Our Team

Our Team

The numerous events we have organized have equipped the DISCOVER FOOTBALL Team with the experience needed to most effectively work with heterogeneous groups from all over the world and to organize successful large-scale international events.  Beside the professional staff members all DISCOVER FOOTBALL projects rely largely on the voluntary work of women, making the organization unique in the world of football. DISCOVER FOOTBALL volunteers come from diverse backgrounds and represent a wide range of fields. They add many characteristics to the team such as several years of licensed football and training expertise (of varying levels and age groups) and
university education in varying fields, e.g. film and media, social sciences, pedagogy, in-depth knowledge of the women’s rights field, sports and gender, extensive methodological knowledge in educational work, intercultural sensitivity as well as strong communication and organizational skills. The core group is situated in Berlin, where we conduct regular meetings and have shaped the DISCOVER FOOTBALL dream since we have played the first friendly game against the Iranian Women’s National Team in 2006. Our group is proud of and driven by the enthusiasm of its associated members from all over the world.

Head of Operation

Sonja Klümper

s.kluemper@discoverfootball.de

I have been with DISCOVER FOOTBALL since 2011 and working as head of operations for over 15 conferences and 5 DISCOVER FOOTBALL Festivals with female soccer players and coaches from all over the world. I studied political and social science and gender studies in Düsseldorf and Berlin.

Project Coordination

Aline Zimmermann

a.zimmermann@discoverfootball.de

I’ve been working at DISCOVER FOOTBALL since 2020, but I’ve been volunteering in advance since 2016. I mainly take care of visa procedures, communication with our network and the participants as well as organizational work. I studied a binational Master’s degree in socio-cutural studies in Paris and Frankfurt (Oder).

Project Assistant

Gesa Heitmüller

g.heitmueller@discoverfootball.de

I am new to the team and will assist in visa procedures and in organizing and coordinating this year’s festival. I studied area studies in Berlin and work as an event manager. For many years I organize feminist workshops and events against racism and sexism.

Volunteers & Organizing Team

Corinna Assmann

I’ve been part of the DISCOVER FOOTBALL team since the first festival in 2009, and prior to that was part of the organising as well as football team for the 2006 match in Tehran and co-producer of the documentary film Football under Cover. I work in Heidelberg as lecturer and postdoctoral researcher in English literature, with particular interest in postcolonial studies, transculturality, and gender and queer theory.

Marlene Assmann-Khoueiry

My sisters and I made the film ‚Way to Go‘, about our team. It was shown at the Berlin Film Festival in 2005 in the program ‚Shoot Goals! Shoot Movies!‘ with many football shorts, but only in one other film did a woman play the game. It was an Iranian film by Ayat Najafi about
Banafsheh, the captain of the national team, who had never played a single match. I said that our team would change this without having any idea of the political implications.

Valerie Assmann

My name is Valerie and I am a co-founder of DISCOVER FOOTBALL and a board member of DFC. I work as a graphic designer and was part of the Berlin squad that traveled to Tehran in 2006 to play the Iranian national women’s team. After ten years with Discover Football, I can say that this work is true empowerment for me.

Daniela Bergmann

Football has accompanied me all my life, football creates connections, friendships and bridges, without borders and worldwide! But there is still a lot to do: This is what DISCOVER FOOTBALL has dedicated itself to, and for this reason I have supported the NGO passionately, voluntarily and with all my heart since 2014.

Franziska Donath

My name is Franzi, I’m an Animator & Designer, based in Berlin, Germany. I have been with DISCOVER FOOTBALL since 2019 and most people see me around the stage fixing & organizing the technical equipment during the DISCOVER FOOTBALL Women’s Football & Culture Festival.

Esther Franke

I’ve been a football player my whole life and have been on DISCOVER FOOTBALL’s collective journey since 2013. Professionally, I’m in a PhD program in Politics at the New School for Social Research in New York focusing on global politics in connection to gender studies, postcolonial theories and transnational feminisms.

