Die Altstadt

After passing out and getting about 12 hours sleep which meant I was waking up around lunch time; my coach came by the apartment and told me to meet him around the corner for lunch with the team president. We ate lunch at a restaurant called the Groefen Konig.

My apartment is located in the center of Monchengladbach; this part of town is called the Altstadt or “old part of town”. In this area there are lots of nice little restaurants, bars, the main train station or Hauptbahnhof, banks and stores for shopping. Generally malls are only located in big cities like Dusseldorf, and even then, most shopping hubs are located on roads. The streets are more or less like malls instead of hallways with stores; the streets are lined with stores. For those of you familiar with Montreal it is very much like St-Laurent Boulevard but lined with cobblestones the whole way.

As I walked around the corner from my apartment into the “Altstadt”, I was greeted by and image that really rang home for me; this little corner brought back images in my mind of going out for walks with my family in Lahr (the city in Southern Germany, where my family was posted for 2 years when I was younger), The cobblestones were covered with people sitting out on the many patios or walking around just enjoying the nice weather and having a coffee or a meal at one of the many restaurants. I walked towards the restaurant where I was to meet my coach and team president and nearly walked right by them since I was looking all around taking in the surroundings.

Here are some pictures of the Altstadt.





We sat, talked and ate for about two hours. We discussed about football in Germany, playing for the Mavericks, how I ended up in Germany, the team president’s love for motorcycles more specifically Harley Davidson’s, what I thought of the practice from the previous night and what some of my expectations were. It was nice to learn more about the Mavericks and how football in Europe operates. I was also informed about some of my fellow imports from North America and when they would arrive. I was to be the only import with the Mavericks for the next two weeks and then gradually over the next couple weeks we would have a total of 6 imports. Technically, I am not an import because of my German passport but all the guys still call me one of the “Amis”, no not French for friends but instead short form for Americans. The large majority of players that come over to Europe to play football are from the United States so they call us “Amis” and if they refer specifically to the Canadians they just say Mounties. I guess the Vancouver Olympic committee got it right with all the stereotypes shown at the closing ceremony of the Olympics.

I also found out that two days later we would be heading off to training camp. We would still be practicing on our home field but we would be travelling back and forth from a youth hostel they had rented out for the 5 days. The coaching staff wanted to have the players together for a few days away from all other distractions except football. This was something new that was being done this year and since there were many new players to the team and that some of them would have to travel up to an hour to make it to practice this would also be a lot easier for them. They were also emphasizing the importance to get to know all the players and form that bond that football teams have.

The Monchengladbach Mavericks are made up of many different backgrounds as far as football is concerned. We have players and coaches that have played and coached in the now defunct NFL Europe, one player played in the NFL, imports like myself from North America that have either played in the CIS or NCAA, some players that have been developed in Germany through local teams and even some German players that were overseas on exchange for school and fell in love with the game.

Not only are the teams made up of different skill levels and football backgrounds but they all have different “daytime lives” some players are still students, some work full-time in various fields of employment, some have families and so on. John Grisham’s novel “Playing for Pizza” gives a very accurate depiction of what a European football team make-up would be and it is also true for the Mavericks.

Following the lunch, and for the next two days until we left for training camp my coach would drive me around Monchengladbach showing me the various places where I would most likely spend a lot of time; the gym, the cafeteria for my daily lunch, my new adoptive mothers house, the other import players apartments and of course we spent some time at the Hockeypark.

Das Ankunft

Naturally before leaving Canada, my family was worried about how I would be picked up at the airport in Dusseldorf. They wondered whether my coach would recognize me, would he have a sign with my name on it like you see in the movies or would I just walk out and we would see each other and that was it. It wasn’t anything too exciting and realistically its probably best that way. I wasn’t expecting a sign since we had spoken on Skype so we both knew what we looked like and generally I don’t blend into crowds so I was most likely easy to recognize.

Some of you may be interested in knowing how I met my coach and how I heard about this organization or even football in Europe. I will explain the whole process later in another blog entry where I can explain how I ended up with the Monchengladbach Mavericks.

