He may be a coach for one of the most serious soccer clubs in Germany, but Marco Toppmöller is all about fun.
Toppmöller was in Salmon Arm as part of the European Football School camp, offering his expertise as a professional player in elite German leagues and as a coach for FC Bayern Munich.
A total of 42 players between the ages of eight and 18 registered for the camp, run by EFS head coach Saibo Talic.
EFS ran a summer soccer school last year and will return to Salmon Arm again in July.
As the Salmon Arm players scrimmaged during the spring break session, their eagerness was evident as Toppmöller encouraged them to, “Come on, attack!”
The game remained tied as Toppmöller tried to end the game, but the group of 14- to 18-year -olds begged for more until Toppmöller granted them an extra two minutes of play.
“I like to see that,” he said in a post-coaching interview. “I think it is important for kids to come out and have fun. If it is fun, then they come back.”
He stresses the need for young people, both in Germany and in Canada, to get out on the field.
“That’s why they need to have fun, so that at eight, nine, 12, 13, they don’t just play the Playstation,” he says gesturing as though he is holding a video game controller. “That’s what they do now, these kids. That is why they need to have fun playing soccer.”
If he were to give advice to upcoming Canadian soccer players, Toppmöller says the Canadians need to focus on building endurance and co-ordination before they step onto the pitch.
“Everyone likes to play games, games, but so much happens before you start.”
In Germany, he says, players focus on distance running before every workout and extensive work on co-ordination and balance.
“That is so important, especially to prevent injuries. Where you prevent injuries in games is in training.”
Toppmöller says the children he trains in Germany, where soccer is revered, are playing at a higher skill level than the Canadian children he has seen during his first camp coaching experience in B.C., but he was impressed to hear of the number of soccer players in this city.
“To have 17,000 people and 1,200 kids playing soccer. Those are good numbers.”