Thanks to the women’s tree: now the senior football players are coming

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It’s one of those days when you don’t want to leave your house. A gloomy Saturday afternoon in November. 6 degrees, continuous rain, gusts of wind. Despite the bad weather, there is a lot of activity on the Eschewies sports field in Eschenbach, St. Gallen. Today a tournament for senior football players, organized by the Football Association of the Zurich Region (FVRZ), will take place here on the artificial grass.

Games for senior footballers? This does not yet exist in Switzerland. Unlike men, women’s careers ended after the active category. That should change, because the consequences of the rise of women’s football are predictable: the more girls play, the more active the players will be in the near future and therefore more and more potential senior players in the distant future.

Level modest, atmosphere good

It is still a vulnerable plant that thrives. This afternoon, eight teams from the Zurich region will play for fame and honor. Anyone who is 28 years or older is already considered a senior here. Among the few spectators who left their homes despite the weather was Claudia Gfeller, head of the women’s/junior football development project at FVRZ.

“We are only at the beginning with the senior women,” explains Gfeller, who played in the first division herself. “In 2022 we started a pilot tournament in Höngg. This year there were already four. It is nice to see how involved the women are.”

What is immediately noticeable at the tournament in Eschenbach is the positive atmosphere. Although the standard is modest and many passes do not arrive, there is no complaining or cursing to be heard. This is really about having fun and not about winning.

When will our own competition come?

Even a former international ended up in Eschenbach that day. Kathrin Lehmann, a former Nati goalkeeper, plays as a defender for FC Unterstrass. “I really wanted to experience a tournament like this,” explains the Swiss Footballer of the Year 1999. “Senior women’s football has existed in Germany for a long time and national championships are even held there. I regularly play there for the Ü32 team of Bayern Munich.”

We haven’t gotten that far yet in Switzerland. The Swiss Football Association is currently making no efforts to develop and establish senior women’s football at a national level. That is why the FVRZ has taken on a pioneering role together with Claudia Gfeller. Because women are allowed to participate in these tournaments without a permit and do not have to officially belong to a club, there are no concrete figures yet. “I estimate that there are about 400 senior football players in our region. The trend is upward,” Gfeller explains.

Gfeller’s medium-term goal is clear: at some point there should be senior competitions for women, just like for men. “It’s still too early for a competition like this, but it will come. Either as a tournament series or, as with the men, as a championship. I hope this will happen in five years.”

A positive side effect of the rising seniors: those who play football longer are more likely to volunteer at the club and therefore stay with the football family longer.

Source : Blick