I pushed my cart out the arrivals door and I think the second face I saw was my coach’s. There was no drama, which was probably a good thing since I had no idea how many hours I had been awake, and all I knew was that it was 4pm in Germany and that this had been a very long day. Naturally, I was excited to finally meet my new coach face to face and get to know more about Monchengladbach but in reality my body just wanted somewhere to sleep and to continue the orientation 10 to 12 hours later when I felt awake.

Sometimes you get want you want and then the majority of the time you get something else. In this case, the rest of my first day in Germany was to swing by my new apartment, drop off my bags, grab a bite to eat (I was starving), and to go to the Mavericks practice.

During the 25-minute drive from Dusseldorf International Airport to Monchengladbach, my coach and our film specialist, who also picked me up at the airport, told me some of the history of Dusseldorf, about the Mavericks organization and about Monchengladbach the city or Gladbach as the locals call it. It was at this point that I also received a bit of a surprise; I wasn’t going to watch the practice, I was going to be participating as well.

Normally being told to participate in a practice isn’t a big deal; lace ‘em up and let’s go! This time however I was so tired, whether it was from the travel or a combination of the whole emotional rollercoaster and travel not too sure and it doesn’t matter my first practice for the Mavericks would be tonight whether I was “awake” for it or not.

After dropping off my bags and taking out my stuff for practice, we left for the Warsteiner Hockeypark. The Hockeypark is home to the Mavericks organization and now serves mostly for Mavericks football from the younger age groups up to the Senior Mavericks (my team) as well as some soccer and field hockey teams use it as well.

The Warsteiner Hockeypark was built for the Four Nations Field Hockey Tournament held in 2006. It has a capacity of 9000 spectators but during the Four Nations Tournament it held 14000 with the extra stands that were brought in. It is also used to host concerts when a stage is placed on the edge of one side and the field is also used as seating. This summer a few big artists from Germany and Europe will be appearing on stage at the Hockeypark, I hope to get to see at least one concert. A concert in a different language should be interesting. Check out the link to the Hockeypark website.

Here are a few pictures that I took of the Hockeypark.





Back to my first practice, I thought I may be walking into an “uppers practice” (players only wear helmets and shoulder pads, no heavy contact) but instead I was kind of but not really relieved to go to a conditioning practice. At least I knew I wasn’t going to be hit but instead my legs, which hadn’t really moved in many hours, were going to be pushed to their limit.

I wasn’t introduced to the team before practice so I showed up on the field did some stretching on my own, and tried to wake up and loosen my legs before the training would begin.

To shorten my recollection of the practice I will just say the practice ended with running about 40 flights of stairs. This was the hardest part of the practice for me since the players were calling out the number of flights of stairs left until the end of that set but in my very poor German all I understood was them counting down and then to my dismay the set would start over and the running would continue. Since I was the newest player and I did not want to be the guy asking when this hell was over, let alone attempting to do so in broken German, I kept quiet and just kept thinking of the bed that was awaiting me when the running was over.

At the end of the practice I was introduced to the rest of the team and coaching staff and was asked to say a few words; in my best-broken German, I tried to express my excitement to be joining the Monchengladbach Mavericks and to do my best to help our team reach our goal of winning a championship.

Die Immigration

The last few days before my departure I spent as much time as possible with my friends and family; many of the discussions we had were related to my trip and what to expect.

Would my coach pick me up on time?
Would my luggage make it to its final destination?
How tough would the customs be? Will I need to speak to the customs agent in German since I am using my German passport?

We had some fun thinking of some worst-case scenarios but it couldn’t have gone any smoother. I didn’t even have to go through customs when I landed in London so I figured when I landed in Dusseldorf at my final destination would be when I would have to answer some questions.

The reason for your visit: Business or pleasure?
Where and how long are you staying?
Where were you on your trip?
How long were you gone for?

It was interesting because when we talked about the possible questions sometimes we forgot that the questions would be posed to a German citizen returning to Germany and not a Canadian visiting Europe.

