Saturday’s clash between VfL Wolfsburg and FC Bayern Munich was an absolute highlight of the women’s football calendar. To mark the occasion, the names of the VfL players were shown on the AOK Stadion’s big screen in sign language before the game, making the introduction of the team accessible to deaf and hearing-impaired fans. The club also created a banner featuring the entire team and their sign language names.
“Symbol of inclusion and diversity”
As part of the project, VfL visited the children at the regional education centre for the hearing-impaired in Braunschweig on 15 October and developed the sign language names for each of the players, having done something similar for the men’s players last year. Sign language names can be based on the surname, physical characteristics or interests of the person, and as such, all of the VfL Wolfsburg women’s players filled in a questionnaire beforehand.
"We are the first club in German women’s football to introduce our players with their own specially developed sign language names," said VfL Managing Director Dr. Tim Schumacher. "Our aim is to create a stadium experience that everyone can have access to, and this project is a symbol of inclusion and diversity!“
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