In the Spotlight: Victoria Ezebinyuo!

In the Spotlight, as always, you get to know one of my wonderful teammates a little better. This time, it’s all about our number 28: Victoria “Vici” Ezebinyuo.

Just based on the name alone, it’s obviously already a match made in Heaven – Vici at Viktoria. Since this summer, she has been part of our team, bringing plenty of good vibes to the dressing room and lots of energy on the pitch as well. Vici is not only a professional with the ball at her feet, but also an expert with a ball in her hand. What that’s all about and how she found her way to FC Viktoria Berlin? Read for yourselves!

Vici, you played for SC Freiburg for ten years. Now, since this summer, you’ve been with us at Viktoria. Changing clubs after such a long time is certainly no small step. What showed you that now was the right moment for something new?

V I Once it became clear that I would no longer be playing in the 2. Bundesliga with my team at the time, I knew that I personally wanted to take the next step in my development. That’s how my first proper move to another club came about at the age of 23. I felt that a change of scenery and new challenges would do me good and also help me grow as a person. On top of that, by that point I had completed all the required courses for my bachelor’s degree in Sports and English, so to speak, I was able to leave Freiburg with a clear conscience. I hadn’t really had that feeling before, which made me long for something bigger all the more.

Over the course of the season, you tried out a new role on the pitch and moved further forward from defence into attack. How did you experience this change? Were you perhaps even able to discover something new about your game, and what do you particularly enjoy about it?

V I The change of position initially came as a surprise to me, although I could tell from the coaching staff that they had already been thinking about it for some time. I embraced the new role and was definitely able to discover something new in my game. Suddenly, you have to pay attention to completely different things, and I was able to relearn football to a certain extent. This opportunity was really good for me at that point. It’s also simply a great feeling to be able to create scoring opportunities for my teammates – and that works a little better from the striker’s position than from defence ;)

Off the pitch, you are part of our mentoring programme and have been matched with Beate Wagner – a doctor, journalist, author and mother of NBA stars Moritz and Franz Wagner. How did your match come about, and what have you taken away from your conversations so far?

V I When I attended our first meeting for the mentoring programme, I was totally surprised by how many investors had taken part and how many different areas there was interest in us players from. Somehow, while going through a list, I came across the name Beate Wagner and first had to make sure that it was actually the Beate Wagner.

I follow basketball in Germany as a big fan – whether it’s women’s basketball, men’s basketball, 3x3, the Olympics or championships – and mentioned this among my interests alongside football. Beate eventually became my mentor, and we have been in touch ever since. After our first meeting, I was very inspired to start writing more again – capturing moments, feelings, wins and defeats and putting them down on paper. That was the author in her speaking, and ever since, my journal has once again been a regular companion.