South African girls experience professional football at Eintracht Braunschweig

Sixteen young South African girls from Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality were given a behind-the-scenes look at Bundesliga 2 club Eintracht Braunschweig during an international youth exchange in Germany.

The delegation visited the club as part of a programme hosted by Lehndorfer TSV during the German autumn school holidays. Their schedule included a joint training session at the club’s stadium grounds, a meeting with Eintracht Braunschweig’s first-team head coach Lars Kornetka, lunch at the club’s restaurant and a guided tour of the iconic Eintracht Stadium.

The visit gave the players a rare opportunity to experience the workings of a professional football club and learn more about the routines of an elite team. It also allowed them to engage with the culture and passion surrounding football in Germany.

Meeting the Eintracht Braunschweig head coach

Meeting Kornetka was one of the main highlights of the visit. The coach’s personal welcome offered the young athletes an opportunity to see the professional game from a perspective beyond matchday football.

The encounter also provided an insight into the preparation, dedication and teamwork required at the highest level of the sport. Alongside their meeting with the head coach, the South African visitors observed the club’s professional training environment and gained a closer understanding of the work carried out behind the scenes.

Their experience combined sporting activity with direct exposure to the daily life of a professional football organisation, giving them a clearer picture of the demands placed on players and staff at an elite club.

Exchange linking Braunschweig and Nelson Mandela Bay

The visit was part of an international youth exchange organised by the City of Braunschweig’s International Relations Office. The programme brings together young female athletes from Braunschweig and Nelson Mandela Bay through football, cultural exchange and a shared commitment to gender equality.

The relationship began earlier in the year when 18 athletes from Braunschweig travelled to South Africa for a two-week exchange. During that visit, they trained alongside their South African counterparts and spent time with them away from football.

The return leg brought 16 young athletes from Nelson Mandela Bay to Germany. Their programme included sporting activities, workshops and opportunities to experience German culture and everyday life.

For the South African delegation, the visit to Eintracht Braunschweig added a professional football dimension to the wider exchange. It connected the players with an established club environment while supporting the programme’s broader aims of building links between young people in the two cities through sport.