The first top woman at the DFB studied in Bayreuth
Heike Ullrich is a real "Spöko" (student of Sport, Business & Law), and even today she is still involved in the alumni network on a voluntary basis and contributes to the development of the course.
Heike Ullrich has nothing but good memories of Bayreuth, as she relates in an interview with UBTAKTUELL web magazine. In between Spöko parties and sport psychology lectures, on her way from the “Kreutzer” baths to seminars, she learned to follow her heart – which she does to this day.
On 31.10.1970, women's football was officially included in the DFB statutes. When did you become a football enthusiast?
Well in 1970, I was still in diapers and just learning to walk. But, in fact, I played football in our club WBR Wartjenstedt only a few years later. It was a great time playing in mixed teams. I didn't want to become a professional football player, but in my adolescent years, I did try to emulate certain male soccer players, seeing as they were my idols. So, yes, I have always been a "football enthusiast".Who drew your attention to the Sport, Business & Law course?
A still very good friend of mine, with whom I did or rather survived my bank apprenticeship in Braunschweig, told me about the course of studies, and we then took the sports test together. We enrolled at the University of Bayreuth together in 1990. I studied there until 1995, and at the same time studied to become a teacher. I started my doctoral thesis in Bayreuth but in 1996 I was poached by the DFB (German Football Association) and went directly from Bayreuth University to the DFB.
What in Bayreuth prepared you particularly well for your current job?
For me, my studies were the perfect mix of sport, business, and law. Being curious about the world, this aspect of culture and languages was also a great way to start my job. I started off as a team manager of the women's national team, i.e. it had a lot to do with organisation, with a feeling for sport, for athletes, for competitive athletes, and at the same time, required organisational skills and knowledge of group management. In this respect, my background at the University of Bayreuth with my diploma in Sport, Business & Law was perfect for me, because I deal with precisely these matters in my profession today. The legal background as well as the economic background, but also always that closeness to sport, in order to understand who you are supporting, and what we are actually trying to achieve here.
Heike Ullrich holds a degree in Sport, Business & Law, and has been Deputy Secretary General of the German Football Association since July 2020.
Is there something you would call the "Spöko-Spirit" and, if so, what are its distinguishing features?
Obviously, yes. The Spöko network is very special. When you say you're a Spöko from Bayreuth - you're addressed in a completely different way. Even today, after many, many years of no longer being at university, it is still a close network and a great bond. Because every student ever privileged to experience the study programme feels the spirit that the University of Bayreuth radiates. I believe everyone likes to think back on their time there, because it means zest for life, pure and simple.
What is it like belonging to this network today?
I am on the economic advisory board of Sport, Business & Law at the University of Bayreuth, so I am committed on a voluntary basis to Sport, Business & Law in Bayreuth, and I am very, very happy to be doing that. But I also like to meet my old university friends and to get to know the young Spökos, to catch up the changes in the course of studies and training. I am interested in what Sport, Business & Law is all about today. And I’m happy to say that many of the friends I made during my studies are still the closest I have in my life.
Beyond lectures and tutorials, what experiences in Bayreuth had a decisive influence on you?
Well, these were of course our Spöko parties, Thursday evenings and then – not very easy – getting to the sports psychology lecture Friday morning at 8.00 am... Any former Spöko knows what I am talking about. Or playing a quick game of beach volleyball at Kreuzsteinbad baths, only to find yourself sitting next to those very players, now business or law students, in the lecture hall a few minutes later. The quick transition from lecture hall to gymnasium, between focus and fun, whether in theory or in practice, that's how I remember the course of studies in my day. In this respect, it was simply an attitude to life that we were allowed to live out and experience during these four or five years of study there.
What tips would you give young people at the beginning of their professional or student life after high school?
For example, after graduating from high school, I first did an apprenticeship at a bank and then realized that, although it was okay, it was not really what I wanted to do professionally for the next 30 years. And I think everyone should take the time to find out what would make a job fun and enjoyable for them, and to try things out. For example, getting to know and appreciate foreign cultures travelling abroad, and understanding the world a little better as a result. I can only advise everyone to just follow their heart, and do what they enjoy doing, even if it is out of inner conviction. Then there will be a high probability of not only enjoying your job but also being good at it.
In your case it was obviously Sport, Business & Law, judging by the enthusiastic way you describe it...
Sport, Business & Law truly is an ingenious combination of sport, business, law, attitude to life, and openness towards other cultures. In this respect, I can only recommend every young person to choose a pathway that allows them to follow their heart and do what they really want to do. For me, this was indeed Sport, Business & Law.
50 Years of Women’s Football
"In fighting for the ball, all feminine grace is lost, body and soul inevitably suffer damage, and the display of the body offends both decency and propriety." With this reasoning, the DFB banned women's football in 1955. The ban was lifted in 1970 and the first Women's World Cup was held in 1991. Germany's top women footballers became world champions in 2003 and 2011. Chancellor Merkel’s quote is legendary: "The women's national soccer team are already soccer world champions, and I see no reason why men cannot achieve just as much as women.” But there was also this: "I don't believe that this sport will become as popular as our traditional football. In the end, their place is in the kitchen." Gerd Müller is said to have said that about women playing football.
Heike Ullrich, the Bayreuth Spöko-Alumna and today's DFB vice secretary general, can only smile at statements like that. She says quite clearly: "For me there is only one football. Football is very simple: It is usually played on goals, if necessary two poles or two sweaters can be used.” She knows that men's professional football enjoys completely different public recognition, but still: "What remains is football for girls, for boys, for big, for small, for old, for young, for all cultures. It's a simple sport and that's how we should see it, that's how we should offer and perceive it."
Heike Ullrich has been dealing with the subject of "professional women's sport" for years, and has noticed that it is still more difficult to market, that it is broadcast less frequently, and has fewer sponsors - whether it be in women's football or tennis, handball, or volleyball. But when it comes to football, the differences are particularly stark. The final of the 2011 Women's World Cup in Germany had about 15 million viewers, the men's game Germany/Argentina in 2014 was watched by almost 35 million people. Nevertheless, Ullrich says "I am convinced that our product is a great one. Top women's football is great." And yet: "The women's cup final this year was so brilliant, it really deserved a full stadium, which unfortunately was not possible due to the coronavirus restrictions." So, she would like to see "more chances to present our great sport at the top, too". By this she means "partners who share our journey, who support us in spreading the product that it is on the market, so that people can discover their passion for women's football."
But the DFB’s top woman also makes it clear that, in the end, it's all about the performance of the athletes: "In the men's area, as well as in the women's area, there are sometimes better and sometimes not so good games, so for me, personally, attractiveness doesn't depend on whether it's men's football or women's football, but we simply have to deliver a good product - and top women's football is a good product.