Steffi Jones

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Steffi Jones

World Cup Job Just The Ticket For Steffi Jones

by Jeremy Ruane

The FIFA Women’s World Cup Finals in Germany are now within six months of becoming a reality, and the world’s governing body is going all out to ensure that the biggest event on the footballing calendar in 2011 will be afforded its time in the spotlight, just as its big brother enjoyed throughout the course of South Africa 2010.

As the FIFA World Cup enjoyed a trophy tour around the world during the first half of the past year, the FIFA Women’s World Cup trophy is also on manoeuvres around the globe in the build-up to Germany 2011, with New Zealand having already played host to the most prized honour in the women’s game on December 10.

This particular trophy tour was the brainchild of the President of the Local Organising Committee for Germany 2011, Steffi Jones, who takes up the story. "It was really to take the opportunity with our World Cup next year to hopefully open doors worldwide.

"FIFA have fifteen ambassadors who usually demonstrate the project called Grassroots. So I talked to FIFA’s Head of Women’s Competitions, Tatjana Haenni, about what I had in mind, which was basically, ‘Why don’t we visit all the teams who‘ve qualified for Germany, and you show them how the Grassroots programme works - how the structures can be built up’.

"Hence we’re doing it in two parts. One part is me, welcoming the teams and showing them what they can expect in Germany next year. FIFA conduct the other part, although in some countries, the Grassroots programme is already in place - here in New Zealand, for instance.

"In such instances, it works the other way - you demonstrate to us how things work here. It’s like an information exchange".

And a good example of what Jones regards as the most significant change in women’s football so far this century - the development in many countries which have been building up structures and have got closer to their rivals around the globe as a result.

"In Africa, for instance, the leading teams are usually Nigeria and Ghana. Now it’s Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea. There are more nations coming up, and I just feel it’s really getting tighter and they are building up more younger players.

"The next World Cup will feature 24 teams, which I think is good, because they need international experience. Even if you might have games which end up anywhere between 5-0 and 8-0, it’s still important to develop football, so I think that we are on a good wave, but we are still not where we want to be. It takes time. Small steps, big goals".

And there are none bigger to aim for than the tournament for which Jones is the Local Organising Committee’s President, a role she never expected to be entrusted with.

"If I say that I knew that I was going to be the LOC President, I’d be lying. It’s not a function that you dream of. I just knew that Franz Beckenbauer had a great time (with the 2006 World Cup Finals)!!

"When I learned the position was going to come up, I changed out of my jersey and into a suit, and met some people who were really important - politicians, sports people, from little kids to the highest echelons. When I was in Chile, I met the Chilean President, for instance.

"Meeting those important people was one of the biggest challenges, but every bit as challenging was not knowing how to hold an audience when making a speech, or how to go into a press conference where you have to answer a lot of questions".

Needless to say, Jones is now highly polished in these areas, and during her Auckland visit came across as a natural as she both addressed and mixed freely with members of the local women’s footballing community.

"I’m honoured that I can do a job that’s very similar to that I did when playing football - that I’m a role model; that I represent football. It’s just the nicest job, and I have to say I‘ve been really enjoying each moment.

"I come around, and basically get to do what I want! It’s very exciting and just a great experience for my whole personality also. I don’t want to miss any of that. But at the same time, there is a very important message I’m hoping to convey.

"When the World Cup’s done, I hope that we, as a football family, have achieved our goals - that each girl who wants to play football finds a club close to her and gets the chance to play this wonderful sport.

For it’s more than a game - it’s about learning; it’s about team spirit; it’s about making the most of life - that it’s real and it’s great. I love it!"

She certainly loves the way the German public has embraced their second World Cup Finals in five years, with over 430,000 tickets having been sold for Germany 2011 prior to Christmas 2010, out of a total of 700,000.

"There have been four aspects to our approach in promoting the World Cup - the media side, the organisational side, the marketing side, and the ticketing side. We started the ticketing side with venue specific tickets, while the second phase of our strategy targeted club members - the sale of group tickets to clubs.

"The third aspect is single ticket sales, while we have two more phases to introduce in 2011. The first of these is a registration phase, with tickets allotted by draw, and the other is the sale of any tickets which remain unallocated.

"It seems to have been the right choice, even though we know it‘s a real challenge selling all the tickets. We want families to come, but we can’t do much about the prices, because we can only finance the World Cup with the sponsors on the one side - 24m Euros. We have a budget of 51m Euros, so we have to get

Steffi Jones with the writer

The LOC President with her pride and joy

In action for FFC Frankfurt during her playing days

Celebrating a goal for Germany

Steffi with her hero, Franz Beckenbauer

Alexandra Popp and Dzsenifer Marozsan celebrate a goal at the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup Finals

The brilliantly talented Fatmire Bajmaraj

Two legends together - Steffi Jones and Marta

another 27m Euros out of ticket sales".

