The story of Melanie Leupolz is a special one. The former Bayern player wants to take her nine-month-old baby to the Women’s World Cup and prove that being a national player and being a mother are not mutually exclusive.
It’s the big topic on Wednesday at the German women’s national team’s training camp in Herzogenaurach, Franconia: Melanie Leupolz is fighting for her place in national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg’s World Cup squad. Of 28 nominated players, only 23 make it to the finals in Australia and New Zealand (July 20th to August 20th – live on ARD).
But what is special? The answer to this is not found on, but next to the square. Leupolz is the mother of a nine-month-old son. The Allgäu native is the only mother in the DFB selection, and she is only the third German player in history to become part of the national team again with a child.
World Cup training camp with a child: “It’s beautiful”
“It’s wonderful that I can take the little one here with me, that I can combine both,” Leupolz said in an interview on Wednesday BR24. This is not a matter of course for the Chelsea midfielder. She is happy “that I can fight for a place in the squad for the national team.”
In the past season, Leupolz has already impressively demonstrated that her child is not an obstacle. “My coach at Chelsea put my trust in me from a very young age. I was back in team training after three and a half months and played at the highest level in the Champions League against Barcelona and Lyon.”
After her quick comeback, Leupolz fought back her place with the Blues and played 15 games in the second half of the season. The 29-year-old was in the starting eleven for all four appearances in the premier class.
“Children bring a certain lightness with them because they don’t worry,” Leupolz describes her everyday life as a professional athlete and mother: “Regardless of how the training or the game went, you look them in the eye and it’s a certain burden one off.”
Leupolz calls for “rethinking of clubs”
After her pregnancy break, the ex-Bayern player “gave confidence straight away” from Chelsea coach Emma Hayes, so she was able to quickly find her old strength. Leupolz’s success story might not have happened in the past.
“So far, players have always had to choose between having children or playing football,” said Leupolz in April Sports Illustrated and called for “a rethink” from the professional clubs: “There are uniform regulations.”
Martina Voss-Tecklenburg as an ally
Before mid-May, national coach Voss-Tecklenburg reported how difficult it was for new mothers in professional football not so long ago ARD documentary “More than just football”. “I got pregnant when we were already separating, and I knew I was alone,” said Voss-Tecklenburg. The then 25-year-old was the first national player to give birth to a child during her playing career.
Wolfsburg goalkeeper Almuth Schult showed that times have changed at the EM 2021 when she was the second goalkeeper in the squad. Leupolz missed the big event in England due to her pregnancy. So she is all the more hungry to be at the World Cup on the other side of the world – with a child, of course.
“I hope that the little one is also an enrichment for the team,” said Leupolz on Wednesday. After last friendly on Friday (8:30 p.m.) against Zambia in Fürth decides whether the DFB team will travel to Australia and New Zealand with 23 players and a small human mascot.
Source: BR24 05.07.2023 – 6:30 p.m
