Who is Şebnem Şener, who made her name known as the Female Kempes of the 1970s?
I am the middle child of a civil servant family with five children. My primary school education was in Niğde, Ulukışla; I spent my secondary school, high school and university life in Ankara. We moved to Izmir in 2008. Now we live with my sister and siblings.
Can you tell us about those years when you received your female Kempes title?
My story of starting football started with a newspaper advertisement. We went and met with a close friend of mine. We became the first football players of Nazendespor. I am centre-forward; My friend became a goalkeeper. Of course, when choosing the jersey, "Number 10" was mine. After a match after the goals I scored, our journalist friend wrote a story as "Female Kempes" and everyone gave me this name. Thus, I became known as Female Kempes.
How did this title make you feel? Were you seeing the rewards of this success in Turkey?
Of course, at that age, a person feels an amazing and beautiful feeling. It was an incredible privilege to be remembered by the name of a world-famous football player. At that time, there was Dostlukspor as a women's football team in Turkey. We were added as the 2nd team. We couldn't play any matches with them. Unfortunately, we lived in an unfortunate period.
Which teams were you playing on the field in those years? What was society's perspective on women's football? Have you experienced difficulties?
Since there was no women's football team in those years, we were playing against the youth of the league teams. We were getting very good reactions in the cities we visited. There were difficulties, of course. There was never a team that was right for us.
Do you think football is a business that women can be interested in? From where?
A woman is successful in everything she does. That's why women also play football well. I know that some of our female football players also play successfully abroad.
Women are kept behind football. Based on your own experiences, could you evaluate the perspective on women in Turkish and world football from a woman's perspective?
I believe that women will be very successful in football, just like in volleyball and basketball.
Do you follow today's women's football teams and matches? Can you share the names you like?
I try to follow women's football teams and matches through the media. I always watch the matches whenever I come across them. If I name names now, there may be some I have forgotten as football sisters. I don't want to upset anyone. They are all very successful. However, there is one person among them: Zelal. After all, she became the goal scorer. At that time, I became the Female Kempes with my goals.
Not in 1977; If you were at the age you started playing football today, you would still say, “I would be a football player.” would you say? From where?
“I will be a football player.” I would say. Because I would reach a wider audience and increase the number of talented female football players. In fact, I would be one of the female football players abroad. My teacher Cengiz Turcan used to say that I was better than most football players. May he sleep in the lights.
If you were a football manager, which title would you prefer and what would you change?
I think if I were a football manager today, I would want to be the president. Behind every successful football team there must be a successful president. I would also like to make women love football more.
Ending her speech, Female Football Player Şener thanked WOMEN GOOL TV and its team and AKKERMAN Media.
