Women

Fresh impetus for youngsters

Lara Dickenmann reveals how she wants to help foster young talent at VfL.

Just over a week has passed since former VfL player Lara Dickenmann returned to Wolfsburg, albeit in a very different capacity. As the She-Wolves’ new youth director, Dickenmann wants to help foster young talent at Elsterweg in the coming years.

Back after four years

Did Dickenmann need much persuading from the VfL management to head back to Wolfsburg? Not at all, according to the 39-year-old. “I was very happy and honoured that VfL thought of me,” said the former midfielder, who spent six years at the club before hanging up her boots in summer 2021. After that, Dickenmann spent several years in her native Switzerland as general manager of Grasshopper Club Zurich women’s team.

A long-term project

Dickenmann is now tasked with developing up-and-coming talent at VfL. The main objective is bringing youngsters into the first team, but that is not something that will happen overnight. Make no mistake, Dickenmann is here for the long term. “You can’t reap the rewards after just three years,” she said, setting out a rough timeline. “But you can tell in which direction things are going.”

VfL-Wolfsburg-Direktorin-Nachwuchs Lara Dickenmann steht auf dem Trainingsplatz und lächelt.

“We have a big responsibility”

The new youth director first needs to establish a more detailed picture of the women’s youth sides, and get to know the coaches and players involved. To that end, she intends to visit all the age groups in the coming weeks and months, from the U20s down to the U11s. “The VfL women’s youth department should be a place where players want to be, because they know they’ll get an excellent education here – both as footballers and as people,” said Dickenmann. That latter point is particularly important, given the fact that some promising youngsters don’t make it to the very top of the game. “We have a big responsibility,” continued the former Swiss international, whose long-term goal is to implement a common style of play throughout the youth department.

One wish for this season

Her main focus, in that regard, is on the U20s: “They’re very much the poster girls [of the department],” she explained. “Bundesliga 2 is a very good league. They’re the oldest youngsters we have – they’re about to make the step up to the first team, or are already in the process of doing so.” Dickenmann’s main wish for the coming season comes as no surprise. “If a player from the U20s ends up making her first competitive appearances for the first team, that would obviously be great,” she said. “That would show that we mean business.”
The U20s have made some key reinforcements ahead of the Bundesliga 2 campaign, including three highly sought-after players on the international stage: Weronika Arasniewicz, Anny-Kerim Lindland and Linnea Saelen.