MCI Livetalk with Viktoria Schnaderbeck, captain of the women's national soccer team, professional soccer player at Arsenal London.
Styrian-born Viktoria Schnaderbeck now lives in Great Britain where she plays professional soccer for Arsenal London. In her exciting interview with MCI Rector Andreas Altmann, she talks about setbacks, how she became successful and gives very personal insights into her life. Insights, which she would like to pass on to students on their road to success.
At the age of 16, Viktoria Schnaderbeck left her home country to play for EUR200.00 in the 2nd team of the Under17 in Munich. Within six months, she fought her way up to the 1st team but in her big debut match she got injured within the first ten minutes. The devastating news from the doctor was, that she might never play professional soccer again.
But Viktoria Schnaderbeck did not give up. With no friends or family in Munich, no stability and no guarantee of ever playing professional soccer again, she decided to stay. She managed to conquer her fears, despair and insecurity and eventually wins her place in the Austrian women's soccer team as a captain.
Viktoria Schnaderbeck has to deal with injuries another eight times. Each time it gets worse to deal with the setback, she recounts. Each of her comebacks take four months to a year of regeneration.
Viktoria Schnaderbeck learned to fight hard for success at the age of twelve, when she was the only girl to attend a training camp. Amidst a crowd of pubescent boys, she quickly realized that she had to fight even harder than everyone else to prove herself and her talent.
"Success has to be worked for consistently and it's necessary to persevere when the going gets tough."
Viktoria Schnaderbeck talks openly about her recipe for success. For example, she has drawn up a catalog of ten principles for herself. These include discipline, perseverance, passion and ambition to succeed amongst others. In her opinion, many people have passion and ambition. It is the discipline and stamina when things aren’t fun and all the omens are bad what sets you apart from the average person: "You have to turn setbacks into tailwinds. I'm convinced I wouldn't be here if I didn't get stronger from setbacks," Schnaderbeck said.
Another tip for success from Schnaderbeck is to consistently exclude and avoid negative thoughts and people in your environment. "These are often good friends, so it hurts when you cut them out of your life," Schnaderbeck says. At the same time, she emphasizes that different pillars in life are important to maintain a healthy balance. In addition to friends and family, these include a hobby or a sustainable, financial income outside of professional sports.
In her personal interview, Viktoria Schnaderbeck makes it clear that behind all the fame and glamour lies a hard, long struggle. Not everyone can handle it. For Schnaderbeck, it's clear that a stable environment and self-reflection are essential to succeed in professional soccer. Often, young talents fail because they lack exactly this.
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Viktoria Schnaderbeck is one of the most successful professional soccer players of the present day: after several years and championship titles with FC Bayern Munich, she moved to FC Arsenal in London in 2018 and crowned her first season with the Gunners with the championship title straight away.
In the ÖFB Women's National Team, Viktoria Schnaderbeck also plays a leading role as captain. In 2017, the team sensationally took 3rd place at the European Football Championship in the Netherlands and is considered a prime example of how to get to the top as an underdog with professionalism, consistency and a clear plan.
Viktoria Schnaderbeck's unique path to success is impressive.
