World Cup referee Staubli talks about formative youth experience: “Since then I’ve had a second life”

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Esther Staubli (43) is a football nerd in the true sense of the word. “I really like watching football.” At home in her apartment, she has a big screen on which a round ball flickers almost every night. Staubli follows matches from all over Europe, including those from the 2nd Spanish league. She recently watched the Buenos Aires city derby between Boca Juniors and River Plate. “It’s exciting to see the football cultural differences.”

As a little girl, Staubli discovered her love for football. While others wish for dolls, at the age of five she wished her god a ball. Her wish was granted and the apple trees in her parents’ garden were no longer safe. “The Gravensteins were sacred to my father,” says Staubli with a laugh. “But in between it ‘rummed’ and the apples came down.”

Many years later, the apple trees provide another formative experience. In 2013, Staubli fell off a ladder while doing woodwork around his parents’ house. She is lucky in her misfortune, as she falls from a height of ten meters onto a ledge and escapes with a broken vertebra. “The first thought at that moment was if I could still move my legs.” Can she. “Since then I’ve had a second life.”

Only woman in the Super League

Staubli’s childhood was shaped by rural life. Her first World Cup experience was at the 1990 World Cup, when she was allowed to watch the final between Argentina and Germany at her neighbour’s house. The Staublis have no television. “When the World Ski Championship was going on, my mother rented one.” Staubli only joins an FC after completing compulsory education. At Rot-Schwarz Thun she plays in the national class A. She is not particularly talented. “I came more through the physique and quickly felt where my limits are.”

In 2000 she completed her first referee training. It was love at first sight and to this day it’s “huge fun,” as Staubli says. In 2013 she whistled her first European Championship, two years later the Champions League final and her first World Cup. In 2017, she took charge of the European Championship final between the Netherlands and Denmark, with other big matches ahead. In the autumn of 2021 she will play her first game in the men’s Super League – as the first woman in 13 years.

It doesn’t matter to Staubli whether there are men or women on the field. For her, who trains 15 hours a week, it’s 22 different individuals. “It is important that you are empathetic and readable and clear to the players. You have to understand where the limits are.” Another important virtue is not holding a grudge. Everyone always deserves a new chance. She analyzes every game herself, “my goal is to get better from game to game”. She doesn’t get involved in discussions about the rules, other people should answer that.

commute between worlds

Football is just one part of Esther Staubli’s professional life. When she is not in the field, the agronomist teaches future farmers about animal husbandry, especially cows, on a short period of time at the Inforama in Zollikofen. She grew up in Hilterfingen on Lake Thun, surrounded by many animals. As a teenager, she dropped out of school after three years, to the chagrin of her parents, and was apprenticed as a farmer. “It’s one of the most beautiful jobs there is. I’ve never regretted my choice of career,” says Staubli. Today she passes on her knowledge.

Both as a trainer and privately, she doesn’t worry about her job as a referee. That’s another reason why she doesn’t like being in the public eye, but prefers to be on the field. A year ago at the European Championships in England, a former student wrote to her that he had seen her on television. “At school I always say that I have a part-time job and do sports.” She keeps her worlds strictly separate and in her private life Staubli likes to go to the opera, listen to classical music or build a fire. She recently bought a camper.

Staubli doesn’t know how much longer she wants to whistle. It’s the wrong time for an exhibition. Your focus is on the World Cup. The final in Sydney as a major career goal? Not for fabric. “It’s not always the final or the hardest game with the most spectators in the biggest stadium that counts. The best experiences are shared with my assistants and moments that fill my heart.” As a recent example, she mentions a match in the spring at Camp Nou in Barcelona.

Now Staubli and her assistant Susanne Küng (35) are in the referee camp in Sydney. She had already traveled to Australia in 2010 during a personal break. “One of the best I’ve ever done.” During the corona pandemic, she was deployed as a referee in two test matches Down Under – occupying an entire floor in the hotel with her assistants due to quarantine regulations. The current trip to Australia should also be formative. Staubli’s goal: ideal preparation, a first game – and moments that fill her heart.

Source : Blick