So I said soccer was going to be a big part of this adventure, so here is the first instalment of my soccer adventures in Germany. I am now training with the local team here in my village, TSV Allershausen.
Just to be clear, here in Europe, many clubs, especially in the smaller villages like Allershausen, the football clubs are not only football clubs, but also athletic clubs. This means that TSV Allershausen also has a tennis team (which my host family plays) and a baseball, track and field, badminton team, and many other sports teams. However, for the moment, I am going to focus on soccer.
Here in Allershausen, there are three teams on which I am eligible to play on. The first is the A-Jugend, or the under-19 youth team. Once you are past the A-Jugend, there are two men's teams, separated player talent. The lower is the Zweiten Mannschaft (second team), while the higher is the Ersten Mannschaft (if you can't guess what that means, google it). At the moment, I train with any and all of these teams when they have a practice while I wait for my license to be approved so that I can play games.
OK, so for those of you who don't follow soccer, I am going to have to explain a unique characteristic of soccer leagues that doesn't exist in North America, known as promotion and relegation. here in Germany, as in all other soccer systems in European countries, the leagues are set up in a pyramid formation. At the very top of the pyramid is the Bundesliga, the top German professional league. Below this league is the second division, possibly a third division and then the leagues split up by region. For example, there may be a Bavarian league here. this division by region continues until you reach a level near what we would call house league level in Canada. However, unlike in Canada, these leagues are flexible. If you finish first in your league, you will be promoted to the league above you and play a new, more difficult set of opponents. Finish first in THAT league, and you are promoted again. This means that, given time and enough skill, ANY team can play in the Bundesliga. However, similar to being promoted, a last place finish will see you relegated to a lower league and easier opposition. In the very high leagues, such as the Bundesliga, this relegation can mean a massive loss in revenue from TV money as well as an exodus of talented players looking for a more successful club than the one that they were formerly playing at. In my personal opinion, I think that this system is very good and should be implemented in North America, not just because because it maintains competition, but also because it gives teams who have lost many games something to play for towards the end of the season and keeps games entertaining, since teams are always needing a win. Having got that out of the way, the first team and the second team both play in a league, with the league of the second team being several divisions below that of the first team.
So, that's it for soccer at the moment. I'll be sending along updates in the future about the soccer season in much the same manner as I will with the school. if you would like pictures of the TSV Allershausen stadium, I would suggest that you go to their website here. Also like school, if you have any other questions about soccer here in Germany, feel free to post them in the comments below, and I will try and get some answers for you.
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