Women's round-up: Awards and a milestone appearance

Regional awards for two Bayer 04 women's players: Bundesliga debutant Julia Mickenhagen and captain Elisa Senß were successful at the sports awards in their home districts. Mickenhagen, from Wipperfürth, who made her senior debut for the Black-and-Reds in the 2-1 win at 1. FC Nürnberg in February, finished second in the voting in the Oberbergischer Kreis.

Midfielder Senß, a Germany international since December and candidate for the Olympics squad, came out on top from the five nominees in the Oldenburg district and was crowned 'Sportswoman of the Year' for the first time.

50th appearance for Zdebel

There was something to smile about for at least one Bayer 04 player in last Friday's disappointing 1-0 defeat at RB Leipzig: Sofie Zdebel, who made her Bundesliga debut in March 2021, registered her 50th competitive appearance for the works club at the age of just 19. She's the fifth player from the current squad to reach this figure, after Melissa Friedrich (98 appearances), Kristin Kögel (87), Lilla Turányi (82) and Sylwia Matysik (64). Friederike Repohl is likely to be the next to join the 50 club. The goalkeeper, who extended her contract at the end of March, is currently on 46 appearances for Bayer 04.

u17s fighting for division win

In the U17 Bundesliga West/Southwest, it's set to be an extremely exciting final matchday with no fewer than five teams still in with a chance of finishing top and thereby qualifying for the finals for the national championship. The Bayer 04 U17 side, coached by Aleksandar Vukicevic, are lingering in fifth place with 35 points after a 2-0 defeat at 1. FFC Kaiserslautern and host leaders Borussia Mönchengladbach (36 points) on Saturday 27 April (14:00 CEST) at the Performance Centre at Kurtekotten. Only the winner of the regional division qualifies for the semi-final against SpVg Aurich.

Last season, Vukicevic's team won the final against the same opponents to secure the first U17 girls' title in the history of Bayer 04.