Play For Her
The colors: white and blue.
The home: the Lichterfelde district of Berlin.
The mission: a German soccer revolution.
In 2015, the “Sky Blues” under the management of Peer Jäkel made up Germany's largest active soccer division with more than 1600 members in around 65 different teams. The men's first soccer team was promoted to the 3rd division for the 2021/22 season, the first women's team has been playing in the Northeast Regional League since the 2014/15 season.
And it's worth taking a closer look at this one.
It's very simple. Since summer 2022, the regional league team has been led by a female founding team of six shareholders, including two-time world champion Ariane Hingst. The sky blues are thus starting a whole new era. Your goal? A change with a success story in German soccer.
They see themselves as part of FC Victoria 1889 Berlin, but above all as their own start-up. The aim is not only for soccer success, but also for sustainable and social female movement, according to their homepage. “We act entrepreneurially and rely on a strong and unique network of politics, business, culture/media and sport.”
In addition to Hingst, the team also includes one of the most famous faces on the German start-up scene, investor Verena Pausder, journalist Felicia Mutterer, Katharina Kurz, managing director of BRLO Craft Beer, Dr. Tanja Wielgoss and the multi-award-winning marketing, communication and advertising specialist, Lisa Währer. Everyone is interested in soccer and especially interested in women's soccer.
“That is exactly what makes our group so exciting, to come from all areas, to really cover a great deal and therefore already be broadly established as a start-up network,” says Hingst.
The team led by new head coach Alejandro Prieto has set themselves the goal of advancing to the Bundesliga. Since Tennis Borussia was relegated in 2010, no Berlin club has played in the women's Bundesliga. That is exactly what the ladies from Viktoria Berlin want to change now. “The sports capital Berlin urgently needs a top female team. Us.”
The purpose of the project is also to make more idols from women's soccer visible and to inspire young girls and women. Values such as diversity, inclusion, sustainability, self-confidence as well as equal opportunities and equality are absolutely paramount for Sky Blues and should be actively lived and communicated.
“So the most important thing is, and as a key message, you can certainly say: We want to create the Victoria women's soccer brand. And go a bit different ways there. This is about the issue of 'equal pay', although please don't get me wrong, we do not believe that women must now earn millions of dollars. I find that absolutely unhealthy in soccer, by the way. Instead, it is primarily about equal opportunities, investments in women's soccer, giving players the opportunity to play at the highest level and truly be professional athletes,” said those responsible.
The topic of equal pay, i.e. equal payments in both women's and men's soccer, has been discussed for a long time now, especially since World-class performances by European teams during the European Championships in England. Since this year, women in the USA have received the same shares of the association's income as men.
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The Angel City FC As a club run by women for women from the USA, it is the role model for Berliners. This was Founded in 2020 by a group of prominent women. This includes none other than Natalie Portman, as an initiator, but also other well-known actresses such as Jennifer Garner as well as sports stars such as professional tennis player Serena Williams and former ski racer Lindsey Vonn.
“We thought to ourselves: Why shouldn't we be the ones to set a good example for the changes we want to see?
- Eva Longoria, actress and co-owner of Angel City FC
However, you cannot compare American soccer with German soccer in every respect. In America, women generate much more revenue than men and it is therefore justified there that women are paid in the same way as men. However, we are still a long way from this situation in Germany.
However, women who play in the regional league, which is similar to the third division in the men's sector, do not receive any money at all, but must even pay their membership. In future, the players from Berlin should at least be provided with contracts so that they are insured at least through the professional association.
“That is also a big issue. You do sports at a high level, and if something happens to you, you are not even insured for some benefits.” Kurz.
The plans are bold but concrete. Because while Angel City FC from Los Angeles has bought a license and can therefore enter the top division directly, Victoria players have to “still” fight their way up from the regional league. “We are much more regulated in Germany there,” says Kurz. “And if we had really founded a completely new company now, we would have had to start in the district class.” So they looked for a club that is already playing in a higher class, has the necessary structures and is interested in the idea and took over it.
Cooperation has already started with the new season, including with the new head coach Aleksandro Pierto. In the next four to five years, the club would like to play in the high Bundesliga.
To do this, however, the structures and conditions for the players must be further improved. The team is currently training in three different places. Nevertheless, the shareholders are certain:
Great things are possible with this association!
But one thing is definitely certain. Under the motto “The present is female,” the Berliners are embarking on an exciting journey and we are excited to see what the future will bring them.
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