Either way none of it even happened; I pictured myself going through customs like in the United States where they interrogate you and being “grilled” by questions like how come I didn’t have a departure stamp from Europe since this was the first time I was using my German passport and so on. The borders here are much more relaxed as some of you might know so once you are in Europe with a European passport they are quite relaxed. Walking off the plane I followed the signs for European nationals and handed the gentleman behind the counter my German passport. Not a single question, I said hello and by the time I had time to inhale he had already returned my passport and I was on my way.

One situation overcome, luggage was next.

Another challenge and topic of discussion leading to my departure was packing.
How do you pack your life in two 20kg bags? That was the question I kept asking everyone. I generally consider myself a light packer so never had any issues going on vacation or weekends away or even three weeks in Europe no problem.

When I left home for university, I will admit that I didn’t pack light on that move. My dorm room was packed and so were my apartments during my time in Montreal. My family was only two hours away and came to all my football games so along with them came food, blender or anything else that was needed. My roommate back then came from Western Canada and he would show up with two bags and did that for four years and never seemed to have a problem.

Here is a picture of me and my stuff first day in dorm at McGill University.



I guess I can pack for vacations no problem but when it comes to completely uprooting myself, I am not as talented. Do I really need to bring those three other pairs of shoes? That black suit in case I need to dress up or decide to get a job. How many sweatshirts? Sweatpants? T-shirts? Underwear? ... The list goes on and wasn’t making my packing any easier, add to that the fact that my most hated household chore is doing laundry I wanted to bring everything. Not going to happen on this trip.

I managed to get everything I thought I needed into three bags; each of them weighed about 17lbs just under the weight restrictions. I paid for an extra one (my logic was better to pay for the extra bag instead of having to buy everything brand new). I did bring that suit, those dress shoes, the dress shirts and ties but right about now doesn’t look like I will be getting a job so I should of brought some more sweatshirts or training gear instead.

Here I am with my three bags at the airport in Ottawa, already exhausted; little did I know what was ahead.



When I was younger my parents taught me that packing your luggage at home and weighing it with your own scale really eases the stress of travel. I have seen many people on the airport floor trying to rearrange their clothes and other things from one suitcase to another trying to making it all fit under the weight restrictions or even worse having to throw something out. I can’t imagine having to decide which friend or relative doesn’t get his or her present because I didn’t pack my suitcases properly. No wonder some people are all flustered and upset at the airport; that would never be a good way to start or end a trip.

Luckily, my luggage showed up and pushing my luggage cart piled high I walked out the arrivals gate hoping to find my coach waiting…

Das Flug

Airports are a place where people can see many different emotions in their purest forms; joy, happiness and sadness are clearly visible on the faces of the people around you. When I was dropped off at the airport, my thought process and the emotions that I was experiencing were not quite what I was expecting. In my mind, I had already played out this event and I would have left my family all happy and excited about all the uncertainty of the adventure ahead. Instead I was thinking of the people I was leaving behind and whether I was abandoning them. It was a little depressing but I guess those thoughts are in my nature; I am a big brother and I deeply care for my friends and family. When I reflect back to the situation, this may have been my way of coping with my own fears, instead of focusing on the doubt and uncertainty that lay ahead I was thinking of others.

The first few minutes of my adventure were not going as easily as I expected but my mood quickly changed when I received some great news; I had been upgraded to first class for my flight from Ottawa to London, England. Thanks to some fantastic friends who were able to help in this regard, I was able to relax and enjoy the 7-hour flight in the privacy of one of the first class pods.



Anyone who has flown economy knows that when you board a plane and take that walk back to economy seating it is like rolling dice at a craps table. You have no idea how it will turn out.

Who will be sitting next to you? …
There are so many possibilities that could make your 7-hour stay in a tiny seat memorable so to speak.

