Bundesliga: Mainz lose the game but win the day

Schalke 2-1 Mainz
(Serdar 36', Harit 89' - Onisiwo 75')

Mainz struggled on Friday night in Gelsenkirchen. This was far from a surprise for those who watched the game or are in fact Mainz fans. Mainz haven't won here in eight years, and this time they had no answer for the resurgent Amine Harit. The Moroccan delivered a delicious assist for Schalke's opener before scoring an outrageous outside of the foot effort in the final minute that canceled out Karim Onisiwo's equally beautiful goal earlier on.

There will deservedly be tweets, posts and articles written about Harit. Afterwards, the 22-year-old said increased focus and the fact he recently became a father has left him feeling more responsible. Having been involved in four goals in his last two games, more than in his last 34 Bundesliga games combined, there's no doubt that's having an impact on his play.

But this Friday wasn't really about the football.

September 20, 2019 was the first day of a seven day Global Climate Strike as the young people of the world try to force governments into the kind of action that will secure a healthy future on the Earth. In support of "Fridays for Future" and the protection of the climate, Mainz offered 500 fans a climate-friendly journey in a subsidized special train service to Gelsenkirchen on Friday. It was a small act, one that didn't stop the heartache of conceding a last-minute winner, but it was a reminder of just how long this club has been an activist for the health of the planet.

"Across the whole club, we work to avoid resource consumption and to minimize and compensate in places where we can't avoid the use of resources," said club senior executive Jan Lehmann.

Mainz have been climate neutral since 2010, making them the first in the Bundesliga to be that way. They had solar panels on their old stadium back in 2004, and have some on the roof of their current stadium that inject enough energy back into the grid to power nearly 200 homes for a year. Mainz also invest nearly €1m ($1.1m) a year to make sure free local public transport is available to fans on home games, a move that is largely standard procedure in Germany (free local travel is included on most matchday tickets). For away games, such as this one, the club has a history of organizing bus or train trips for fans so as to reduce emissions.

All of these efforts have won the club awards, but that's not why they do it. They do it because they believe it is their responsibility. This is a football club using its privileged position not just for the good of its community but also for the world in general. It is not uncommon for fans of German clubs to be outspoken on social issues, but for a club to be so conscious about every choice and resulting impact on the world is refreshing and quite frankly, on today of all days, worth celebrating.

Mainz might not have won the game, but they definitely sent the louder, more pertinent message. Mainz are doing what it can to be playing football on the same planet in the future, hopefully one that sees them win away games against Schalke.