Interview with SV Buckenhofen’s Austin Zeringue

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Louisiana’s Austin Zeringue on his German Experience

Today we present our one of our summer player signings, Austin Zeringue, a Louisiana native who signed this summer with SV Buckenhofen. We are excited to help Austin in this next chapter of his player development.

Q: Austin, can you give the audience a quick introduction? Where you are from and where you competed last?

A: I am from the small town of Houma, Louisiana. I had played for Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee before coming to Germany.

Q: You also joined us last spring (2014) for our 3 month program as well, can you give us some detail about how your first experience went over in Germany and why you decided to come back?

A: Last spring was a great experience for me.  I had always wanted to live in Europe and IFX gave me the opportunity to not only live in Europe but to also play the game that I love so much. It was only natural that I wanted to come back.

Q: I’m sure you watched the World Cup, and naturally had some interest in seeing the US Mens National Team… do you think that Jurgen Klinsmann has had a positive effect on the Mens Program-given some of the marque results attained recently?

A: Oh absolutely! I think Klinsmann did a fantastic job of preparing his team.  You could tell by the pre-World Cup friendlies that Klinsmann knew exactly what was needed to perform well against his group stage opponents.  And I think this year’s success will be a great anchor point for World Cups to come.

Q: Prior to coming to Germany, both last summer and this summer, what was your background of the football landscape of the country? Did you follow the German Bundesliga?

A: Honestly I never had much interest in the German Bundesliga for I had always been a fan of the Premier League. However I have had an interest in the German language and culture having been to Germany once before.

Q: Getting back on track here with your personal development and recent success in finding a club, can you touch base on the trialing process and what coaches are trying to identify from players that are on trial (what can some prospective players looking to use our services look out for)?

A: This question can be a bit difficult because the situation may be different at every club and every coach may be looking for something different.  However one common theme that I find tends to impress most people is hustle and the ability to keep the ball.  This may sound cheesy but the German people value efficiency and it’s no different on the pitch.  There’s nothing more efficient than a player that is willing to work hard but doesn’t give up the ball in the process.

Q: SV Buckenhofen is coming off a difficult season last year, that ended with the club being relegated from the Landesliga. Interestingly enough 1. SC Feucht, the club that eliminated SVB from last year’s relegation playoff series, has begun the season 4-0 and is top of the Landesliga table playing very good football… how do you see yourself fitting into this years squad. Have you identified a position that you think you can exploit and add some needed energy to?

A: Well…this is my first year with the club and I was brought there to help in any way I can, be that at striker or defense.  We have a great coach and that is for him to decide. 😉

Q: Can you describe your approach coming into this new adventure, having joined a club that is in its rebuilding stage but looking to get back into the Landesliga?

A:  Though promotion is always the goal we will worry about that when the time comes.  First we will to focus on what we need to do to win this weekend, for you can only play one game at a time.

Q: Lastly what are you main objectives as a player this season, obviously you are still in a developmental age and there are things to improve on, what are some of those things?

A: Well I have always believed that no matter where you are in the game everything can use improvement, but if you are looking for specifics I’d say coming off an injury I could use a bit of fitness.

Austin, thanks for taking the time to answer some questions for us, we will be sure to follow your progress with SV Buckenhofen throughout the season. Good Luck

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