Playing High school football has always been one of my biggest dreams. Going through different organizations, hours of overthinking and a lot of paperwork, I somehow finally made it and landed in Grayslake. I’ve played football in Germany for about four years. I remember the first day of summer camp like it was yesterday. Walking into the arena and seeing 53 people stare at me like, “who is this guy?”
Not knowing a soul but still working yourself into the team is something I will never forget. It’s a scary but still so beautiful experience. Love, brotherhood, unity, positive and constructive communication, and the shared will to fight for your teammates are key elements for a football team. Even though those are the same for a football team anywhere in the world, there are still a lot of differences between football in America and Germany. The basic conditions in America for example are much better. From fields, to training times to the equipment, American football in Germany is still a marginal sport and less supported by the government.
Since there are no school sports in Germany, you have to play in a separate club. Another big difference I experienced was that in Germany and Europe in general, teenagers only play one sport and practice all year round, even in the offseason. While practice in Germany is two to three times a week all year round, practice here starts six to seven weeks before the season and is then every weekday until right after the last game.
The positive side about the German way is that you get to practice all year with the team and your team spirit and connection definitely grows. On the other hand, you can’t do multiple sports and the American way is more intense and impactful. The main sport in Europe is soccer. That’s what most kids there play. Football is slowly growing but not quite there yet. It definitely has the potential to become a very popular sport.
If football in Germany was a school sport, it would definitely help to make it more popular. Walking into an American High school stadium is a very special memory that I will never forget. I asked Kai Wöltje, Head Coach of the U-19 team of the Heidelberg Hunters how he would describe walking into a Stadium on Friday night he said, “For me it’s still one of the most defining moments of my life. You can’t describe it. That was when I realized how much America loves this sport. It’s incomparable to Europe and Germany. These are memories that I will never forget.”I feel the exact same way. Playing the sport alone is cool but if your whole school is watching, and so many people cheer you on, it’s just unique. Nothing compares to it. Football isn’t something you do and once it’s over you don’t care anymore. Football is so much more than just a sport. Football teaches you so many important lessons for life. It teaches you team spirit and sportsmanship. It teaches you to reflect on yourself and to stay disciplined and to keep fighting through tough situations. If you can’t play in a team where you trust and rely on your teammates, you can’t successfully play football. Overall, football is a great way for kids not to only learn how to play as a team and rely on their teammates. It’s also a great way to learn discipline and strength and enjoy the side effects along the way. If there’s one thing that coming here has taught me, it’s how to take an opportunity, how to fight for it and sacrifice for it. It can turn out better than you can imagine.