I generally end up being one of the people you don’t want sitting beside you. You may ask why but the same reasons that made me a good football player make me not your most desirable neighbour on a plane. That 6’3”, 225lbs frame that I mentioned earlier doesn’t fit too well into those economy seats. Unfortunately, my long legs end up in the back of someone’s seat, in the aisle for everyone to trip over, my head may block the TV screen and if that’s not enough my shoulders are usually overlapping into the aisle and into the seat next to me. Comfortable flight for everyone involved.

It goes without saying that sleeping in that scenario is pretty hard but since this time I was in first class, it was a possibility. Well I thought.

In case you didn’t catch it in the previous post, I asked you to suggest meals and different foods to try while I am in Europe since I am a big eater and a food aficionado. Food in economy is generally expensive and terrible, or complementary and terrible but they put together a pretty nice spread behind those mysterious curtains.

The first couple hours of the flight were spent eating and drinking; champagne, salmon appetizer, mixed greens salad, a glass of wine, choice of main course (I had the AAA Beef Tenderloin with Yukon gold mashed potatoes but there were three other choices, Black Cod with fennel, Butter Chicken or Eggplant Lasagna), a cheese platter followed by a dessert of sliced fruit as well as ice cream and to end the flight just before landing I was also given a continental breakfast with croissants and yogurt.

As you can see most of my flight was spent eating and I think I may have ended up only sleeping for about 45 minutes. Rough start since I left Ottawa at night and I landed in London at 9 in the morning or so. It was a long first day in Europe.

Once I landed in London, I had to transfer Terminals but fortunately I had plenty of time and even though I stood in the wrong line for about 20 minutes I still had 2 hours to kill until my gate would be announced for my flight to Dusseldorf.

I spent the rest of my waiting time walking around the terminal window shopping the overpriced boutiques and reading some magazines I had brought along. I boarded my plane to Dusseldorf on time and it took off without any delays. The flight to Dusseldorf was spent in economy, but that flight was only about an hour long; no problem my new friends and I just had to “play nice”.

Check back soon to find out how it went at the German customs and immigration. Did I need to break out my terrible German? Did my luggage show up? So many things could go wrong in that last part of travel. Was there anything that I didn’t mention that you want to know about? Drop a comment below.

Das Anfang

As I write the first post for my blog it has now been 3 1/2 weeks since I left Ottawa to come over here to Germany and start this new adventure. I have already experienced many new things and have felt a variety of feelings. Below is part of the story of how I came to end up in Germany playing football.

I grew up in a military family and the reality of being a "military brat" is frequent postings across Canada and even the World in some cases. Since I already had a few moves under my belt, the move to Germany was not a huge undertaking for me, the move wasn't the scary part; it was and still is what I have left back home in Canada.

When I was younger, I was fortunate enough to live in Southern Germany for 2 years on my Grandparents farm which was near to the Canadian military base in Lahr. The two years I spent living in Grafenhausen were a big motivating factor in my desire to return to Germany as an adult and to experience the lifestyle and culture offered in Europe.

While in my final year at McGill University, I was lucky enough to be offered a Canadian Football League contract with the Montreal Alouettes. This contract was a validation of all the hard work and time that my family, friends and coaches had put into developing me as a student-athlete. I use the term student-athlete because as far back as I can remember; school and sports were dependent on each other. I couldn't have one without the other; I wasn't allowed to play sports without being a good student and I didn't want to just be a student, so for me it was all or nothing.

Most people would say that just receiving that contract is a great honour and something to be proud of but just like any other athlete that wasn't enough for me I needed to make the team.

When I was in high school I was a two sport athlete, I couldn't decide what I liked more football or basketball. I spent all my free time year round practicing for both sports and playing at the highest level that I could. During the summer of 2003, I needed to make a decision what sport to play in University. That summer I was playing basketball for Carleton Ravens Head Coach Dave Smart on a traveling team he had assembled of players from Eastern Ontario. He was recruiting us to go play basketball at Carleton University and for the most part of the team, they ended up playing there and as their record shows winning quite a few Championships. We went to many tournaments in the United States and during that summer was when I realized that I needed to make a decision on which sport to play.

