Basketball has been played in Germany for around 100 years. Women’s basketball also has a long tradition in this country. In 1947, the TS Jahn Munich from 1887 won the first German championship title. But: There has only been a Bundesliga since 2001. Ex-national player Linda Fröhlich therefore said on Deutschlandfunk that women’s basketball in Germany is still in its infancy. The sport must be pushed more by those responsible. But women’s basketball itself must be more self-confident and louder, said Fröhlich.
“It was difficult for me as a youth player to be more self-confident and to formulate self-confident goals because you were totally lagging behind internationally,” said Lena Gohlisch, captain of Bundesliga promoted Alba Berlin in the Deutschlandfunk sports talk.
In terms of media representation of women’s basketball, “far too little has been done in recent years,” said Ireti Amojo, strategic coordinator for girls and women at Alba Berlin. Especially figureheads like WNBA player Satou Sabally or Leonie Fiebich, MVP in Spain, “we don’t see in regular game operations in Germany. And of course the German Basketball Association is also responsible for looking after these players closely, looking after them and of course to push. That has been neglected in recent years,” said Amojo.
“If you want to push something, you have to invest,” said Dirk Steidl, Managing Director of FC Nöttingen, where the basketball department of the German champions Rutronik Stars Keltern is docked. “The way it’s structured at the moment, it’s going to be difficult to push. You need experts, you need leaders who drive the project forward. That’s where you have to start and that’s where the German Basketball Association is primarily required.”
Steidl: “Nothing has changed at all”
In fact, since 2020 there has been a cooperation between the women’s Bundesliga DBBL and the DBB and a program called “Agenda 2030 – Women’s Basketball in Germany”, which is intended to bring women’s basketball forward. However, Gohlisch said: “Now we have to honestly say that we haven’t noticed that much of it yet.”
Steidl goes one step further: “Nothing has changed at all,” he said. “You want to pay more attention to the women, but not much happens. For example, it would have been nice if only one representative of DBB Keltern had congratulated the German championship. Then it’s a bit questionable for me whether these things then only stand on paper, or also be lived.”
Amojo: “Hope we can implement more”
It’s also a question of appreciation, Amojo said. “So far, a lot has been said, much discussed and little implemented. And I just hope that we will then be able to implement more in the next few years. But there are many great ideas.” Amojo said that action had to be taken on all fronts. “There are a lot of construction sites at the DBB and also in our clubs, in the youth area and in game operations. And there is now simply the question: who takes responsibility, who drives these issues forward? And then who are the clubs that really pull along and continue to tackle this project?”
Steidl tried to advance the women’s basketball project at FC Nöttingen, but “reached my limits after just a few weeks. It’s a very difficult process and also a fight against windmills because it’s very difficult to make a difference here in the long term .”
This is also due to the fact that the clubs in Germany are not funded. It’s different abroad, said Steidl. “In France, clubs start with 600,000 euros on the first day of the year because the country of France, the region and the municipalities give around 600,000 to 700,000 euros to each club. This money then pays coaches who do and become youth work Youth boarding schools are encouraged. It’s like that in France, it’s like that in Spain, it’s like that in Hungary. We don’t have the euro.” That is why there is no money for qualified trainers. “And that’s where a lot of clubs fail.”
The women’s basketball Bundesliga is currently making a good step, said Steidl: “The league has started to hold talks with all Bundesliga clubs and is now looking at each club individually for the first time in decades. That you examine what the individual club can do, what can pressing help to become stronger? How can you develop each location individually?”
European championship as a chance
The European Championship, which will be held in Israel and Slovenia in June, is now also a great opportunity. For the first time since 2011, a German team is also taking part. It will be a great moment for the players, Amojo said. “Of course it will also be really exciting for the DBB to see how that works, how attention is generated for this event, how the public relations work takes place. This is precisely a point where we still have a lot of catching up to do because we are far from in were in such a situation to promote such an event.”
That will change in 2026, because then the women’s world championship will take place in Berlin. “We hope that this will increase awareness of women’s basketball in Germany,” said Amojo. “But that means that we will hopefully have a lot of enthusiastic girls all over Germany who want to play basketball afterwards. What has to be given is that we can take them in, that we can offer them a place. We have to be prepared for that be.”
World Cup as “a unique opportunity for women’s basketball”
“From the point of view of the players, it is an important signal from the German Basketball Association that such a tournament will be held in Germany and that women’s basketball will be discussed at all,” adds Gohlisch. “It’s only in recent years that players have the feeling that the association is interested in improving women’s basketball at all.” The World Cup could now give a push again.
For Steidl, the World Cup in Germany is “a unique opportunity for women’s basketball. I think that the DBB will attach great importance to starting two or three years earlier to explore the fascination of girls’ and women’s basketball to support various actions. And then you can take that as a starting signal to successfully place this project in the future.”