There are only eight kilometers between home and the venue.
Elisabeth Weber currently plays as a central defender at the up-and-coming district classics SpVgg Markt Schwabener Au.
Finsing / Markt Schwaben - There is only a maximum of eight kilometers between where you live and where you have played her career as a footballer so far.
Elisabeth Weber is a cross-border commuter.
The 23-year-old is at home in Finsing, but currently plays as a central defender for the up-and-coming district classics in the Ebersberg district, SpVgg Markt Schwabener Au.
At FC Finsing, she learned to love the Germans' favorite sport - and infected her brother Seppi with the soccer virus.
“I enjoyed it, so I persuaded my big brother to come to training.” One and a half years older Seppi, now 24, has remained loyal to the club in the Erding district since then and is currently playing as a defender for the club that is still in the district.
“We played together for a year, that was really cool,” says the little sister.
Her first coach at the time was Anton Franz. Others were to follow, all with a formative influence on her.
After the U 11 and a championship at the FCF, she moved from the small field to the large field and to the male D youth of JFG Speichersee when she was 13.
The midfielder's personal highlight was "when I was named the best player in an indoor tournament - among all the boys," she says with a laugh.
Elisabeth Weber remained loyal to the youth development association, which Finsing also belongs to, for two years.
Then the idea of changing clubs gained the upper hand.
“For a long time I thought a lot about whether I wanted to continue playing with boys or in an all-girls team.
But when the age was there, it was clear what I wanted. "
They didn't mind that it was a different football circle.
“That didn't play a role in the female youth, it is played across all districts.
And with the women we always play friendlies, for example with Lengdorf. "
In Pliening, just a stone's throw away, Elli Weber tied the shoes for the girls' teams for three seasons.
In 2011, coach Robert Schreil built a new female sector in the neighboring town.
The U15 team achieved successes in rows.
“We were always champions in the first three years alone.” Weber fondly thinks back to the scoring times.
Laura Schreil, Bettina Gruber, Patrizia Fryba, Sophie Kaminsky, Anna Schmid and Linda Anzi were on the team with her, and they still play in the SpVgg jersey today.
After a short interlude in the youth in Markt Schwaben and the return to Pliening, I finally went to the neighboring town a year later.
Some teammates went with Weber because the TSV could no longer form a women's team.
"After many years in Pliening, I wanted to try something new and made the first contact," says Weber.
Finsing remains her home town, but SpVgg Markt Schwabener Au has been her sporting home for five years in a row.
“It's not far, the commute doesn't bother me.” And there is always a small group, “a whole car full”, that sets out as a carpool.
“We take turns driving every time.” That includes Gruber and Fryba from Finsing.
You feel at home in Markt Schwaben.
"The sports center is beautiful and our team sticks together." Many friendships have formed, enthuses the 23-year-old.
Trainer Matthias Reiter contributes his part to the success and the statement of Weber: "I have not regretted the jump over the district border at all." Especially since the sporting success at the Ebersberg club, which offers intensive training in the female area and is very popular, by no means failed to materialize.
After years of apprenticeship, the Markt Schwaben formation got stronger little by little.
Most recently, he was promoted to the district class.
Twelve wins with 76: 5 goals prove the superiority of the SpVgg in the A-class (Munich district).
For Weber, although she only played two games (one goal), a personal highlight.
“Many of them didn't even compete against us.” The 23-year-old says this because she enjoyed the community after completing a semester abroad in Linköping, Sweden during the 2018/19 season, but having always had close virtual contact back home.
The young woman from Finsinger has now successfully completed her studies (industrial engineering) and works in Ottobrunn.
Weber has also precisely outlined her sporting goal.
“In the next two or three years I want to advance with Markt Schwaben, but of course step by step,” she says with a laugh.
"First of all we want to get back on the pitch and then into the district league."
As second in the table with only one point behind TSV Haar and a goal difference of 87: 8, the leap up should succeed.
The central defender has contributed eight goals so far.
“The clear goal for the season is promotion.” That would be Weber's wish.
And that would be another drive for her life as a cross-border commuter.
The nearly eight kilometers don't play a role.
Our series: Cross-border commuters
Different circles, different customs - or maybe not?
The district of Erding belongs to the BFV district of Donau / Isar, Ebersberg mainly to the BFV district of Munich.
In a loose sequence, we present active and alumni who have kicked on both sides.