Former Germany defender TabeaKemme played for Turbine Potsdam during the club's glory days of the early 2000s. She has returned to the club with a new aim: to become the first female president in the Women's Bundesliga.TabeaKemme pulls up for her interview with DW at Potsdam's Luftschiffhafen sports in the white and blue VW bus. The vehicle has been her trademark since she purchased it with the bonus money she earned for winning gold with Germany at the 2016 Rio Olympics. If she has her way, that bus will become a common sight at the facility, where the players from women's football club Turbine Potsdam train alongside with many other athletes. This was her home for many years. It was where she developed from an academy talent to a national team player. Kemme has since returned to Potsdam, the capital of the German state of Brandenburg near Berlin, following the premature end of her playing career. She was forced to retire in January 2020 at the age of 28 after an injury-plagued one and a half seasons with London-based side Arsenal.
Returning to her old stomping ground comes with a new ambition: to become president of Turbine Potsdam, and therefore the first female president of a Women's Bundesliga club. Turbine Potsdam: A fallen giant The club is a household name in German football. Between 2004 and 2012, the "Turbines" won the Women's Bundesliga six times, as well as three German Cups and two Champions League titles. During it's glory days, was home to German legends like Nadine Angerer, ArianeHingst and Anja Mittag. But the club has now gone nine seasons without silverware. They have also found it harder to compete as more and more men's Bundesliga clubs getting involved in the women's game. This past season, Potsdam was the only all-women's club to finish in the top half of the standings. For Kemme, becoming the first women president of a top-flight women's football club is the only a side aspect.
She just wants to help the club, for which she made 201 appearances as a player, regain its former glory. "For the last eight years, the club has aimed to qualify for the Champions League and failed to achieve this," the former defender told DW. "I see a major need for change there." Kemme's plans to revive Turbine A major part of Kemme's platform to revamp the club is to improve daily communication between management and the players. "When I moved to England, I learned how things can be done, how things have to be run if you want to play professional football," she said of her experience with Arsenal, for whom she made just three appearances before retiring.