Golden title fights for Elva Siebenlist

Bergheimerin wins the European Championship with the German U15 mixed team.

Bergheim. Elva Siebenlist still can’t quite believe it. “It’s surreal that we’re European champions,” says the 15-year-old on the way back from Frankfurt Airport to her hometown of Bergheim. The gold medal around her neck reminds her “that it’s not all a dream.” Elva Siebenlist won the European Flag Football Championship in Serbia with the German U15 mixed team.

Before setting off for Belgrade, the national player was hoping for a coup. “A year ago in Italy we came fifth. Now we want a medal,” she said. The fact that it was gold in the end was all the more beautiful.

The start of the tournament was more than bumpy. And that was off the pitch. “The organization was bad. The hotel we had booked was no longer available. “We suddenly had to take care of our own food,” reports Elva Siebenlist. Late in the evening on the day of arrival, the eager German support team found a hotel about 30 minutes by bus from the venue. And the food issue was finally sorted out.

In terms of sport, the team started the group phase on Friday with a 28:20 win against Finland. According to Elva Siebenlist, they were “the weakest opponent” of the entire tournament. “But we had to get into the swing of things first.” This was followed by further victories against defending champions Italy (33:32), Slovakia (34:28) and Spain (26:25). “Those were tough and close games. The results show that we didn’t beat anyone here,” says the Bergheim native, speaking of an enormous level of performance and an increased level compared to last year. She was particularly pleased with the narrow victory “against very strong and athletic Spaniards and the narrow coup against Italians who don’t always play fairly.” What was noticeable was that the German U15 mixed team, which consists of 50 percent boys and 50 percent girls, was actually behind in every game. “But thanks to our sensational morale, we turned the matches around.”

Things went a little differently on Sunday morning in the semi-final against Austria. Germany took an early lead with a touchdown. In the end, the eventual European champions won by a clear margin of 50:33. In the final a few hours later, the usual picture returned: Great Britain led for a long time. “Then we showed a drastic improvement in performance in the second half and won 46:39,” said Elva Siebenlist happily. Following this successful comeback, the celebrations knew no bounds. Directly on the field and later during a small celebration in the hotel.

Overall, the Bergheim native looks back on great days in Belgrade. “We got on really well with the other German teams and the foreign competition, and often sat together in the evenings.” Less pleasant: The 15-year-olds caught a bad cold.

There isn’t much time to recover, however, as she is currently competing for three clubs. She plays flag football for the Kelkheim Lizzards in the 1st women’s league and for the U16 mixed team of the Rhein Main Rockets in Offenbach. She is also active for the women of the Wetterau Bulls in classic tackle football in the Hessen development league.

And of course Elva Siebenlist already has her next big goal in mind: Flag football will be an Olympic event in Los Angeles in 2028. Of course she wants to be there with Germany. By Torben Frieborg (tfr)