The quality of artificial turf pitches is a constant topic of debate, including at SV Blau Weiss Berolina Mitte.
Photo: imago/Hanno Bode
The SV Blau Weiss Berolina Mitte 49 e. V. will be 75 years old this year. In keeping with the anniversary, the footballers were promoted to the Regionalliga last season, the third highest division in women’s football. A big adventure for the Kiezkickers that their colleagues from the men’s team can only dream of.
Berolina has long been very well positioned in women’s football and has a strong youth department. Actually, Bero’s home base is the artificial turf pitch on Ackerstrasse in Berlin-Mitte. All teams play their home games there and eat ice cream in Schrödi’s Beroklause after the game. Sometimes the ice turns into beer, the classic drink of lower-class players. However, the women have to play the regional league games in Prenzlauer Berg because the Beroplatz was not approved for the third division due to the length of the artificial turf (!). The general condition of the course with its many holes was also rated as inadequate.
Ballhaus East
Imago/Matthias Koch
Frank Willmann looks at the football between Leipzig, Łódź and Ljubljana.
Because they play in the regional league, the emphasis on women at Berolina is a little higher. The club has registered a total of 15 women’s teams with the association. Hertha BSC didn’t have one until last year, when they “took over” Hertha Zehlendorf. At Bero there is an established structure of youth teams: players who have been playing there since the E or C youth levels often end up in the first team. For example, five were in the squad against Türkiyemspor last Sunday. A few Americans have also been playing since the promotion, one of them has already left – she got a professional contract in Mexico in the winter. How the lady came to Bero of all people could not be finally clarified, although she warmed the hearts of the fans in the long term.
Before the game I meet Tilmann, who, as the club’s second chairman, looks after the women. »We really wanted to give the women the opportunity to experience the regional league adventure and therefore moved to the Cantian Stadium. It’s a grass field and our women also train there occasionally. On the one hand, that’s a privilege, but on the other hand, the Bero, with its fast surface, was a fortress where the women were on your own with every hole. Now every game is an away game. This is sad for the club because identification with the women is lost. That’s why we’re trying to get new artificial turf and corresponding renovations on the Bero.
When Berolina’s women play against Union Berlin or Hertha, a few hundred spectators come. There were around 50 against Türkiyemspor on Sunday, which is a bit of a shame, but it doesn’t detract from the enjoyment of football. The superior opponents win 3-0. Bero is currently languishing at the bottom of the table, but everything is still possible. If the blue and whites want to stay in the league, they have to win the next games against teams from the bottom third. On April 14th, Bero will play against class leader Union Berlin in the Cantianstadion – a wonderful opportunity for all Berliners to enjoy a women’s game.
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