Living My Childhood Dream

Coumba Sow, Switzerland

My name is Coumba Sow, I am 28 years old and I play for the Swiss national team. My new club will be Basel FC. With the national team we are in full preparation for the World Cup. We will play our first game of the tournament against the Philippines. I am so excited!!!

Before I could walk I already had a ball in my hands. My dad loves soccer, so I feel like I have it in my genes. I played a lot with my cousin Djibril Sow when I was young. He is also a pro player for Frankfurt and the Swiss national team. All my skills come from kicking the ball in my neighbourhood with the boys who are still like brothers to me. I did not play in a club team until I was 13, I just played on the streets.

I have been away from my family for almost 10 years to be able to play pro. I played and studied for four years in America, then I went back to my home team in Zurich for a year, then I played 3 and a half years in Paris and six months in Geneva. It has been an amazing experience, but it does get hard sometimes because I really am a family and close friends person.

My family, especially my mom and my dad, are inspiring people to me. They both left their home countries and started a new life in Switzerland. My dad is Senegalese and came from nothing and worked so hard to give us kids everything. My mom was able to raise three children in a household as a single mom.

I come from strong characters and that is what has made me. My worst time in football and life was when I tore my ACL seven years ago and lost my big sister. I hit rock bottom or even lower.

I have had great times in football. I won four championships and the Cup with FC Zürich at a young age, then the Big 12 Conference with my university. I scored in the first 10 minutes of my first game in the Euros against Portugal, then we qualified for the World Cup where I scored to take the game to penalties. Now I am preparing for the World Cup - I am living my biggest childhood dream right now!

What did you try to show with the photos?

The photo with the trophy is with my last team, Servette, after we won the Swiss Cup for the first time in club history. This team was something special! I loved every moment with them.

You can also see my dad, my brothers and sisters, and my step mom. They support me so much. They come to every game they can. They definitely are my inspiration and motivation. They came to a public training session when this photo was taken. It shows how much of their time they put in to see me play. And I love to be a role model for my little brothers and sisters. They all want to become pro too.

I call my dad before every game. We discuss and vision the game together.

I also showed my teammates playing cards in our free time. I love playing games. There is also my best friend Eseosa Aigbogun smiling with our captain Lia Wälti. This was in Spain for a training camp. Ese and I have been best friends for over 15 years and have played together in Paris and for the national team for five years. Now we even get to play a World Cup together!!

Was there any wider meaning with any of the photos?

There is one photo with Ella Touon and Aurélie Csillag, and another with Meriame Terchoun. I like these a lot because you can see that there is change and our team is finally starting to look more diverse. For a long time Ese was the only black player on the Swiss national team. Then I came and now young players are starting to look more like us. I love to open this door for more diversity in Switzerland!! Diversity means the richness of so many different backgrounds coming together, which creates a great opportunity for success, learning and understanding.

What are the opportunities and challenges for women’s footballers in Switzerland? What changes have you seen in women’s football since you started playing?

Switzerland is slowly getting there. Some teams now have some pro players and semi pro players who can live from football. 10 years ago this was not the case. When I started to play in the first team with FC Zurich there were no Swiss pro players. Nowadays living from football still does not mean they can put money aside to save for the future. Every player has to find ways to best prepare their future. In most teams players are not pro, so they either study or work on the side, which is a big load and can cause injuries.

Most good players still go abroad to be paid and play in a more professional environment. Our country is one of the richest countries, but women's soccer has not been a priority in the past. However, in the national team one big sponsor, Credit Suisse, now pays us the same amount of money as our men's team for media activity, which is already a good step.

I think what really has to be done is even more investment in youth development. The gap from the U19 to our senior team is big. We do have some promising talent coming through like Iman Beney. We will keep on pushing for a better environment for our future girls. I think that hosting the EUROS at home in 2025 will create a boom in Swiss football too. I hope we can capitalise on it and also beforehand create a trend that is long lasting.

What role does football play in your community and Swiss society?

Football matters a lot in our Swiss community, but we do share attention with other sports like ice hockey and skiing. I also feel like it is not in the Swiss DNA to live or die for a sport like in England or Italy!

What does football and representing your country mean to you?

Representing my country is a big honour. I am proud to represent Switzerland, my home country. I want to show the kids that look like me in Switzerland and in the world that they can be what they aspire to be. You can be what you can see.

What are your personal ambitions for the future?

I want to continue to work to be the best version of myself on a football level, but also on a personal level. I definitely want to continue to rock for Switzerland and also on a club level. I want to give it my all as long as I play. I also want to live and experience another country that I have not lived in yet. Maybe Italy or Spain!

What does the future look like for women's football? What do you want/expect to change after the 2023 Women’s World Cup?

The future looks promising. The industry is growing a lot internationally, but there is still a lot of work to do. I think the Women’s World Cup can definitely recreate the buzz from the World Cup in Canada. After France 2019 I was a little disappointed at how Europe did not fully capitalise on this. But I think it is a huge opportunity to grow women's football around the globe.