“No sweetie, soccer is not for girls, why don’t you go riding or take ballet instead!” Exactly these are sentences and views that still make it so difficult today to lead a truly equal life. Because equality and empowerment should take place in all areas – including sports! This is what our authors are convinced of this week. They tell you why and how we can work together for more women’s power in sports and beyond. Today the founders of the blog Fan von DIR tell you their passion story and give you 3 great tips!

Fan von DIR – Empowering Women in Sport

“In our first semester, we both attended a career event called “Women in the Professional Field of Sports.” And as first-year students go, we walked into the seminar quite hopeful and came out quite depressed. The basic tenor was: women and sports professions – that doesn’t really fit, or it’s super hard to get a foothold there,” Lisa (24 years, from Cologne) explains to us.

Together with a friend, also Lisa (25 years, from Cologne), they created the online blog “Fan von DIR”. In the Master “International Sport Development & Politics” at the Deutsche Sporthochschule Köln, the two met and immediately it was clear, here two power women have found each other – with the common love for sports and a common passion!

Women in sports professions – this is how it can work

“We didn’t want to let it stand that women and sports professions don’t really go together. And so the blog idea slowly developed. We wanted to create a platform where girls and women can see that women and sport can be a success story – even if there are setbacks.

Our goal with our blog is to encourage women and girls to think “outside of the box”. Everyone should do whatever sport or profession they feel like doing – regardless of any role stereotypes. We focus on women, but men and boys sometimes face very similar problems when doing ballet, for example – and in the 21st century that really shouldn’t be the case anymore.

Every story is worth telling and worth hearing!

Our approach is that everyone can tell their story best. That’s why (almost) all of our athletes write their own stories. We only support them as needed, sometimes more sometimes less, and encourage them that their story is really worth telling. Our experience is that many are very reluctant and initially assume that their experiences are not worth telling. But when you dig deeper, the most amazing stories come out.

We are also always happy when we can draw attention to other topics that are close to our hearts through the stories. For example, we can do some publicity for volunteering or for organ donation, such as when para-athlete Franzi Liebhardt told her story to us.

Empowerment and equality in sport

In essence, sport is a good thing. It promotes health, social contacts and builds self-confidence. It is therefore all the more important that it is easily accessible to everyone, without any artificially created inhibitions. In theory, this is easy to say, but in practice it is much more difficult.

Why? Because many structures and role patterns have existed for centuries. The man has to be strong and the woman as graceful as possible.

It takes time to break up these patterns. Therefore, it is important to keep drawing attention to these grievances and to raise awareness. To achieve this, it is important to empower women and encourage them to make their voices heard, but also to get men on board, because only together we can achieve more equality.

Three #girlsforgirls tips from the two Lisas

• You have a passion? Then live it out. It doesn’t matter if it’s in sport, writing or any other field. The important thing is that you enjoy it and not whether it meets the expectations of others. Look for a role model and if you don’t find one, become your own! 😊
• Look for allies. Nobody has to be able to do everything. Therefore, approach people selectively and who knows, maybe someone knows someone who knows someone who can help you.
• Don’t be discouraged. Especially in the beginning, not everything goes well and not everyone understands your dream. Stay with it, research the topic, talk to people who are good for you and then everything will eventually fall into place. 😊 “

Thank you both for your passion story and your great blog!

You might also like these articles:

Self-confident through sport – 3 passion stories
I love sport – even in icy times
Gender justice and sexual identity – the way to go
Creating Self-Love and Female Empowerment through Art
Digital Detox – 3 ways to relax
My passion: I make others strong

Fun Fact: The two Lisas are still looking for a good way to distinguish themselves. On sale so far: Lisa 1 & Lisa 2, Lisa S. & Lisa K., red Lisa & mustard yellow Lisa (matched to colour of top), Lisa^2 / Lisa square, … any ideas?!

Feel free to write your idea in the comments and help them that way 😉