BERLIN (AP) \u2014 As the first and only woman to be appointed head coach of a men\u2019s professional soccer team in Germany, Sabrina Wittmann faces more pressure and scrutiny than most of her counterparts.<\/p>\n
Wittmann has been the coach of her hometown club, third-division Ingolstadt, since May 2024, when she took over for the last four games of the season. Ingolstadt didn\u2019t lose any and won the Bavarian Cup, and Wittmann made history when she was given the job on a permanent basis<\/a> that June.<\/p>\n \u201cI opened the door a little for women. And at the beginning I was honestly afraid of closing the door as quickly (again),\u201d Wittmann told journalists in an online call on Friday.<\/p>\n \u201cThe whole pressure which I felt at the beginning, I mean, you get used to it,\u201d she said. \u201cThe best answer to all this is right now I get asked a lot more questions about football than at the beginning. And that\u2019s something I love.\u201d<\/p>\n Support and adversity<\/p>\n The 34-year-old Wittmann is focused on herself, her strengths, and what she wants to achieve.<\/p>\n \u201cI wanted to be the best because of me, not because of everybody else \u2026 that makes it really natural for me, and authentic. If a woman tries to be a man, or tries to be at the same stage, it\u2019s probably unnatural,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n As a coach she feels it\u2019s \u201cpeople management\u201d more than anything else, and the hardest part comes with making unpopular decisions. Empathy goes a long way toward easing tensions while demanding the best.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel really accepted. I always felt accepted,\u201d she said, crediting her club and the support she receives from managing director Dietmar Beiersdorfer.<\/p>\n But Wittmann has also experienced negative comments on social media and even in stadiums.<\/p>\n \u201cI try not to be focused on that stuff, because if it comes down to a conversation, positive or negative, nine out of ten are really positive and one is negative,\u201d she said. \u201cThe loudest one is sometimes the most negative one, but there are nine people who think it\u2019s a good thing, so I try to focus on that and not make things bigger than they are.\u201d<\/p>\n First steps in USA<\/p>\n Wittmann did not start playing soccer until she was 14 years old. She went to Kentucky in the United States as an exchange student, and found work as an assistant coach there through her host mother, a schoolteacher.<\/p>\n \u201cI just fell in love with this job or this part of being in football. Then I went back (to Germany). I mean, I was still playing and being a coach at the same time,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The game is much more physical in the U.S. compared to Germany, Wittmann found.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d never been in the gym before, so I went to the U.S. we had like gym every day, something we didn\u2019t do in Germany,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen I came back playing soccer here the girls told me that I play a lot more physical than I did before.\u201d<\/p>\n Contract extension<\/p>\n On Friday, Ingolstadt announced<\/a> it was extending Wittman\u2019s contract. Entering the weekend, Ingolstadt was 11th in the 20-team division before hosting Verl on Sunday, far from the relegation and promotion places.<\/p>\n \u201cWe did a good job in the last two years even if we didn\u2019t get up to the second division, but I think we need to build up something for years,\u201d Wittman said, stressing the importance of long-term planning. \u201cWe need to grow healthily.\u201d<\/p>\n Ingolstadt was relegated from the Bundesliga in 2017<\/a> and from the second division in 2019. It was promoted back to the second division in 2021 but went straight back down the following season.<\/p>\n Wittmann, who\u2019d watched Ingolstadt in the Bundesliga from the stands as a fan, said promotion had probably come too soon.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the last few years, especially with Didi Beiersdorfer, it was about building something,\u201d she said, pointing out that the team lost 19 players last summer. \u201cNot in a sad way, but (because) we developed players who went up to the second league or even the first league. I\u2019m a youth coach and first of all, it\u2019s developing players. The better the player gets, the better the team is at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n The contract extension comes just over a month after Wittmann got her pro license, the German soccer federation\u2019s highest coaching credential.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a big dream someday having the pro license because it means that you are able to train every team on this planet,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Still limited opportunities for women<\/p>\n In 2023, Union Berlin\u2019s Marie-Louise Eta became the Bundesliga\u2019s first female assistant coach<\/a>, and in 2017 Bibiana Steinhaus became the first female referee<\/a> in the Bundesliga, but otherwise there have been few breakthroughs for women in men\u2019s professional soccer in Germany, while there are plenty of men involved in women\u2019s soccer. Christian W\u00fcck, a man, is coach of the Germany women\u2019s team.<\/p>\n Wittmann acknowledged it was \u201cprobably hard to find\u201d decision-makers in the 36 clubs of Germany\u2019s men\u2019s first two divisions who would employ a woman as head coach, but she said she believes it will happen.<\/p>\n \u201cI had a lot of conversations with other decision-makers from other clubs,\u201d she said. \u201cI mean, there\u2019s a difference (between) talking to me and telling me I\u2019m doing a good job and taking the decision. I know that\u2019s gonna be difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n For now, all her focus is on her hometown club.<\/p>\n \u201cOne day it\u2019s probably going to happen and I have to leave here, hopefully because I\u2019m able to coach an even higher-ranked team,\u201d Wittmann said. \u201cI do believe that\u2019s going to be hard. I know that, and it\u2019s not going to be easy, but I think five years, nine, ten years, whatever, I hope that things will change, and not only for me, but for every other woman who wants to be a coach.\u201d<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n