At that point I was being primarily recruited as a basketball player and since I did not have much football experience (I only played football for my high school team, no city or club team) most universities didn't have me on their recruitment radar. I had no idea what sport to choose, I had been playing high level basketball for quite some time and football was still very new to me but through many discussions with coaches, I decided that if I worked hard enough there could be a chance for me to play professional football.

During my time at McGill University, I focused and trained hard at becoming the best football player that I could become but I could never quite shake the desire to still play both football and basketball. Every year after the football season was over I would return to the basketball court and play intramural basketball. I knew some players on the basketball team and we had talked many times about the idea of me trying to join the basketball team once the football season was over.

I was able to resist the allure of the court until my fifth and final year at McGill. At the end of my fourth year at McGill, I was entered into the CFL draft and I was really hoping to get drafted or invited to a training camp as a free agent. Unfortunately neither happened, I was not drafted and I did not get an invitation to attend a training camp.

My goal for my last season at McGill was to get that contract and make a CFL roster but I also realized that this would be my last chance to play elite basketball. In Canada, the Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the governing body and they allow you to participate in university sport for 5 years. I decided that along with training as hard as I can to make the CFL, I would also approach the McGill basketball coach and see if he would be interested in giving me a shot at trying out for the basketball team once football was over.

I spoke to Coach Norman at the beginning of the football season during training camp and he liked the idea but told me to forget about it until football was over. He said that we would deal with the process of getting me back into basketball shape once the football season was completed. In high school, Coach Norman had recruited me to the Royal Military College where he was then coaching, but then he ended up accepting the coaching at position at McGill so I was very lucky to have a coach who had seen me play when I was still a basketball player.

About two weeks into my time with the basketball team, I was offered the contract with the Alouettes and once again I needed to make a decision between football and basketball.

I was always told as a kid that once you give your word to someone or if you start something you need to finish it, never quit something. I had already started practicing with the basketball team and I decided that I wanted to fulfill this dream of playing both sports during my university career. Some of you may think I made the wrong decision to not turn my focus solely to football and believe me many people told me the same thing but I could not let that dream go. I believe that cross training in sports is a huge asset to developing athletes and I firmly believe that some of my skill as a football player comes directly my years playing basketball and soccer.

The first practice with the basketball team was the best and worst feeling I experienced in a long time. When I graduated high school, I was a tall and lanky 6 foot 3 basketball player weighing 191 pounds but over the next 5 years with hours in the weight room and just filling into my frame I was now a 225 pounds football player. The training for football had made me a faster basketball player but I didn’t have the endurance needed for basketball. When we train for speed in football, we train to be able to run at our top speed for 10 seconds whereas in basketball you want to be able to run at your top speed or close to it for at least a 1-minute or 2, but most of the time even longer. As much as those first few weeks were tests for my cardio, the whole time I felt like a little kid, I think between my gasps for air and when I wasn't keeled over from exhaustion, I probably had the biggest smile on my face. I finished the season with the basketball team and then returned to solely focus on making the Montreal Alouettes.

I went to training camp prepared and satisfied with my training, I was confident that I could make the practice roster and work my way into the line-up eventually. Unfortunately, I did not make the team and was released and sent home.

Was I crushed? Yes.
Was I disappointed? Yes.
Were all those people right and I was wrong about playing basketball? I don't know but I am comfortable with my decision.
Would it have made a difference in the long run? Who knows?
Did I let my friends, family and coaches down? I felt like I failed them.

Those are some of the questions that run through your mind on the bus going home two weeks earlier than expected and your dream is over.

Well that dream was.

Dreams evolve and change, and things happen for a reason.

Soon after moving back home I decided that I would go play football over in Europe and go and see what football is like on a different continent. Experience a different culture, reconnect with some family here, travel, eat great food (taste great but not always great for you), make some new friends and take advantage of any opportunity that comes my way. This is how I ended up over here in Monchengladbach, Germany, a city of 250 000 people, learning to speak German again and playing football.


Leave a comment, mention a place to visit in Europe, some type of food to try, ask a question about the blog, football, Germany, anything.