“Unfortunately, not a lot has changed for girls in football.”
19 März 2024 - 10:00AM
Business Wire
Germany national team captain Alexandra Popp
speaks to PUMA CEO Arne Freundt about leadership and the challenges
of women in football
PUMA CEO Arne Freundt and Alexandra Popp, the captain of the
Germany national football team, spoke about leadership and the
challenges of women in football. The video interview is part of the
sports company’s digital annual report, which was published on
March 18 on about.puma.com.
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the full release here:
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Voted Germany’s footballer of the year three times, Alexandra is
one of the most prominent ambassadors for women’s football and she
is known for her skill and charismatic leadership on the pitch. She
started off her career playing in a mixed team, and she distinctly
recalled how girls were often belittled and treated unfairly on the
pitch.
“Football is still pretty tough for girls. The boys in my team
were cool. But our opponents were another story. They laughed at
you. They said: look, they have a girl in their team, we’ll beat
them easily,” Alexandra said. “Or when you play and you dribble
past the first guy, maybe past the second guy and then the third
guy fouls you hard and knocks you off your feet. In a very nasty
way. And you have the parents on the sidelines who cheer him on. If
you hear how girls are still being treated at some of the clubs,
not a lot has changed.”
Arne said her story showed how much there is still to be done to
create a level playing field for women in football.
“Your story is very inspiring and had a huge impact on me. I had
thought and hoped that our society would be more open and judge
players on their skills and performance and not on their gender,”
Arne said on his LinkedIn channel. “It clearly shows that we have
still a huge way to go. As a sports company we are 100% committed
to support trailblazers like you who prove the haters and doubters
wrong.”
In spite of the difficult time as a youth player, Alexandra
believes the challenges early in her career gave her the thick skin
necessary to persevere in her long and successful career.
“I totally get the girls who say: I don’t want that,” she said.
“Because it was the path I chose to follow, I can now say that
those years helped me build up a certain resilience and a certain
mentality. Maybe it was what made me the type and the character I
am today when I’m on the pitch.”
When it comes to leadership, Alex said she believes that the
necessary skills were part of her mindset early on in her career,
but she noted that she still had a lot to learn once she was asked
to captain the team.
“I needed a year to grow into that position, especially when it
came to communication,” Alexandra said. “As a player, I benefited
from tough, straightforward advice. And I thought, well I’ll do it
exactly the same way. But that really backfired with some of the
players. I had to learn that.”
Arne, who became PUMA CEO in 2022, said he quickly discovered
how much he enjoyed leading a team and developing people to reach
their full potential.
“My first team was quite small, just two employees,” Arne said.
“But I already really enjoyed it back then, to lead them, to
develop them and to see that you have an impact. You make them
better at what they do.”
Asked to give advice to young people who want to become CEOs
themselves, Arne said they should first and foremost follow their
passion.
“Look for something that you really enjoy doing. That
intrinsically motivates you,” Arne said. “That gives you energy and
moves you forward. Once you have found that, there are no further
barriers to making you successful.”
Alexandra will captain Germany at the Olympic Football
Tournament in Paris this year.
The video of the full interview is available at
https://annual-report.puma.com
PUMA
PUMA is one of the world’s leading sports brands, designing,
developing, selling and marketing footwear, apparel and
accessories. For more than 75 years, PUMA has relentlessly pushed
sport and culture forward by creating fast products for the world’s
fastest athletes. PUMA offers performance and sport-inspired
lifestyle products in categories such as Football, Running and
Training, Basketball, Golf, and Motorsports. It collaborates with
renowned designers and brands to bring sport influences into street
culture and fashion. The PUMA Group owns the brands PUMA, Cobra
Golf and stichd. The company distributes its products in more than
120 countries, employs about 20,000 people worldwide, and is
headquartered in Herzogenaurach/Germany.
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Media Contact: Kerstin Neuber – PUMA Corporate Communications
– kerstin.neuber@puma.com
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