Cherrypicker | Literature   From Sideline to Primetime

“Lena Cassel presents the highlights of the Champions League.” Before this sentence could become a reality, the sports journalist and soccer expert had to overcome many obstacles—both external and internal.

Everything begins in the under-9 team of the Turn- und Sportverein Schladern, a small town near Cologne—definitely the provinces, though. It is here that eight-year-old Lena—talkative, dreamy, and sporting a mullet—scores her first goal. The village crowd is thrilled, especially Grandpa Herbert. He hands the overwhelmed goal scorer 50 euros. Just imagine what you can buy with that! For instance, new soccer boots—sprayed gold by Lena’s mother to mimic the Adidas Predator look. A milestone, as the grown-up Lena Cassel would later reflect in her autobiographical book Aufstiegskampf: Vom Seitenrand in die Primetime (Promotion Battle: From the Sidelines to Primetime). Today, she knows:
“That Saturday afternoon in April 2002, on that gravel pitch […] I earned my first money playing soccer. That was the starting shot for everything that was to follow […]. That goal wasn’t a one-hit wonder. It was the beginning.”

Starting position: difficult

It was the beginning of a gradual movement away from the “sideline”—not just in terms of pitch layout. Lena’s family had little money. Her mother worked night shifts to support the children; her father was an unreliable alcoholic. Her sisters’ clothes came from second-hand or discount shops. Afternoons were spent with the regulars of trash TV.
During puberty, Lena realized she was only attracted to women—another way in which she felt out of place. At the same time, she witnessed just how little appreciation there was for women’s soccer: in 1989, the German women’s national team was rewarded with a coffee set (!) for winning the European Championship. And that’s not even to mention the near-total lack of acceptance for women in the media business surrounding soccer. And yet, it was soccer that helped young Lena feel a sense of belonging. To her, soccer clubs were the true schools of life:
“It’s not just about the next goal. It’s about the future, participation, responsibility, values, and commitment.” Her talent eventually took her to the third-tier club SC Fortuna Köln—though she had to pay her own transfer fee. And life as a female soccer player turned out to be tough in other ways too: physically demanding, yes, but above all structurally unfair. Lena Cassel paid her dues: “We were the highest-ranking team in the club and were treated like amateurs. They demanded professional dedication from us, but what we got was the opposite. And all because we didn’t have a penis.”

Trials and tests

The result: Lena Cassel turned her back on a potential Bundesliga career. The almost-professional player gradually became a sports journalist. But first, she had to juggle university and side jobs to make ends meet. Soon, a door opened for her: she landed a student job in the archive of the long-running TV show Sportschau. She quickly realized: I don’t belong in this environment—too male, too elitist, too old. She, in turn, was considered “too loud and too colorful” for the job, as she was told.

And yet, soccer remained a unifying, meaningful force. Lena Cassel found her place at Sportschau for a while, moved up into another department, then over to Stern TV, took on various side gigs, and even had to brush a hippopotamus’s teeth during a live broadcast. The result: burnout. What helped? Among other things: moving in with her girlfriend in Berlin and taking a communications job at Hertha BSC. After more hard work, she finally got the offer: Prime Video invited her to host their Champions League highlights show. One success led to the next. Soon came the Bundesliga presenting job at sports network DAZN, followed by a range of highly popular podcasts. She had arrived—front and centre in the primetime slot.

A mirror of society

Lena Cassel’s story of rising up is vivid, authentic, rich in anecdotes, and often amusing. That alone makes it a recommendation. But the book is more than a collection of feel-good soccer stories. Everything she experiences is connected—directly and without academic detours—to wider social realities. She critically examines the shame and marginalization that come with precarious family situations, the unsettling search for belonging as a young lesbian woman without a label, the devaluation and structural disadvantages of women’s soccer, and the fight for an equal place in the male-dominated world of sports journalism.

A role model

This book shows the—often steep—price Lena Cassel had to pay. But it also shows, with warmth and humor, how much joy and liberation the struggle brought her. How her unwavering love for soccer gave her strength and drive. And how, thanks to people like her, things are gradually changing. And isn’t it a success when she can now say: “Too loud and too colorful is my trademark”? An inspiring read—not just for soccer fans, but for anyone who wants to know how someone becomes who they are.

07/2025