Lara Dickenmann is one of the world's best-known female football stars and a pioneer in women's football - a sport long dominated by men. She is a role model for girls in sports and girls in general. And: The former Swiss professional football player is also a role model for all people who consistently work on their dream, even if there are daily headwinds. Today, as general manager, Lara Dickenmann is building a club at world-class level with GC women's football.
"Be your best you: Be yourself. And have the ambition to become a little better every day.
What was the best highlight of your career so far?
It's difficult to limit myself to one highlight over such a long period of time. One moment I have fond memories of is the first Champions League victory. In that game, I scored the goal to make it 2-0 and that sealed the victory. Until that moment, it was my biggest dream in life: To play Champions Leaque - but then also to win Champions Leaque. That was a kind of reward for all the hours on the pitch, for the moments in a football career when you don't like to train so much, when it's hard.
And the second beautiful moment was with the Nati when we qualified for the 2015 World Cup in Canada. We worked so long as a group to make it to the finals for the first time. The first time with the senior national team. We have grown together extremely in that time. That's why it meant so much more to us. And that was a very important milestone for Swiss women's football.
As a young girl you were an exotic in the football stadium. But you didn't feel that way about yourself. What did you like about the sport from the very beginning?
At first I did swimming and ballet, because as a child you try out different things. What I always liked about football was running across the pitch with the ball on my foot. I also liked being part of the boys' team at school. They talked about football all day and I really wanted to be part of it. And from the moment I started playing football, I was able to do that.
The mental aspect is the be-all and end-all: anyone can hit a pass, everyone at the level brings a similar amount to the table. In the end, 80 to 90% is decided in the head.
The mental aspect is the be-all and end-all: anyone can hit a pass, everyone at the level brings a similar amount to the table. In the end, 80 to 90% is decided in the head.
When I was 18, I went to America on a scholarship. What was one of the most important lessons you learned in America back then?
I went from a sheltered environment to the big world, whereas at an American university as an athlete you are well accompanied. You have someone who takes care of your school affairs and performance, many coaches who look out for you and make sure you are doing well. You have a structured daily routine. That's certainly helped me. But one of the most important things I learned there is the American mentality in sports, when you try to push your limit every day. In America I learned that much more is possible than you think, especially in the physical area. Every day I heard something new: You have to be even better today than yesterday. You have to compete with the best. I thought: Why should I, as a little Swiss girl, compete with the best in America? But when you hear that every day, when you have the dream of playing professional football, of playing with the best, at some point I internalized it.
Did that put you under a lot of pressure? Or was it more of an incentive for you to say: "If they think that I, as a Swiss, can compete with the best American, then there's a reason for that"?
A bit of both, I think. Pressure is always there in competitive sports. And I also grew up with a certain amount of pressure. My dad was also strict with me because he simply saw the performance potential in me as a player. But it was certainly also an incentive when you saw that you could improve. Then I got into the American college league and realized: Hey, I'm one of the best players - there, too. That was an incredible experience for me. To know: I'm someone who can score goals, who can dictate the game. That was an extreme incentive for me. An important step for me mentally: I belong.
And then in France you were a professional...
In the beginning it was difficult for me there. The first thing that was new for me was to structure my own daily routine. And then there were a lot of good players: French national team players, but also national team players from all over the world. I came into a star ensemble - I first had to find my role in the team. They respected me from the start, but I also went there as the Swiss Nati captain. It's always a process, a new culture. It's been a new environment, where there were also a lot more egos than in America. I always looked for faults in myself. And that ultimately helped me to assert myself, to also give myself the time to improve every day, to look only at myself and not lose any energy with my environment.
In Germany, I was approached by a club for the first time as a seasoned football player. I switched with completely different prerequisites. When you go from Lyon to Wolfsburg, you go from one of the best clubs to another. The German mentality was different from the French mentality. There was more of a "we" feeling at the center. And the mentality in every training session was: just go full throttle, whether that makes sense or not. We brought the DNA of "work, football, passion" onto the pitch every day in the six years I played there. And that was extremely pleasing to me.
You mentioned earlier that you often looked for faults in yourself. That is certainly the great art: on the one hand to improve yourself, on the other hand not to beat yourself up in the process, but to build yourself up. Is that what you had in the right balance from the beginning?
I have always been critical with myself, trying to improve with every training. But I have been positive with myself. I have always believed that it works, that I have it in my own hands to perform better. Mental coaches have accompanied me throughout my career.
And that was also important at the beginning in America: the exchange. The sports psychologist said that a button had to be loosened in my head for me to score a goal. In one conversation, he asked me about Switzerland and my family. That made me feel more comfortable and gave me the feeling: I'm important for the team. In France, I then got involved in sophrology, breathing techniques where you visualize things. It was about concentrating on playing football for 90 minutes.
Then there was the transition where you went from player to manager of GC women's football. How does that feel?
It wasn't 100 percent possible for me to really prepare for the moment. It kept me busy for a long time, and before I stopped shooting, I was already fully committed to my new job as general manager at GC.
I think it's important that former professional players like me stay in the game. Because we are ambassadors - with the sponsors, in the media, with the association and in the clubs. Ambassadors who show what positive things come out of investing in women in football and in women's football.
Now GC Women's football's boldness and confidence is recognized with a Red Dot Award for Brand Design. Are you proud of that?
For me, it was a sign that it is also possible in Switzerland to put something cool together, to be better than men's football. That has shown: We can think bigger. It helped to present women's football as it is: proud women and a strong image of women. And a strong brand. And yet, it's only been the beginning. Hopefully, there's much more to come.
Bringing a player to GC is a big responsibility: fulfilling the promise to develop her further -
as a footballer, but also as a person. It's good to look after her, to make her feel good.
Bringing a player to GC is a big responsibility: fulfilling the promise to develop her further -
as a footballer, but also as a person. It's good to look after her, to make her feel good.
Lara Dickenmann is the Swiss trailblazer in women's football. Raised in the small town of Kriens near Lucerne in Switzerland, after leaving school she went first to the USA, then to France, and finally a major career move brought her to Germany. Today, as General Manager, Lara Dickenmann is building a club at world-class level with GC Women's football.
