A sizeable crowd gathered in the hall of the Heinrich Boell Foundation to witness the kick-off to the “Getting to Know Your Opponents” tour and recall or get to know the history of women’s football to date through the film “Die schönste Nebensache der Welt” (That Funny Old Game) by Tanja Bubbel.
Women pioneers
It is always sobering to hear that the DFB banned women’s football from 1955 – 1970, because, it being an athletic, heavily physical sport, it was supposedly the “natural privilege of men”. And it’s wonderful to know that women pioneers and their supporters defied this ban. Successfully so, because the record for matches between the “Crispbread bakers” (“Knäckebäckerinnen”) from the crispbread factories in Burg and “Empor Tangermünde” was a gate of as many as 1,500, and the unofficial teams won numerous international tournaments.
Christa Kleinhans, born in 1937 and frequent goal scorer, romanticises: “That was the best time of my life.” Such happy memories are repeatedly shattered by sobering extracts on television uttered by a commentator, for example, barely able to contain himself at how a player “hooks the ball onto her foot like an expert crocheter”. Women pioneers also smile and laugh at the fact that one or two spectators undoubtedly went along to the odd match here and there just to catch a glimpse of their breasts bobbing up and down. At least the odd spectator here and there also went away convinced that these women could play really good football. Petra Landers, a former German and European champion, can also see the funny side as she pulls out the prize she received for winning the European championships in 1989 from the far back corner of her kitchen cabinet and grins: a coffee set made by Villeroy und Boch.
A far from amusing state of affairs, however, is when you flick through last week’s newspapers – yes, I really mean 2011! – to find sports director Rudi Völler venting his anger at his team’s defeat like so: “That bloke would be better off refereeing a women’s game!”
This and other examples like it are further proof to FIFA women’s football specialist for development projects and tour event participant, Monika Staab, that there is still a long way to go. One such way is to impart knowledge, which is why she is launching the multi-media exhibition “Pionierinnen des deutschen Frauenfussballs” (Pioneers of German Women’s Football) together with photographer Günther Bauer, for which Bauer not only photographed and interviewed women footballers but also coaches and officials.
At the core of the exhibition is a triptych of memorabilia in addition to showing portraits and places of recollection – in Staab’s case shattered window panes indicating the additional insurance cover her father had to take out due to the force with which she would hit the ball when playing out on the street. Complementing the photographs is an audio station and video in which women players recount their love of football. Staab is also passionate when talking about the game, which is why she was spontaneously asked to join Diana Ajaine Asak, Ayishat Falode, Tanja Walther-Ahrens, Claudia Roth and the football-savvy moderator, Nicole Selmer, to take part in the panel discussion which followed the exhibition.
As a young girl, Diana Ajaine Asak played street football in Nigeria. When a coach once asked her if she would like to play football, she was taken aback because she felt she already was playing football. She had no idea of what a team was. From that moment on, she played in numerous teams. Just as she was on the verge of being called up to the Nigerian national squad, she suffered a serious car accident and was forced to end her sports career prematurely. Today, she coaches girls’ teams, holds a doctorate in sports psychology and is looking to motivate girls from a very young age to play football, including those in the north of Nigeria who live by Sharia law.
Sponsoring vs. marketing
She is being aided by Ayishat Falode, a sports reporter who was so annoyed at the lack of media backing for the Nigerian team for the 1999 Women’s World Cup in the USA that she created a TV show entitled “Girls Can Play” which showcased women footballers. Despite being doubted by her supervisor, who was afraid that she was wasting valuable broadcasting time, Falode went looking for sponsors which enabled her to keep up the original format and even to accompany the team to the USA as a reporter.
In spite of the national squad’s remarkable achievements, women’s football remains a marginalised sport in Nigeria. Needless to say, Falode sincerely hopes that the team will do well at this year’s World Cup, as this would be a significant step towards receiving greater media attention, a wider platform and greater funding. She aims to enable young girls wanting to make a career out of football also to learn a formal profession. The majority of them work part-time in supermarkets or as hairdressers, and, compounding matters further, there are no contracts safeguarding players in case of injury. The money to which the team is officially entitled from FIFA, but which the women’s team rarely gets to see, should be made available to develop women coaches and referees, for example. As regrettably no women hold a senior position in the clubs, however, the women’s team does not have anyone to represent them either.
Whilst women footballers in Nigeria are struggling to get any media attention, in Germany, where – as before – far too few women’s matches are broadcast, the manner in which women are portrayed in the sport should also be questioned. Tanja Walther-Ahrens, a former Turbine Potsdam player, observes that women’s football does not necessarily have to veer towards a state where incomprehensible sums of money are bandied about, are used to buy the best teams money can buy and to market teams, and where little positive energy is infused into the sport.
Women should be self-assured when it comes to marketing. Walther-Ahrens points out that, in order to attract higher crowds, basketball sponsors require women players to wear tight-fitting one-piece uniforms, and if we consider the slogan for the 2011 World Cup – “The beautiful side of 20ELEVEN” – the direction being taken is not one which women’s football should necessarily be pursuing.
Women’s football has also only recently dealt with its lesbian history, and homosexuality continues to be a taboo subject in the men’s game. The disturbing comment uttered by Bayer 04 Leverkusen women’s coach Doreen Meier in the Maiden Monster film “Go Girls Go”, which preceded the panel discussion, that “butch types” have not been good for football raises eyebrows and draws plenty of questions and criticism from the audience and those on the panel.
How political is women’s football?
Needless to say, it should first and foremost be about the game itself, thrilling tactics and professionalism. Although women footballers do not have to be politically engaged, it is perfectly legitimate to use sports universally as a political medium.
Claudia Roth, who is a member of the board of trustees and the environmental advisory board of the FIFA Women’s World Cup and a die-hard fan, also shares the view that women’s football policy equates to human rights’ policy, as can be seen with the “Discover Football” tournament which will be taking place in Berlin at the same time as the Women’s World Cup. This tournament will see teams from Afghanistan, Rwanda and India playing against each other. In her role as FIFA women’s football specialist for development projects, Monika Staab is, above all, targeting Muslim countries where women players continue to endure discrimination. And, as she goes about this, there is one thing in particular she likes to highlight: “Football is a wicked sport!”
All the women taking part in the panel discussion agreed that women’s football is a growth area that must be used. Across the globe, the media attention and difference in funding paid to men’s and women’s teams is out of proportion. After the 20ELEVEN World Cup, no club should really be able to afford NOT TO HAVE a women’s team, although the picture is unfortunately very different at present – SV Frankfurt recently had to give up its women’s team on financial grounds.
The fixture
When tipping the result of the fixture Germany versus Nigeria on 30 June, the women all side with their respective national squads: Roth, Walther-Ahrens and Staab all tip Germany to win – possibly by a score of 3 goals to 1. Whilst neither Falode nor Asak commit to a score, they both promise one thing: the Nigerian team has developed a sufficiently tactical game and will be a tough nut to crack for Germany! A very tough nut – a very, very tough nut...
Last night, there were at least three beaming winners, all of whom went home with an edition of the Tipp Kick game and a jersey signed by the German national team as their reward for winning in the football quiz.
We can only hope that we get to witness what we hope for every time a World Cup comes around: tense excitement, emotions, goals and lots of friends at public viewings, and in-between fixtures, most certainly more openness, creativity and fairness, and hopefully also more multi-layered marketing than in the men’s games.
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Christina Ertl Shirley
grew up next to a football stadium in Vienna and is an author and curator. She lives in Berlin and has written an article on the kick-off event of Getting to Know Your Opponents on Tour.
GENDER KICKS 2011
- Overview: Gender Kicks 2011
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