There is a lack of fields, coaches, and changing rooms – and soon football clubs could be overrun by girls

The goals set by the Swiss Football Association (SFV) at the beginning of 2024 sounded ambitious. At that time, it registered around 40,000 licensed female players, 2,350 coaches, 120 referees, and 350 female officials. And, in the wake of the Women's European Championship, it launched the "Here to Stay" development program , with the vision of doubling the above figures within four years.

The association described it as a "monster project" that would leave a beautiful legacy for Swiss women's football. To encourage clubs to take action, the SFV created incentives and competitions such as the "Legacy Challenge," in which participants can win prizes, including a short training camp, a minibus for a season, or a self-defense course.

The challenge is proving popular: 230 clubs have already documented and submitted more than a thousand support measures. And it's likely to attract many female volunteers to the clubs. The days when patriarchal club management rejected women's teams, arguing that their integration would be too difficult because they would then have to report more referees to the association, are likely over.

But what if, by the end of 2027, 80,000 women and girls actually want to officially play football in a single club? Is that realistic at a time when clubs across the country are complaining that they're bursting at the seams and urgently need more football pitches? Due to the lack of space, the city of Bern has even had to develop a "grass sports strategy."

The questions are directed to those within the Swiss Football Association (SFV) who are involved in "Here to Stay," such as Alice Holzer, the program's project manager. The former FC Küsnacht junior player says: "We first need to get all the players on board: regional associations, clubs, municipalities, sports authorities. And show them perspectives. Then it will be easier to find solutions to meet demand."

The goal isn't necessarily to build new soccer fields, but rather to use existing ones more efficiently. As part of the project, a guide will be developed to help clubs determine how to maximize the use of sports facilities in their communities.

Patrick Karrer, Infrastructure Manager at "Here to Stay," explains what this could look like in concrete terms using examples: "A normal soccer field is large; if you organize training so that several groups are distributed across various stations, you can keep up to 100 children busy. If you use mobile devices in the changing rooms, such as temporary partitions, several genders can use the showers at the same time. And if you organize training sessions tightly in the evenings, you have three 90-minute slots from 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m., one of which is usually enough for a team."

Karrer maintains close contact with the Association of Swiss Sports Offices, which is significant given its close ties to politics. Its chairman is Filippo Leutenegger, a Zurich city councilor and president of the FDP in his canton. Its general secretary is GLP National Councilor Corina Gredig.

Those responsible for "Here to Stay" say they want to speed up processes and be prepared if there is a large influx of women's football teams after the home European Championship. Looking at past European Championships, such a rush is to be expected. The development of women's football cannot be stopped, as evidenced by the assumption that Switzerland will no longer be allowed to host the next European Championship in 2029 because, given the size of the stadiums, the demand for tickets will significantly exceed supply.

One amateur club that has been cited as a model for meeting the needs of its members through skillful organization is SV Höngg. This Zurich neighborhood club has apparently managed to ensure that teams of both genders have been living together peacefully for two decades. On the SFV website, it recently listed 43 teams, including numerous female teams. It has two full-size soccer fields at its disposal and a smaller one where games in lower junior divisions are permitted.

The Gubler couple have shaped the club's recent history; he, Martin, serves as president, and she, Barbara, as vice president. They explain that they decided to get involved when their daughters expressed their desire to join a club. But how did they manage to achieve such widespread acceptance?

Barbara Gubler says a lot of it revolves around equality, and it's important that a new department within the club grows organically; patience pays off. On the women's side, they initially only had junior players and deliberately decided against an elite team, which might not have been a good fit for the club. Knowing that the younger generation would eventually ensure the creation of a women's team.

Today, SV Höngg has two women's teams, the better of which advanced to the 2nd division. This team has already completed summer training camps alongside the A-Juniors. To simplify pitch and locker room allocation, SV Höngg has declared Wednesdays and Fridays "Women's Days," when all women's teams hold their training sessions. One of those who learned to play football on the Hönggerberg is Swiss European Championship participant Coumba Sow (55 international matches, 13 goals).

But it's also clear, says Barbara Gubler, that a great deal of commitment is required at the beginning to convince a club of something new. She came from artistic gymnastics and then attended several coaching courses in football to show that she was truly serious.

When asked whether SV Höngg is prepared if even more women want to join their club after the European Championships at home, Gubler says that she believes the proportional increase will be more noticeable in rural areas, while the boom has already arrived in the city and many possibilities have therefore been exhausted - and yet they could still do with an additional football field.

Such a project has actually been in the planning stages for a long time. At one point, it was said to be coming in 2026, but recently, the timeline was more likely to be 2035. Martin Gubler says: "Our experience has been that grassroots sports projects tend to slip down or fall behind politicians' priorities." With a grin, he adds: "But who knows, maybe something will change now."