Women's football in Germany
Women's football is an important part of American football in Germany and is played in a league run by the American Football Association Germany (AFVD). The Bundesliga is the top division. Since the 2009 season, teams have been playing in the 2nd women's Bundesliga for promotion to the Bundesliga . In contrast to the first division, the teams play there with only nine players per team on the field at the same time.
Beginnings
September 27, 1987 can be seen as a milestone in development, as the first football game between two women's teams took place on this date. Opponents were the Berlin Adler Girls and a group of women from the Cologne Crocodiles, Hanover Ambassadors and Leverkusen Leopards. In Hanover, the game ended 56:20 in favor of the syndicate from West Germany.
The first season
After a few more friendly matches, the AFVD organized the first season in 1990 with the following 6 teams:
- Bamberg Lady Bears
- Berlin Adler Girls
- SG Cologne Crocodiles / Leverkusen Leopards (game group)
- Duisburg Dockers
- Hamburg Dolphins
- Hannover Ambassadors
At the end of the season, the women from Bamberg and Hanover landed on the first two places and were thus allowed to play the first final of the (still unofficial) German championship in women's football. The Lady Bears won by 14:12.
The 1990s
After seeing that the league was functioning well, the company was able to expand further and in 1992 it came to Ladies Bowl I, which was won by the Bamberg Ladies Bears, who had been unbeaten for almost 3 seasons. In the following season they were considered favorites, but other teams, especially the Berlin Adler Girls, had caught up a lot. The Berlin women managed to become champions from 1993 to 1997. During this "dynasty" more and more teams came into regular league operations, so that in 1995 even a second league was founded, but was suspended again after one season, as the peak of team reports was reached with 10 teams. From then on, the group of teams became smaller and smaller. At least there was a new league prime with the Nürnberg Hurricanes, which won the Ladies Bowls in 1998 and 1999. In 1999 there were only 6 teams left, a further existence was questionable.
The 2000s
In 2000, 3 new old teams (who had already participated once, but had not been able to participate due to too few players in the previous seasons) and the Rüsselsheim Razorbacks were added as a new team, so that the record number of 10 teams could be reached again. The Adler Girls became champions again. It stayed that way until 2004, so they are record holders with 10 championship titles. In the 2005 season, however, they did not take part in the operation either, so there was inevitably a new master who was also found in Ladies Bowl XIV with the Munich Cowboys Ladies. In 2006 the Munich Cowboys Ladies were able to defend the title of German champion against the new Berlin Kobra Ladies team, but that year the Berlin women again won the championship cup in the final against the Nürnberg Hurricanes in the Munich stadium. In 2009, the game was expanded to include the 2nd women's Bundesliga. In the 9 tackle, the teams Bochum Miners, Salzgitter Black Widows, Stuttgart Scorpions Sister, Mainz Lady Warriors, Hamburg Blue Devilyns, Braunschweig Lady Lions and Kiel Baltic Witches fought for the second division championship. Ultimately, the team from Mainz prevailed against Salzgitter in the final. The German champions were again the Berlin Kobra Ladies.
See also : List of German football teams (women)
Ladies bowls
- See also : Ladiesbowl
year | # | place | winner | Second | Result |
1992 | I. | Bamberg | Bamberg Ladies Bears | Mülheim shamrocks | 23:00 |
1993 | II | Berlin | Berlin Adler Girls | Frankfurt Gamblers | 30:08 |
1994 | III | Lübeck | Berlin Adler Girls | Nuremberg Hurricanes | 33:00 |
1995 | IV | Hanau | Berlin Adler Girls | Hanover stampeders | 31:00 |
1996 | V | Hagen | Berlin Adler Girls | Hanover stampeders | 32:08 |
1997 | VI | Lübeck | Berlin Adler Girls | Hannover Ambassadors | 21:08 |
1998 | VII | Lübeck | Nuremberg Hurricanes | Cologne crocodiles | 37:29 |
1999 | VIII | Lübeck | Nuremberg Hurricanes | Berlin Adler Girls | 31:20 |
2000 | IX | Dessau | Berlin Adler Girls | Hamburg maniacs | 62:25 |
2001 | X | Berlin | Berlin Adler Girls | Munich Cowboys Ladies | 35:00 |
2002 | XI | Munich | Berlin Adler Girls | Munich Cowboys Ladies | 28:20 |
2003 | XII | Mülheim | Berlin Adler Girls | Munich Cowboys Ladies | 41:12 |
2004 | XIII | Munich | Berlin Adler Girls | Hamburg Amazons | 14:08 |
2005 | XIV | Mülheim | Munich Cowboys Ladies | Hamburg Amazons | 24:00 |
2006 | XV | Mülheim | Munich Cowboys Ladies | Berlin Kobra Ladies | 41:14 |
2007 | XVI | Munich | Berlin Kobra Ladies | Nuremberg Hurricanes | 55:18 |
2008 | XVII | Flensburg | Berlin Kobra Ladies | Nuremberg Hurricanes | 40:37 |
2009 | XVIII | Lübeck | Berlin Kobra Ladies | Nuremberg Hurricanes | 41:26 |
2010 | XIX | Dusseldorf | Berlin Kobra Ladies | Dusseldorf Blades | 34:28 in OT |
2011 | XX | Berlin | Berlin Kobra Ladies | Dusseldorf Blades | 42:12 |
2012 | XXI | Frankfurt (Oder) | Berlin Kobra Ladies | Dusseldorf Blades | 58:22 |
2013 | XXII | Frankfurt (Oder) | Berlin Kobra Ladies | Crailsheim Hurricanes | 20:16 |
2014 | XXIII | Crailsheim | Mülheim shamrocks | Berlin Kobra Ladies | 52:22 |
youth
A long-term gray area has long been the lack of or poorly thought-out youth work in the field of women. Until 2001, girls up to the age of 14 were allowed to play in the mixed youth flag football team, but only from the age of 16 and only with special permission to play in the "big boys". These missing two years were often the crux of the matter with the girls, so women's football threatened to die out. Then in 2001 there were changes. Girls up to the age of 15 are now allowed to play in the mixed youth teams, and from the age of 15 they also receive a special permit for adult games. From 2009 it will be possible for girls to play tackle football in mixed teams (youth BD).