As part of the "Play your game" campaign, the E-junior girls of TSG Leihgestern receive footballs and functional shirts from Stadtwerke Gießen.
Around 70 years ago, clubs in this country were forbidden by the association to allow women or girls to play football. Today, hundreds of thousands of female players of all ages chase after the ball, try to score goals with their feet or heads and ultimately win championships. TSG Leihgestern has been one of the clubs that has opened up its football department to women for many years. A women's team has been playing in the league since 2017, and there is now even a second team. To get girls interested in football, TSG organised a girls' football day in 2021 and 2022. With success: last year, TSG was able to register an E-junior girls' team, in which girls aged between eight and eleven play. "All girls are welcome here, even those who have no previous football experience," explains Nicole Krybus, the team's coach. A principle that also applies to all other children's and youth teams at TSG. "The focus with the E-junior girls is on having fun playing football," says Nicole Krybus. But of course the teaching of technique and tactics also plays a role. This should now work even better. Stadtwerke Gießen (SWG) is supporting TSG Leihgestern with 20 footballs and functional shirts for training as part of the "Play your game" campaign. "The integrative approach was the decisive criterion for us in selecting the TSG Leihgestern girls' team," says Stephanie Orlik, explaining the decision. She is responsible for the campaign at SWG.
In fact, "together" plays a central role in the TSG E girls' team: "We attach great importance to the children developing as a team, one being there for the other and everyone getting involved," adds Nicole Krybus. Of course, this also applies to the competition. The E-junior girls regularly compete in Funiño tournaments. This is an intensive, yet child-friendly format: three girls play against each other on small pitches with a total of four mini goals. Each team defends two goals. A game only lasts between five and eight minutes. A promotion and relegation system between the pitches means that teams of similar skill levels meet more and more often over the course of the tournament. "This form of play is very popular with our girls. Everyone is highly committed and enjoys playing," says Nicole Krybus. Of course, the girls also like to compare themselves with other teams in their age group in friendly matches on small pitches.
Not just girls
TSG Leihgestern's football programme for children and young people is of course not limited to the E-junior girls. The club has entered no fewer than twelve teams for the respective rounds. In the boys' programme, every age group is represented, from G- to A-youth. But whether female or male, five or 17 years old - the TSG youth football department is never just about goals and victories, but also about promoting team spirit and fair play. Consequently, the 20 coaches attach great importance not only to teaching football skills, but also to supporting the personal development of their protégés. "We do everything we can to ignite a passion for football in the children. And if we succeed in doing that, everything else happens almost by itself. We are delighted that SWG are helping us with this," says Torsten Braun, Head of Football at TSG.
TSG Leihgestern's E-junior girls are a good example of what SWG wants to achieve with the "Play your game" campaign. Stephanie Orlik puts it like this: "Our main aim is to support clubs and organisations that offer children and young people meaningful exercise opportunities. And TSG Leihgestern fulfils this criterion 100 per cent."