Passion for football – Sabine Förster as a player, referee and coach

Sabine Förster has been a referee on the pitch for around 18 years and does so with passion. Originally, she only wanted to referee games occasionally, maybe once or twice a month. But she quickly realized how much she enjoyed refereeing. Today, games are a natural part of their lives almost every weekend.

From the football field to international women's football

Her football story began in the classic way, as a “football field kid”. At the age of 16 she finally switched to club football FC Bayern Munich.

In 1985 she moved to Spain, where she worked at... RCD Espanyol Barcelona Femenino played. There she came into contact with futsal for the first time and quickly developed a great enthusiasm for this indoor version of football.

In addition to classical football, she also played futsal Club Futbol Sala Villanueva de la Geltrú. Through contacts in the club's environment, she even met players from the club's surroundings FC Barcelona know.

Another station took her to Italy for a short time AC Torino. Looking back, she describes this time as one of the most technically instructive phases of her career.

Later she also played in the women's division FC Barcelona. Among other things, they performed games Mallorca, Madrid and Leon.

After her time in Spain, she returned to Germany and played, among other things FC Wacker Munich, at SSV Ulm 1846 and later at TuS Niederkirchen.

With TuS Niederkirchen she achieved a particular success in 1993: winning the German championship in women's football.

After further positions, she finally ended her active career. A broken hip bone in 2013 ultimately meant that she could no longer actively play football.

Getting started in refereeing

At the age of 42, Sabine Förster decided to take a new path in football: she became a referee.

Today she describes this activity as a great passion that has given her many special experiences. She particularly appreciates the community among referees. For them it is a small but very strong community in which cohesion and mutual support play an important role.

The exchange with young referees also motivates her a lot. As she herself says: By being in contact with younger colleagues, you “stay young yourself”.

Futsal from a referee's perspective

The sport of futsal plays a special role for Sabine Förster. She describes him as:

• very quickly

• technically demanding

• tactically interesting

• particularly attractive to look at

The special futsal ball provides more traction and control, allowing for more technically demanding moves.

For referees, futsal means above all:

• high concentration

• good condition

• quick decisions

• very good communication in the referee team

Futsal is usually officiated by two active referees. Both must work together perfectly and be able to rely on each other blindly.

Communication often takes place via:

• Eye contacts

• Hand signals

• coordinated walking paths

A very special moment for her is when both referees recognize an offense at the same time and blow their whistle at the same time.

Training and communication in the referee team

Another important topic for Sabine Förster is the training of referees. She attaches particular importance to the basic skills of refereeing.

One sentence from her sums it up very well:

“The pipe is our tool.”

Close cooperation between referees is crucial, especially in futsal. A game can only be managed confidently if both work as a team.

In the lower leagues, the use of headsets is sometimes viewed critically, as young referees should first learn the classic forms of communication such as eye contact and hand signals.

However, Sabine Förster also sees advantages in this. In her opinion, headsets can be particularly helpful in training because they:

• improve communication

• support young referees

• can provide additional protection for referees

Commitment as a trainer

In addition to her work as a referee, Sabine Förster is also intensively involved as a trainer.

She currently looks after:

• a C junior team

• an inclusion team

• a team for Special Olympics

With this team she took part in the international Christmas Futsal Cup in December 2025 Belgium part. There the “Germany” team competed against several international teams and won first place in Group 2.

During the tournament she also had the special opportunity to referee games for international teams.

Teamwork as the key to success

Sowohl im Futsal als auch in ihrer Trainertätigkeit spielt Teamwork für Sabine Förster eine zentrale Rolle.

She attaches great importance to team building, especially during training. In her experience, a functioning team structure is an important basis for sporting success. Sometimes even a single player can disrupt the balance of a team.

In order to strengthen cohesion, she regularly organizes joint activities for her teams. This also included encounters with well-known football personalities such as Dennis Diekmeier from Hamburger SV.

Promoting young referees

Another topic close to Sabine Förster’s heart is the promotion of young referees.

She particularly thinks highly of a sponsorship system in which experienced referees accompany and support young colleagues.

She also sees so-called tandem games, in which two referees lead a game together, as very valuable. Above all, they help young referees with:

• Learning walking routes

• to understand the correct positioning

• to better coordinate decisions

A passion that lasts

Even after many years in refereeing, Sabine Förster has not lost her enthusiasm for the sport.

She describes her time as a referee as a real one “Pure experience”, full of special moments and experiences. Experiences that she would like to tell her grandchildren about one day.

This is precisely why it will be particularly difficult for her to stop whistling at some point.