23 talented footballers have arrived from the USA to live, study and play football in Bad Aibling

The 23 students and young players from across the USA are based at the German Football Boarding School (DFI) on the Education and Sports campus. These young men from overseas will now live, study and play football in Bad Aibling for at least six months. They will also attend an intensive German course at the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Education Campus (DBBC).

Professional débuts

The aim is for at least half of the young players to remain on the campus and in the Football Boarding School beyond the six months, to attend regular lessons at the DBBC, and for one or two of them to follow a path similar to this into top level football. Boipelo Mashigo, for example, made his professional début for the German club SpVgg Unterhaching in December 2020. "Our approach of linking sport with top-class school education at the DBBC is very important and, as a concept, is unique. Our young players don't just live and study here, but the contact with "normal students" means they are also fully integrated in the life of the community. The digital (remote) teaching formats in use for many years and inspired by sport mean that there has also been no loss of teaching during the pandemic," explains Sebastian Raß.

An initial joint project

The residential period is an initial DBBC/DFI joint project being run in cooperation with American partner Talentprojekt.com. It involves specifically preparing talented young players from the USA to spend a period of time in Europe. "We are delighted that everything has come together in the shortest time possible and despite the difficult circumstances we currently face and are very much looking forward to living and working with our American guests. In this way, the region is setting a very important example, especially in these times, of international cooperation," explains Raß.