Our

Story

Marco

&

Kai

Marco (Young Coach): I am Marco and I have been playing football for 3 years now. Before that, I did another sport, but since I had the tryout training session at Teutonia, I found my passion. I really enjoy it.

Kai (Tandem Partner): I am Kai, and I have been a coach at ‘Team United’ of Teutonia Köppern for over a year. My first experience with disability football was in amputee football in 2019. I was impressed by the abilities of the players and realized that I wanted to stay in that field. I am very happy with my decision.

Marco: Before the Tandem Young Coach Education programme, I have never really thought about what it means to be a coach. When I started playing football, I thought that our coach simply shows us some exercises and that’s it. Now that I am attending this programme, I know that there is much more to it. I am very proud that I am here and learning all that. But I am also proud that Kai, my Tandem Partner, supports me, along with the rest of the team. I am very happy to have this experience because it feels great to be a coach.

Kai: You can see a development in Marco. He has been able to shed his shyness and is becoming more and more confident in putting his own thoughts into the game. He could be a bit braver because he’s doing really well.

Marco: Kai has given me a lot of support with the exercises. The knowledge he has as a trainer helps me. He brings in things that I didn’t know before. Whether it’s writing down notes for planning the training or how I should divide up the pitches. He helps me to orientate.

Kai: I think the Tandem Young Coach Education programme, with its mixture of practice and theory, is very well-rounded and it’s a pleasure to be here. You can tell that this programme has been around for a long time and has evolved a lot. The instructors have an incredible amount of experience, and their knowledge is enormously helpful for our work.