Rita Cygon on women's football: pioneering work, European Championship chances and sponsorship needs

Rita Cygon, ehemalige Spielerin und Trainerin, reflektiert über den Frauenfußball und die EM 2025 in der Schweiz.
Rita Cygon, former player and trainer, reflects on women's football and the European Championship 2025 in Switzerland. (Symbolbild/MB)

Rita Cygon on women's football: pioneering work, European Championship chances and sponsorship needs

rita cygon, a pioneer of women's football in Germany, witnessed the development of the women's game up close. The 61-year-old trainer and former player looks back on an impressive career that began in the 1970s and early 1980s when she played for Tennis Borussia Berlin. During this time she became a Berlin champions five times (1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1981) and reached the final for the German Championship (1976, 1981) twice. Despite these successes, Cygon emphasizes that women's football was banned in Germany until 1970 and players how they often had to play secretly. Her statements are supported by a comprehensive history of women's football in Germany, which goes back to the beginning in the 1930s when the first German women's football club was founded and the women's football was put into the spotlight.

Today, Cygon is a trainer at FC Arminia Tegel in 1977 and also works as a school bus driver. The association was founded in 2018 and is enjoying growing popularity, especially in the girls' area. However, cygon still sees improvement in the amateur area, especially in terms of sponsors and infrastructure. The attention that gave way to women's football has increased in recent years, and according to Sportfive this is the beginning of a new era, in which investments in women's foot are.

challenges and opportunities in women's football

Despite the positive developments, cygon sees that the current structures in women's football are not designed for increasing attention. In order to meet the requirements, sustainable investments in the infrastructure are necessary. Cygon demands equipment such as lawn heating in venues and additional camera pods to increase professionalism in women's football. This corresponds to the increasing number of spectators and the event of highlight games that are a sign of the departure in women's football.

The upcoming European Championships in Switzerland is another indication of the growing importance of women's football. The tournament sparked great interest with over 570,000 tickets of a total of 670,000. Cygon, who assesses the chances of the German national team at the European Championship, plans to pursue the tournament during their vacation in Ireland, possibly in a pub or with a laptop. Their enthusiasm for the game and the expected performance of the players underlines the positive development of women's sports.

A look at the story

A look at the history of women's football shows how much was fought. In 1955, the DFB prohibited women from playing football on the grounds that it contradicts the "nature of the women". Despite this ban, players organized themselves unofficially and carried out their own championships. In 1970 the DFB finally opened the ban on what could be considered a turning point. The first official competitions followed, and women's football increasingly gained respect and recognition.

The development of women's football in the last decades is determined by the work of pioneers like Rita Cygon. Your desire for recognition for the previous generations and the challenges that are still before women's football show that despite all progress, a lot has to be done to ensure a sustainable and high -quality range of sports for women.

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OrtBerlin, Deutschland
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