Armina Bielefeld midfielder Sophia Thiemann has revealed that women playing football in her country’s second division aren’t any different from their South African counterparts as they also have day jobs and some are in school.
Thiemann was part of a joint online round-table with Kaizer Chiefs Ladies to honour women’s month, where she opened up on the situation in Women’s Bundesliga 2.
“Well, I think it’s pretty similar to the kind of Chiefs because most of us are working, studying,” said Thiemann when asked by iDiski Times.
“Some of us are still going to school, so we all have jobs and other things to do besides football. So we don’t do football like on a professional level.
“Obviously semi-professional, but we still have to have jobs, and it’s not enough to just play football.”
Her teammate Margherita Santamaria added that for her because she grew up playing the game, it is not strange and that she does not overthink the fact of having to juggle other things with football.
Even the (first) Women’s Bundesliga in Germany is still considered semi-professional, but all teams have strong men’s divisions, with 13 out of 14 having male side’s in the Bundesliga.
In South Africa women’s football is considered amateur sport with no professional league, though it has two divisions – the SAFA Provincial Leagues and the Hollywoodbets Super League.
However funding and lack of sponsorships have been the biggest issue with most clubs unable to afford to pay their players actual salaries.
This season SAFA who run women’s football introduced a new format in the highest league, dividing it into two streams and playing it in a festival format in an effort to address some of the issues clubs face including financial.