Not surprisingly, the host nation’s matches are almost sold out already, including the opening fixture in Berlin, where the stadium sits nigh on 75,000.

"We want all the stadiums sold out, because all the teams deserve full stadiums", says Jones. "We believe that each team deserves its own crowd, which is why we’ve opted not to play two games per day at a single stadium, which has been the practice at previous Women’s World Cup Finals.

"We went in schools everywhere telling them it’s the world’s sixteen best teams coming, and that it’s not important which team you end up getting, ‘cause they’re all great. That’s my way of selling the tickets, and it works fine. We have sold a lot, and we’re optimistic that we’ll have sold out when the teams arrive".

And they’ll have plenty to look forward to when they do roll up for Germany 2011, which opens with the clash of Germany and Canada in Berlin on June 26, and concludes with the final in Frankfurt on July 17.

"I hope everyone will have a good time", says Jones, "and we’ll see many many goals. It’s a World Cup in Germany, and I think it’s a great chance for us in women’s football to really advertise our sport.

"There will be a surprise coming up, I would say, which sees a big team losing or a second tier team advancing, such as New Zealand. It would be nice, since the goal is also to qualify for the Olympic Games. That’s another great experience and it’s something special on top".

Jones admits she would love to be playing herself next year, seeing Germany is hosting the Finals, but is pleased with her accomplishments in the game to date, a career laden with highlights.

Her playing days saw her win the Frauen Bundesliga five times, the German Cup three times, the UEFA Women’s Cup twice, the WUSA Founder Cup once, two Olympic bronze medals, three UEFA Women’s Championships and, in 2003, the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Plenty of highlights to choose from there, but when asked to narrow her career down to her three most memorable moments, she doesn’t hesitate. "Making my first appearance in the national team, against Denmark in 1993, was when I made my dream come true.

"Next was making my one hundredth appearance for Germany, and scoring in that game. It was against Switzerland, and my mother and entire family were there. The coach said, ‘Steffi, this is your moment, and you will score’. And I scored - that was just perfect. It was my last goal in international football, too.

"The third highlight of my career would be being named LOC President. That came about while I was still playing. I earned my Pro Licence as a coach, after which I got the offer to be LOC President. That’s really the highest position that you can reach in this game".

Jones has received plenty of assistance and encouragement throughout her time as LOC President from someone whom football fans the world over know by name. "Franz Beckenbauer has been my role model since I was a little girl, and it was a great honour for me when my federation’s boss, after the European Championship, said to me, ‘You play like the young Franz Beckenbauer’. That was a real big honour - really nice.

"Now, we have so many people saying I’m doing a great job like Franz Beckenbauer, which is a big compliment too. So I’m really happy. He comes whenever we need him, and he’s a friend. He and his wife support me, which is really really great. I think that Franz Beckenbauer is a hero".

To many of the next generation of women’s footballers, in Germany particularly, Jones is one also, and she is greatly enthused by the players who are set to carry the torch for the women’s game into the next decade of the 21st Century.

"I think that the younger ones who are coming through now and are stepping up are doing a great job. Among the ones to look out for in the German squad are Alex Popp, who won the Golden Boot in the U-20 Finals. I think she has a great chance of making the starting line-up at Germany 2011.

"Dzsenifer Marozsan is another - she played here at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Finals in 2008. These are the two who, in my opinion, will shine brightest in German women’s football in the near future".

Two of their peers are also doing a fine job in that regard at present. Birgit Prinz is a three-time winner of the FIFA World Women’s Player of the Year, and is a finalist again in 2010. As is flying winger Fatmire ‘Lira’ Bajmaraj, the excitement machine who has been voted among the world’s three leading players for the first time in her career this year.

They’re up against someone whom Steffi Jones rates extremely highly, however. "I think Marta is still the world’s best player, and it’s going to take a while until someone comes up to her level.

"Birgit Prinz was the world’s best player for many years also. You will always have one standing over all the others, and right now it’s Marta, so I’m fine with her being the world’s best player for the fifth year in a row, because she is phenomenal.

"I think that Lira is young, and she can maybe get there too, but she’s not ready for it now, in my opinion. There’s a difference in being talented and good, and being the best - Marta is still the world’s best player for me".

Jones is looking forward to seeing this trio and all the world’s leading women’s players in action in her homeland in six months time. "I’m really happy for all the teams that will play in Germany. I’ll do my best organising it, and in the interim, I get to touch the World Cup - that’s even better!!"

2011