Contact Coach Heidi

Coach Heidi Scheunemann has lived with her family in Waena, Papua, Indonesia, since 1996. Before fully focusing on mentoring, coaching, and developing teenage girls and young female coaches through sports, she worked as a lecturer in management and business administration, as well as a consultant for small-scale business development in various regions of Papua and West Papua.

Even before officially beginning her coaching career, Heidi and her husband, Dr. Rainer Scheunemann, had been organizing football tournaments for university students, youth, and children in Papua since 1999. In 2002, Coach Heidi founded the volleyball club "HALELUYA," where she coached hundreds of teenage girls in two age groups (10–13 and 14–17 years old) until 2008.

In 2005, Heidi was invited to play for the Papuan Women’s Football Team, Galanita Papua, which competed in the national championships. With this team, she became an Indonesian national champion.

In 2008, Coach Heidi was invited to assist in coaching the Indonesian Women’s National Football Team, after being recommended to the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) by FIFA consultant and former Bundesliga coach Monika Staab.

From 2009 to 2015, Coach Heidi led the Papuan Women’s Football Team Galanita Persipura with great success. Her team won many tournaments, and in 2015, seven of her players were selected for the Indonesian Women’s National Team after Galanita Persipura delivered an outstanding performance at the Ladies 7’s International Mini Soccer Tournament in Bali. The team defeated all five international teams from Australia and Hong Kong in the competition, finishing the group stage with 19 goals scored and none conceded in five matches. They only lost in a penalty shootout after a goalless final between the two top teams. (Check out the video below.)

In 2012, Heidi participated in a coaching course organized by the German Football Association (DFB) and earned her UEFA C license as a football coach. In the same year, she became German champion with the U-17 girls’ provincial team of Hesse, where she served as assistant coach under head coach Steffen Winter. She also won the championship with her U-16 team from Blau-Gelb Marburg, Germany.

In 2013, Coach Heidi successfully completed another DFB coaching course and obtained her UEFA B license, which was later upgraded to the UEFA B+ license. She also attended several other coaching courses in Indonesia, Thailand, and Singapore.

From 2014 to 2016, three Papuan female football players lived with the Scheunemann family when they moved to Malang, Java, for three years to provide better high school education for their children. These three girls received scholarships to attend Charis National Academy in Malang. In 2016, two of them received scholarships for university studies in Dallas, Texas, USA. One of these players, Ellyn Bisay, graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Management from Dallas Baptist University in 2022.

In 2017, Coach Heidi launched a new development program for teenage female football players in Kotaraja, collaborating with the football school SSB Batik. She named her team "Galanita Persipura Junior," mentored several former players to become assistant coaches, and helped develop the skills of young female football talents.  
Indonesian Women’s National Team players Marsela Awi and Liza Madjar were coached by Heidi during this time. Both have represented the national team on several occasions. Marsela also won the Pertiwi Cup tournament in 2024 with team Toli FC.

From 2020 to 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Heidi provided individual coaching and mentoring for several young female football talents in Waena, Papua. Two of her players, Rana Wandik and Amelia Heselo, were selected to play for the U-17 Indonesian National Football Team. Amelia Heselo later also played for the U-19 Women’s National Football Team and is currently (2025) an active member of the Senior Women’s National Football Team.

In 2021, Coach Heidi was invited to become a consultant for the COMPASSION Football Academy of the KARUNA FOOTBALL FOUNDATION in Goa, India. She coached and mentored girls in India during 2021 and 2022 for several weeks each year.

In 2021, seven of Heidi’s former players won gold medals at the PON Papua Women’s Football Tournament and each received a bonus of Rp 680,000,000 from the government. Several players used this prize money to build houses for their families.

In November and December 2023, Coach Heidi coached the men’s futsal team of RKZ, Malang, which participated in a local futsal tournament. The team lost a penalty shoot out in the Quarter finals but then received the Fair Play trophy. (Check out the video below.)

In October 2024, Coach Heidi founded the football school SSB Mutiara Timur for talented female football players. “Mutiara Timur” means “Pearls of the East.” The name reflects the idea that a pearl takes three years to grow inside a shell before gaining high value—roughly the same time the girls need to develop their skills. It also corresponds to the length of scholarships provided to selected girls for their middle school education.

Since October 2024, many girls have joined the coaching sessions. Coach Heidi began a selection process to identify intrinsically motivated and highly talented players who might later be chosen to play for the Indonesian Women’s National Football Team or professional women’s teams.

On March 12, 2025, the girls played their first friendly match against U-13 boys’ teams from the football school SSB Cenderawasih. In their first friendly match against another girls’ football school on March 19, 2025, Heidi’s team, SSB Mutiara Timur, impressively won 13-1—proof that the players had already developed excellent individual and team skills within five months of the school’s founding. (Check out the video below)

More than 100 players have participated in Heidi’s training sessions since the football school was established. Some travel over an hour by motorbike or public transport to reach the training ground. All training is offered free of charge to provide opportunities for girls from disadvantaged family backgrounds. In March 2025, Coach Heidi also started offering futsal coaching twice a week for her players.

In January 2025, Coach Heidi accompanied one of her players from SSB Mutiara Timur to play as a guest star for the Surabaya ALL STARS U-12 team at the National ALL STARS U-12 Tournament in Kudus, Java. The player, Kesya Nian, became the tournament’s top scorer, helped the Surabaya ALL STARS U-12 team secure 3rd place, and was selected as one of the 12 best players for the U-14 national team of the Djarum Foundation, the Hydroplus Strikers U-14 team, which later competed in the JSSL Youth tournament in Singapore. 

In April 2025, Coach Heidi accompanied her 12-year-old player Kesya to Singapore so she could join the Hydroplus Strikers U-14 Team from Indonesia in the JSSL U-14 tournament. Kesya scored 10 goals and helped her team finish as runner-up in the tournament.  

(Check out the video below for highlights of a match where Kesya scored 4 goals.) 

In June 2025, Coach Heidi brought five talented female football players from Papua to Malang, East Java, for further school education, quality football coaching, and ongoing mentoring opportunities. Three of these players immediately joined the club Arema Malang for a tournament and won 3rd place. Kesya was the tournament’s top scorer with 4 goals.

In July 2025, Kesya Nian and Dessy Ibo from SSB Mutiara Timur were selected to play for the Papua U-16 team in the Hydroplus ALL STARS U-16 tournament in Kudus, Java. Due to their outstanding performances, both were selected to join the Indonesian U-16 national team for the AFF U-16 tournament held in Solo from August 20th to 29th.

Thank you for supporting our wonderful girls. Please transfer your contribution to...

Bank Mandiri  
Yayasan Sekolahsepakbola Mutiara Timur
no 1010083883833