German soccer player could return as BFC coach
Prell is related to Althoff's Huettner
Udo Prell, 32, a soccer player from Germany, recently spent four weeks in Belleville along with his wife, Sabrina, who is the niece of Althoff boys and girls soccer coach Juergen Huettner. Huettner, a German native and the manager of the Family Sportsplex in Belleville, has lived in the U.S. for more than 22 years.
"I came to the States in the fall of 1985 and I think it's been a good decision," Huettner said. "This year my niece, my brother's daughter, and her husband and their daughter (Ciara, who turns 3 this month) decided to check out the United States because every time I come over there, I brag about how neat it is here. They wanted to come over and see how nice it is, and if they like it, they might come back and live over here for a couple years.""Udo comes from a town (Grossenseebach) that's smaller, so what he liked about Belleville is that you can find your way around and there are a lot of green spots. When you think about the U.S., you always think about the bigger cities and now he gets to see a smaller city and he's really impressed. He says it feels homey and pretty close-knit."
Udo and Sabrina, 22, returned to Germany in late April. During their time in Belleville, they got a close-up look at sports in America, thanks to Juergen's job at the Sportsplex and his coaching duties with the Althoff girls soccer team.
"What he likes about sports over here is that the schools are actively involved because in Germany that's not the case," said Huettner, who served as an interpreter for Prell. "In Germany, everything is based on club sports. He got a pretty good look at the soccer scenario with Althoff and he thinks it's beneficial that schools offer all the different sports programs because the kids are kept off the street. They're not sitting at home just sitting in front of the computer or watching TV."
If Prell does return to the U.S. to coach soccer, he would bring an extensive background in the sport.
"In Germany every town has soccer clubs and it's not just for the kids - they have adult teams too," Huettner said. "When he was 17 or 18 he played in the highest class there is in Germany for youth soccer. It was a team called Greuther Fuerth that's now in the second division. His dream, like a lot of kids in Germany, was to play pro soccer, but there are a lot of factors involved. You've got to be in the right place at the right time with the right coach and his case it just never materialized.
"But he kept playing and he's been playing in the amateur divisions ever since. There is some money involved, but it's called expense money. He's playing right now in Erlangen, which is my hometown. It's a university city with a population of around 100,000 and it's 10 or 15 minutes away from Nuremberg. Their soccer club (BSC Erlangen) is in second place in their division and they're hoping to get promoted (to the first division) this year. The weekend he comes home, they have a big game and he's hoping to get to play.
"The prime time for a soccer player in Germany is between 25 and 30 and once they get a little older, a lot of players look to become player-coaches. This is a transition he's slowly getting into and he's deciding if he wants to be a player-coach on a club team or if he wants to train a youth team. Since he's been here in Belleville he's become interested in working with BFC (Soccer Club, which is based out of the Sportsplex) and I told him there would be an opportunity for him over here. But he and his wife Sabrina have to make the decision if they want to come back and live here."
Unlike in the United States, where it has to compete with football, baseball, basketball and numerous other sports, soccer rules in Germany.
"Udo said people showed some interest in tennis when Steffi Graf and Boris Becker were in their primes and it became the No. 2 sport, but it's not even remotely close to soccer," Huettner said.
Getting a chance to turn his love for soccer into a full-time occupation wouldn't be the only reason for Prell to return to the U.S.
"He thinks he could widen his horizons by living in a different country and learning about a different culture in the United States," Huettner said. "His daughter is almost 3 and he thinks it would benefit her. He feels it would be a neat experience for the whole family."
In addition to the language barrier, Prell had to make some other adjustments during his stay in Belleville.
"He had to adjust to our eating habits," Huettner said. "In Germany you have set times for breakfast, lunch and dinner and he thinks Americans are a little more on the go and don't worry as much about what to eat.
"He says in Germany there are sidewalks everywhere and a lot of people go by foot and people of every age ride bicycles. Over here, a car is essential and everybody travels by vehicle, even going around the corner.
"He says life in the States is a lot more relaxed and it's easier to obtain things or do things. In Germany there are very tough rules and everything is set in place. On Sunday, you cannot wash your car or do laundry or run your vacuum cleaner or anything that could be a nuisance. On Saturday, you're allowed to wash your car, but only at certain times. In the States, you can do whatever you want to do at any given time as long as it's within reason."
While gas prices in the U.S. creep toward $4 per gallon, that's still a bargain by German standards.
"Sabrina and Udo have both mentioned that if you exchange euros into dollars, a gallon of gas runs approximately $8," Huettner said. "So compared to Europe, we're still pretty well off, but as Americans we don't like it anyway."
For family reasons, Huettner would love to see Udo, Sabrina and Ciara move to Belleville. But based on his own experience, he knows it's not a decision to be made lightly.
"Nothing will be easier for them than it was for me, but when I came over here it was very difficult leaving my family behind in Germany," Huettner said. "It took me years to find my base with soccer, but by already having a club in place in Belleville with BFC, that step would be a little easier for Udo. Nevertheless, the biggest adjustment is leaving all those people in your family behind. You really feel it on holidays like Christmas and Easter when you can't be with them.
"It took me a couple years to get used to that, but it would be a slightly different situation for them. Udo and Sabrina would come to the United States but they would not give everything up in Germany. The job market in Germany is very tight and he would make arrangements in such a way that they would leave for a year. If it doesn't work out after 12 months and they don't like it and they want to go back, his employer promised that he would keep his job open and he could pick up where he left off.
"Udo works in a lab where they do lab work for hospitals and doctors and a lot of it is based on DNA work. It has good security for him. Sabrina is a kindergarten teacher but Germany is a little more friendly regarding maternity leave and she took some time off. But when her daughter turns 3, those benefits end and she's getting ready to go back to work. But as I said, the job market in Germany is extremely tight."
