandsliga NRW) and Lower Saxony (Verbandsliga Nord for Lower Saxony and the affiliated associations of Hamburg, Bremen and Schleswig-Holstein). After the reform of the Oberliga in 2010 , the two association leagues were renamed Regionalliga West and North. The Association League North was re-established in 2012/13.
Soccer
In the soccer league system in Germany , the association league has been part of the West German regional association since the 1950s and the top amateur division of the then 16 national associations of the DFB, initially on the third level and later on the fourth level of the league system since the 1970s . After the reintroduction of the regional league in 1994, the association league formed the 5th division in most of the 21 regional associations since reunification. In Bavaria , Hesse , Saxony and Thuringia , the term Verbandsliga was not used. There, the respective top division of the regional associations carried the name Oberliga or Landesliga instead .
Since the introduction of the 3rd league in 2008 and the associated structural reforms also in numerous regional associations, the league structures and names below the regional leagues have been considerably less uniform than before. For example, in the area of the North German Regional Association, after the Oberliga Nord was abolished, the former association leagues in the league system were given the status of an Oberliga. At the same time, the regional associations of Hamburg and Lower Saxony also renamed the association leagues there to Oberliga. In Schleswig-Holstein , the term Verbandsliga is still used, but there it is now used for the second highest division in the state. The designation has since been abolished in numerous other regional associations and the leagues have been given regional names, for example the Westphalia League .
Handball
In handball in Germany, the association league is above the state league in the state associations , but below the highest division of the association, the Oberliga . The next higher league is then the 3rd league (formerly regional league ). The association league is therefore the fifth highest class.
Paintball
In paintball in Germany, the association league stands above the state league. It was included in the league system of the German Paintball League (DPL) in the 2013 season and primarily serves to make entry into the higher leagues and the change in the associated game formats more comfortable for new teams.
