Introduction to the Crisis in German Football
While the opportunities of German men at the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Mexico, and Canada give a lot of excitement, the long-term future of football in Germany is heading in the wrong direction. The country has lost almost 6,000 U19 and U17 teams since 2006. The DFB of the German Football Association urges reforms, led by the head of youth football, the former Bundesliga coach Hannes Wolf.
The Need for Reforms
"We have to make sure that there is no pseudo-participation, but young people are really involved," said Wolf recently to a DFB Youth Football Conference. "If you are already sitting in the U13s on the bench and are not good enough to be involved in your hobby, I would also say to my children that they should do something else." The conference, which was organized by the DFB campus in Frankfurt, brought together 220 participants from the 21 regional associations in Germany to create a plan for identity and not only win more young people for football but also to inspire them through their stay.
Modernizing Football
"Football has to modernize in order to remain attractive for young people in the future," said DFB President Bernd Neuendorf of the conference. "Even if we currently have long waiting lists in the clubs in many cities, it is no longer a matter of course that children play football and stay with the clubs as young people." In England, there was an increase in the participation of children aged 5 to 16 who played the game after the pandemic, but a recent survey of Sport England showed that the age group from 16 to 24 between 2015 and 2023 recorded a decrease of 27%.
New Concepts and Ideas
Wolf wants more training concepts to be more open to creative ideas to make more children play. One idea is that you play several games on full-size parking spaces, play street or cage football across the country. The rise of digital platforms plays a role in young people dismantling, but also the costs for playing organized football and dealing with the well-documented high expectations and the intensive planning of youth football.
Challenges in Youth Football
The head of the Academy of Borussia Dortmund, Thomas Broich, said that the youth ball would be "a big cultural problem" for the country. Gerd Thomas, chairman of the team in the lower league Internationale Berlin, recently wrote that "turbo capitalism also finds its way into youth football and that the development of young people has dubious ways". Malte Boven is a youth football coach in Hamburg, and he believes that the age group of middle to late teenagers, which are often on the coast of professionalism, was neglected on all the focus on the 2019 reforms, which focused on younger age groups.
Changing the Approach
Boven believes that a factor to focus on why many teenagers leave football is to miss the broader selection of problems in the game. However, he believes how young people stand up to the game, think about the game, and that everyone who is involved in the development must be aware of it. "I think the ‘why’ and the ‘how’, and how we want to play the game, have just become more central to the players in recent years," Boven said. "There is a social difference in the generations."
Reforms and the Future
Boven is positive about the proposed DFB reforms, but realizes that a result-oriented culture in youth football remains a problem. "The participation of appearance is a reality when it comes to gaining in youth football, especially in amateur clubs. Then it is a pseudo-division of all participating players because I do not give them the opportunity to participate in the form of the game," said Boven. The result of the proposed reforms should influence the next generation of footballers. In the meantime, Boven believes that there are other ways to increase the attractiveness of football.
Conclusion
Perhaps, however, it is more than anything else the influence and the attitude of the professional game that needs more attention. Because as the author of the bestseller "Atomic Habit" and the former College baseball player James Clear said: "They do not rise to the level of their goals. They fall at the level of their systems." The key to success lies in creating a system that supports the development of young players and makes football an attractive option for them. With the right approach and reforms, German football can look forward to a bright future.
