The Women's Football Academy at the University of Würzburg has published the first standard work for training girls and women. The volume offers in-depth knowledge and high practical relevance.
The Women's Football Academy (FFA) of the Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (JMU) with its youth development centre for junior players is the only research academy in Europe that focuses on the optimal development of talent in women's football. Founded in 2014, the academy has conducted numerous studies throughout Germany and has developed and tested innovative training concepts for over 1,000 young female players. Its members regularly publish in high-ranking scientific journals.
The FFA team has now written the book "Spielnahes Fußballtraining im Mädchen- und Frauenfußball" (Game-oriented football training in girls' and women's football) to make the combined knowledge from training practice and research available to coaches.
The first part deals with important basics and specifics of talent development for girls and women. The second part presents over 180 practical and easy-to-implement exercises and games. This results in more than 250,000 different and varied training sessions, which at the same time follow the clear structure of the GOAL philosophy (Game Oriented Agility & Learning) developed at the FFA.
World champion Steffi Jones praises the book
In her foreword, world and European champion Steffi Jones emphasises the special value of the new standard work and recommends the volume for practical use at all levels: "I hope that this book will not only be read, but also used. On the pitch, in academies, in clubs, in associations. By coaches who are prepared to rethink."
The authors of the book (in German language) are just as proud of this prominent and expert reception as they are of the work as a whole:
"We wanted to create a training book that, on the one hand, sensitises people to the fact that girls need to be encouraged differently to boys. Here we can draw on our experience and our extensive studies," says JMU Professor Heinz Reinders , explaining the idea behind the new standard work. "On the other hand, with this volume we have managed to inspire female and male coaches with a very practical and low-threshold approach to varied and enjoyable training. The structure of each training session is very variable, yet structured, and can be set up in less than 15 minutes."
Book emphasises practical relevance
The authors Dr Mareen Wiechers, Dr Jonathan Rudingsdorfer and Marius Wiederer as well as Professor Heinz Reinders placed great emphasis on a practical focus when writing the book. With just a few resources and a very simple and variable training structure, specific progress can be made quickly for girls. The underlying GOAL philosophy and the SCoRE-Court approach, a variable and quickly structured training set-up, are explained step by step and always accompanied by specific practical tips.
The authors also emphasise something else: in addition to the particular psychological and physiological differences to juniors, the book also explicitly addresses the role of coaches in pedagogical support and in the protection concept against (sexualised) violence.
"With the training book, we want to emphasise that optimal talent development begins with the safety and well-being of every player," says Reinders. "We support coaches in guiding their players safely and in an educationally valuable way on their football performance path."
Publication
Prof. Dr Heinz Reinders, Dr Jonathan Rudingsdorfer, Dr Mareen Wiechers, Marius Wiederer: "Spielnahes Fußballtraining im Mädchen- und Frauenfußball". Meyer & Meyer Verlag Aachen, 1 June 2026, ISBN 978-3-8403-7991-8, 29.95 euros. https://www.dersportverlag.de/detailview?no=137991
The authors
- Prof Dr Heinz ReindersProf Dr Heinz Reinders, a qualified educationalist, is the founding director of the Women's Football Academy and holds the Chair of Empirical Educational Research at the University of Würzburg.
- Dr Jonathan Rudingsdorfer is the sporting director of the junior development centre for junior players at the Women's Football Academy and an academic advisor at the Institute of Education at the University of Würzburg.
- Marius Wiederer, M. Sc., studied sports science and is active as a licensed coach both in the youth development centre and in the performance area of women's football.
- Dr Mareen Wiechers is the pedagogical director of the Youth Development Centre and a research assistant at the Chair of Empirical Educational Research at the University of Würzburg.
