Regional league for B juniors: A new beginning in women's football!

Regional league for B juniors: A new beginning in women's football!

The North German Football Association (NFV) has taken an important step towards women's football and founded a B junior regional league for the new season. This step comes at the request of many clubs after the German Football Association (DFB) abolished the federal leagues. Among the participating clubs are well-known clubs such as Hamburger SV, Werder Bremen, FC St. Pauli, Holstein Kiel, SpVg Aurich and Hertha BSC, who are preparing together for a new challenge. Loud NDR If you look at the regional league as a kind of U17 Bundesliga with a fresh look.

Women's football coordinator Saskia Breuer from HSV is pleased about the news. In her opinion, the league offers a valuable basis for developing talent. At the same time, Sabine Mammitzsch, chairwoman of the North German Women's and Girls' Committee, emphasizes that this is a new competition format that could advance the development of women's football. Another aspect is the DFB's recommendation to let U17 teams compete against boys in regular games. However, for many clubs this is not an ideal solution, especially since the physical development of boys and girls during puberty differs greatly.

Talent development at different levels

Ulrike Ballweg, sporting director for talent development at the DFB, sees the strategic measures as positive and reports on a DFB cup competition for U17 girls, which will initially be held for two years. In Switzerland, many girls play in top-level boys' football, an approach that could also become more important in Germany. Daniel Kraus from VfL Wolfsburg highlights the positive development in the boys' U15 state league and sees the opportunities for girls there as better.

The DFB also plans to increase the number of performance and support centers for girls. There are currently only six such centers, but Ballweg is aiming for a youth performance center (NLZ) for girls to become part of the admission requirements for the women's Bundesliga. There is already interest from more than 25 clubs in becoming certified as an NLZ, which is a further sign of the growing commitment to women's football.

A look into the future

The DFB is also planning mixed games between junior and male teams in the future. But there are also concerns, as Malinowski from SC Freiburg notes. The federalist structures could make it difficult to implement such an idea. Kraus also suggests a “Champions League format” for the best girls’ teams in order to further improve the training of the players.

The first matchday has already been scheduled for the B junior regional league. It is important that everyone involved pays attention to the correct match reports. The DFBnet offers the possibility of self-correcting goal scorers during a set period of time; after this time, corrections can only be made via the squad leader. Fans should always direct any reports of incorrect or missing results to the appropriate relay leader in order to maintain the integrity of the competition, such as Fussball.de reported.

Overall, there are signs of change in women's football. This regional league ushers in a new era that aims to both promote talent and create fair competitive conditions. Excitement is growing about what this new league will bring for the players, the clubs and women's football as a whole in Germany. The efforts to strengthen the structures and double the media reach are aimed at ensuring sustainable and positive development, such as Strategy FF27 of the DFB shows.