“In the Bundesliga, I won like a cashier in Edica”

Dina, you’ve already been to the US, Katya, you’re going there now. What makes football there so much better than here?

Katya: In the United States, football is held in an entirely different sense off the field. This can also be observed in universities. You get a separate advisor who will be in charge of you and make sure you follow your undergraduate courses and do well. The gap created by training and games is closed.

It is very difficult here in Germany, because this recognition of sport in the educational sector has not yet reached this point. And I personally think that’s unfortunate, because it’s a huge accomplishment to do all this on the side.

Diana: In college, women’s soccer was the number one sport. The number of spectators was enormous, so it was much higher than here in Division Two or now in Division One. On average there were sometimes 3,000 people. And here the average viewership of last year’s Potsdam turbine was 1,200.

So the mentality there is completely different. And of course I would like that for German football, that women’s football represents itself and is not seen as a starting point for men’s football.

Do you get the impression that women’s football is still too much of a smile compared to men’s football?

Diana: definitely. It is still common here for men to make stupid comments in women’s football. I am also very committed to making things better at the club. But you don’t get rid of that distinction so quickly. And also the difference in wages: in my former team in the first German league [Anm. d. Red.: Turbine Potsdam] I was comparing my salary with my cashier salary in Edeka.

In college in the United States, I paid more than 40 thousand euros in studio fees for a year and more. With Glasgow Rangers, I now earn three times as much as he earns here in Germany, plus an apartment and a car. So I don’t have to worry financially and I can finally focus fully on competitive sports.

Katya: exactly. While I was a young Turbine Potsdam player in the second team, there was a time when I could have developed towards the Bundesliga and maybe also towards the national team.

However, I also had to study under difficult conditions. I tried to learn in part during the twelve hours I spent on the bus on the way back from the first leg. Anything but easy. I also had to finance my life and therefore had to work hand in hand. This triple burden was simply too much in the long run. After that, some injuries led to my withdrawal from competitive sports. For many girls, the same triple burden certainly causes them to stop playing competitive sports. This sad.

How did you motivate yourself to compete in competitive sports despite the obstacles described?

Diana: I asked myself that a lot in the book I wrote.

[Anm. d. Red.: In diesem Jahr hat Orschmann das Crowdfunding-Projekt “Rundum fit” veröffentlicht, ein Frauenfußball-Buch, das Tipps zu den Themen individuelles Training, gesunde Ernährung und positive Denkweise bieten soll. Eine Mischung aus Ratgeber für junge Kickerinnen und ihrer ganz eigenen Geschichte.]

I think it was because of the inner drive and passion we always had for football, which gave us a lot as well. Don’t forget that either. We have traveled all over the world with youth national teams. That was great. And we never thought about taking the train right after school to go to training. You just do it, and of course I think the big advantage was that we share that passion and we’ve always been together.

Katya: I don’t think about what football has not brought us, but what it has given us. For example the first goal that Dina scored against Walker 21. Don’t forget how she almost fell, she hit the ball in the left corner with her right hand, stood up again and then ran in the middle of the field. [beide lachen]

Diana: There’s even a video our dad made and then put under it the music from “The Miracle of Bern”.

Katya: At home he has an entire archive on his computer. Looking back, of course, we haven’t seen much partying, for example. It’s just a different lifestyle to adopt, but no worse. I am very grateful for that. I don’t think we regret anything.

Diana: number

Lukas Kuite, rbb24 Inforadio, spoke to Dina and Katja Orschmann. This text is an abridged and modified version. You can hear the full interview in audio above.

Broadcast: rbb24 Inforadio, July 6, 2022, 10:45 a.m.