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I started playing soccer at the age of four, after accompanying my brother to one of his training sessions. At 17, I joined TSG 1899 Hoffenheim after spending a couple of years with FC Bayern Munich’s youth team. I have been playing in the German first league for the past eight years.
Some of my favorite career moments include playing for the national youth team of Germany. In 2014, we won the European Championships in England. Two years ago, Hoffenheim qualified for the Uefa Women’s Champions League for the first time, and we competed against teams like Barcelona and Arsenal.
As a woman, I am aware that I will need something beyond my soccer career due to the relatively lower income compared to men’s sports. While it is possible to have a good life as a female soccer player for 10-15 years, I have decided to pursue my studies alongside my soccer career. When I turn 30 in five years’ time, I plan to focus full-time on a career in business.
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I chose to pursue the Master in Management [MiM] program at Mannheim Business School, primarily because it offered the option to study part-time. The university provides various opportunities for athletes, including scholarships, and allows for flexible scheduling to balance sports and academics. It requires some juggling, but it has been beneficial for everyone.
Fortunately, I have encountered supportive individuals who helped me find ways to reconcile my dual commitments. For instance, lectures were recorded, allowing me to catch up on missed classes due to games or training sessions.
Mannheim University, particularly the business school, is well-known in Germany. I chose the MiM program with a focus on marketing and data science. The program has taught me valuable skills in leveraging data. In the future, I hope to combine data science with sports, as there is a wealth of data available, such as athlete performance metrics.
The program had around 30 participants, and we had a diverse range of ages. I was the youngest at 22 when I started, while the oldest was 40. The program consisted of one-week sessions with classes, followed by a three to four-week break, and then another week of classes. The entire program lasted approximately two years, culminating in the submission of our master’s theses.
Group work was a significant component of the program, which I enjoyed. I believe it is crucial to be able to collaborate with individuals of different ages, educational backgrounds, and experiences in society or the corporate world. Working with different classmates to prepare presentations under time pressure was a valuable learning experience for me.
Simultaneously, I had eight soccer training sessions per week, each lasting about two hours, and games on weekends. I would start my mornings with desk work, then proceed to training, and finally study. Currently, in the evenings, I am also working on my PhD at the University of Mannheim Center of Doctoral Studies in Business. My research interests primarily revolve around sports analytics and machine learning in marketing.
I am relatively open-minded about my future career path. First and foremost, I aim to successfully complete my PhD while continuing my soccer career. That is my goal. I am still contemplating whether to pursue an academic career or venture into the private sector. In the future, I could envision combining my expertise in data science and sports to work for a football club.
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