Cordula Gdaniec

Since volunteering at the DISCOVER FOOTBALL Festival in Berlin 2013, I have contributed to publications, workshops and conference organisation (my professional background is in the social sciences and education). Meeting the inspiring young women from all over the world at our festivals and conferences is always exciting and rewarding.

Carolin Geisler

As a geographer and rehabilitation educator, I have been involved for many years with people who have had to flee, giving German courses, coaching and mediating between the different authorities. For me it is important to bring people together, to promote happy coexistence, empowerment and equal opportunities. I love intercultural work, travelling, nature and rethinking things.

Carmen Grimm

I have been a football coach and organizer with DISCOVER FOOTBALL since 2010. My longstanding commitment is due to my passion for group processes and mutual learning on and off the football field. I am always eager to understand how social dynamics are portrayed but also how they can be challenged by new ways of practicing the game of football.

Paula Klinger

I am currently in a Master’s programme in Global Political Economy and Development at Kassel University which aims at providing an intersection between postcolonial studies and critical political economy approaches. I have worked on various projects concerning sport and women’s rights and been a part of DISCOVER FOOTBALL since 2016.

Eva Lindström

After graduating in cultural studies and business administration I began working in the film industry where my focus is always on strong stories and female empowerment. DISCOVER FOOTBALL impressed me with their transnational and empowering approach and I’ve started volunteering late 2022. 

Pia Mann

I joined DISCOVER FOOTBALL in 2012 thrilled to finally be able to connect my two main passions: football and feminism. Besides women’s empowerment my focus lies on LGBTIQ+ rights. In my professional life, I am a social worker and trainer for LGBTIQ+ sensitization. In my freetime, I play for DFC Kreuzberg, our queerfeminist football club.

Friederike Möller Bhering

I have been part of DISCOVER FOOTBALL since 2016. Before that I was already joining the DF CLUB where I learned how to play football. I am a true Berliner but became quite international through my studies in which I did research on different religions and cultures. Therefore, DISCOVER FOOTBALL’s transnational approach is especially important to me.

Dana Rösiger

For more than a decade I supported DISCOVER FOOTBALL. I am a self-study educated photographer currently living in Heidelberg. My work focuses on women’s, queer identity, antidiscrimination, and cultural integration. I love to connect with people and strive to combine the aesthetics and expressive power of photography.

Marisa Schlenker

I am a programme manager at the Yunus Sports Hub where I support sport social entrepreneurs developing their social projects/businesses in and around sport. With more than nine years experience in the sport for development sector, I have worked as a trainer, program manager, partnerships coordinator and more recently in monitoring & evaluation.

Melanie Schuler

When I was a little child I thought football was “a boys sport”. I got convinced by a friend to join her in the training and so I fell in love with football despite my strange conviction. Since then football has become one of my biggest passions. I have joined DISCOVER FOOTBALL for the last Festival in 2021.

Terril Scott

I grew up playing football in Western New York State thanks to the postTitle IX era of sports for women and girls in the US. I first joined DISCOVER FOOTBALL to help produce the 2015 festival. I am a designer and metal tradeswoman based in Berlin.

Johanna Small

I have been working as a manager of international football for change projects since 2011 and studied sport science with psychology in the United Kingdom (UK). My work has taken me to Germany, India, France and Tanzania. Last year I was working on two DISCOVER FOOTBALL leadership projects.

Hanna Strub

Since my childhood, football has been one of my greatest passions. I had the chance to spend a lot of time playing football in girls‘ and women’s teams and experiencing how football can boost confidence, create new friendships and give a feeling of freedom. I joined DISCOVER FOOTBALL in 2022 because I burn for the idea to empower young women through football. I look forward to meeting inspiring football-loving women from all over the world – beyond performance pressure and authoritarian structures.

Anna Winkler

I have been with DISCOVER FOOTBALL since the festival in 2019. Football has always been a part of my life – earlier mostly playing and watching, now I’m also interested in the social and political aspects of it. Professionally I am coordinating a football and education project.

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