Isaac Swenson joins SG Quelle Fürth A Jugend

Q:  Can you tell me about your experiences before Germany and what are your experiences were before making the trip  including the training you did beforehand and whether or not this was your first time competing in Europe?

A:  I’ve been to Europe two times. The first time was for a low level recreational tournament, the other was a family trip. IFX really tries to help out the players in the preparation for their trip. I reviewed the tactical and technical components that IFX has drawn up for the players that are joining the program. It definitely helps to review all the information before arriving for trials and training sessions in Germany. In the build up i trained with a semi pro team and tried to get my speed of play up.

Q: Can you go into detail on your first month in Germany, including the training plan and working yourself through the week?

A: The first month in Germany has been good. Learning to live on your own has been its own challenge. With IFX soccer training in the morning it’s a good build up to the progressions that most all German club teams will utilize during their own training sessions. So once you get to training in the evening it’s not brand new learning the passing movements and possession approach. I signed with SG Quelle Furth and so far we’ve had friendlies versus Bayern Munich u-19, 1860 Munich, FC Nuremberg, in the league Greuther Furth, FC Ingolstadt, with Quelle being regarded as a feeder team for some of these pro clubs., and I enjoyed the fact that this is a good chance to get some exposure against some of the professional club teams.

Q: You will be joining the language school soon, the importance of time management becomes critical now. Normally players and students your age are getting ready to go to college, but you are taking on another big endeavour in coming on over to Europe, without knowing the mother language, getting settled with your club team and living in the foreign country you don’t really know, including IFX training in the morning, language school, and your club commitments (traininglagers, training sessions etc).

A: Time management is very important. Scheduling train times to make it to training on time, and going home and resting for your evening training sessions with your club team. So getting settled in has been a challenge but it has not been too bad. The training camps was in a village called Tiding, a small German town. The next one includes a match against Red Bull Xalzburg even. So yeah scheduling your time is crucial even if I’m not attending college.
Q: Can you tell me about your roll on the team so far and your expectations? What was it like living in Germany during the World Cup and then with them winning the World Cup?

A: I am presently waiting for my player pass and made it through to the A team. I’m just working hard in training everyday, probably playing left wing in a 4-2-3-1…just keep working improving as a player, and hopefully make an impact. It’s a very fast paced game so just decision making and knowing what to do with the ball before you get it. Living in Germany has been awesome. The apartments are nice, the location is great and the public transportation is easy to use. Being here for the world cup was awesome. I usually watched the games at a local restaurant. After the matches you could hear everyone supporting their countries, honking their cars and what not. Me and my other roommates also made it to the public viewing, which is at the airport with thousands of people watching the match on a jumbo tron screening.