10 Years Of German Academy Training.pdf

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Guest Contribution Andreas Rettig
“It must be possible to combine a
Bundesliga career with A levels”
As Chairman of the Academies
Committee, Andreas Rettig has
set out to further improve youth
development in German football.
While content with achievements
to date, he feels there is room
for improvement in relations
between football and the school
system.
By Andreas Rettig
The biggest mistakes in football
are often the result of temporary
hype. In that respect, we cannot
let ourselves be blinded by the recent
outstanding successes of young players
in the Bundesliga and the national team.
We cannot allow complacency to set in.
The tenth anniversary of the Bundesliga
academies should, on the contrary, be for
all of us an occasion to think about how,
in the ten years to come, we can still be
setting the standard in youth and elite
player development.
Thus it is the task of the Academies
Committee to anticipate a leap
in time and see what else we can improve
upon in the coming years. I am optimistic
that the quality of our academies will
increase further in the future. What is
especially important is that the Committee
and the representatives of the
academies also work together in close
collaboration with the German Football
Association (DFB) regarding youth policy.
The interaction between education
and football is, and will remain, an important
theme. It must be possible in Germany
that a young footballer can pursue a
Bundesliga career whilst at the same time
doing his A levels. Much is quite rightly
said about individualisation in training, so,
the individual limits of performance must
be raised for every young professional.
Therefore it is also logical to transfer this
individualisation to education and professional
training. For the promotion of elite
players we must move away from rigid
lesson plans; a close interaction between
school and professional football must
take place.
It is an absolutely fundamental problem
that physical education lessons at
school are being reduced more and more
and that, as a result, children and young
people are getting less and less exercise.
The significance of sport in schools has
dramatically decreased whilst the importance
of all-day schools is on the increase.
Thus the question naturally arises, how,
through sport, longer attendance at
school can be used sensibly and, above all,
attractively. Because the longer school
lessons last in the afternoon, the less
time there is to do any sport afterwards.
Hence sports at school could be given a
whole new meaning again.
We must now give this special emphasis
in our conversations with politicians.
What is also important is that
physical education is not taught by nonspecialist
teachers. Only with an edu cated
P. E. teacher can the pupils’ enthu siasm
for the lessons taught be guaranteed.
Let’s not forget that German football can
benefit from the Federation of German
Football Coaches (BDFL), with its fantastic
potential of well-trained coaches, and
could therefore act as a sports service
provider for schools. This is why we must
manage to establish interaction at the
highest political level.
At any rate, in Germany we currently
have 1,200 football coaches with a Pro
licence, 5,000 coaches with the ‘A’ licence
and 2,500 with the ‘B’ licence. That’s
almost a total of 9,000 coaches which
were trained for the highest levels. There
remain many resources, which the DFL
and the DFB could offer to schools. It is to