How do our national team players plan the end of their careers?: Everything but arranged

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«At the beginning of your career you don’t think about the end. “You are living your dream,” says Vanessa Bernauer (35). As a 22-year-old, she took the plunge abroad and had been a player for the national team for several seasons. She was in Spain, Germany and Italy; A total of 12 years away from home before returning to the AXA Women’s Super League and FC Zurich in 2022. In his luggage: 91 international matches.

The fact is that the end of her active career is getting closer. If Bernauer had been a 91-time male national player, she would likely have been taken care of long ago and have millions in her account. But for a woman, the question arises: what comes next? “My return to Switzerland was therefore a perspective. I had the feeling that I could better shape my future from here.”

Seraina Friedli (30), ten-time goalkeeper for the national team, is already two steps further. Last year she played with Bernauer at FCZ, in the summer she moved to Belgian Anderlecht – and in November she suddenly announced: I am quitting with immediate effect. Mid season.

Three months later she looks back on that decision. “Of course I didn’t decide that overnight,” she begins. And yet: “I could only imagine then what life would be like without football. Today I can say: I have not fallen into a hole.”

Set new goals

Vanessa Bernauer and Seraina Friedli are two people who have shaped Swiss women’s football in recent years and decades. The question now arises for both: what now?

Midfielder Bernauer openly admits: “I also need help and advice in this process.” Both players exchange ideas with the people around them and listen to options. Over the years you have gotten to know partners and sponsors and remarked here and there: I would also find this job interesting! “As a football player I have made so many contacts that I have gradually built up a network,” says Friedli.

Language skills on the global playing field

Before Vanessa first moved abroad, Bernauer’s parents had insisted that she have a teaching credential. She completed her KV at the business school. In Rome she began studying for a bachelor’s degree in sports science at a distance learning university and has intensified this since returning to Switzerland. There are also various language diplomas that she obtained during her stay abroad. Yet she knows: “I have virtually no professional experience.” If you want to play almost 100 international matches, you have to subordinate a lot to your dream of top sport.

Especially because, as Bernauer also says, many things are not planned: “When I was in Wolfsburg in 2018, I tore my cruciate ligament during an international match.” Result: The contract was not renewed and the Bülach resident moved to Rome. “You have to throw away the plans you had for your career within a few months.” Normality for a footballer.

Both players today received advice from the Athletes Network, for which Martina Moser and Rahel Kiwic also work, in their search for a “career after their career”.

One advantage that Seraina Friedli has over her colleague: she completed her master’s degree in sports science during her active career. Initially, she was quite sure that her future career would be on the football field. “The longer I went, the more I realized that there is a demand for the skills of female athletes in the rest of the private sector as well. I have broadened my horizons.”

Transferable skills

Bernauer says she has spoken with Friedli several times about life after top sport. For example, they both see discipline as a strength that female football players can bring. Friedli: “We know what it’s like to get up early in the morning, work or study, go to the gym in between, continue working, go to training in the evening, not be home until 9 p.m. – and the next day same thing. The whole thing for maybe ten or twelve years. And she adds: “At the same time, we also learn to set priorities. You should still go out to dinner with friends and take time for yourself. We are explicitly addressing these gaps.” Bernauer sees another advantage of female footballers on the labor market: they can handle pressure.

Bernauer still doesn’t know when her career will be over. Will it end in the summer and will it last another season in the AXA Women’s Super League, maybe even two? It also depends on the contracts. In the conversation, she suggests that, in retrospect, she might have thought about future options sooner. But what if a career can never be fully planned and depends on health? She summarizes the situation well with one sentence: “I don’t stress myself, but…”

Source : Blick