Marie-Louise Eta in Union: a woman allowed to train men

bDuring his time at Turbine Potsdam, coach Bernd Schröder maintained a video archive. There he saved especially successful moments. He was really impressed by one episode, with Marie-Louise Eta at the center. Indoor tournament in Magdeburg. The Potsdam women combine stunning direct play with scoring. The most beautiful and difficult passes come from Eta. “Louis could handle the ball,” Schroeder said.

But it was not the great career that Marie-Louise Eta, born 32 years ago as Marie-Louise Bagehorn in Dresden, can remember. Injuries and the disadvantage that at 1.63 meters tall she was never one of the strongest physically, prevented more. What Schroeder especially remembers about her: “She was very inquisitive. There was always a feeling with her that she wanted to take a lot with her. For sport, but also for life,” he says.

Her thirst for knowledge has now attracted Marie-Louise Eta to a level of attention that she could not have expected just a few days ago. After parting ways with coach Urs Fischer, Bundesliga club Union Berlin has temporarily appointed Marco Grote as team manager. Along with him, his second coach, Marie-Louise Eta, was promoted. She is the first female assistant coach in Bundesliga history.

How long Eta will be allowed to hold its position is unclear. It can be assumed that in the near future Union will hire an experienced coach, who will then bring his own assistants with him. In this case, the Grothe/Eta duo will once again look after Berlin’s oldest U19 team. For now, the spotlight is on Marie-Louise Eta. Her vocation has nothing to do with the fact that she is a woman, said union president Dirk Zingler. “This decision was not made by a woman, but by a football teacher.”

Eta has been working as a football teacher since April, when she took a course organized by the DFB. This means she has the right to coach a professional team. It doesn’t matter if they are men or women. Just enrolling in this course is an achievement. Among those turned away was Benjamin Eta, to whom she has been married for nine years.

They met when she was still playing at Hamburg, Cloppenburg and Werder Bremen. Benjamin Eta, who in addition to working as a trainer runs a consulting agency, also represented Marie-Louise. Both are now focused on their careers. They couldn’t be more different. Shortly before Marie-Louise was appointed assistant coach, fourth division club Weihe Flensburg sacked her husband.