"You can't think of something like that"

Two goalkeepers injured, the 19-year-old number three has to go - and thrilled.

Erding / Bietigheim - These are stories that only sport can write.

The former Erdinger junior player Leon Doubrawa switched to the next generation of SC Bietigheim as a young goalkeeper in order to take the next step in his career.

A good six months later, the 19-year-old was number one in goal for second division team Bietigheim Steelers and the great support in winning the championship.

And next year the young boy will probably be allowed to play in the DEL.

“You can't think of something like that,” states his goalkeeping coach Fabian Dahlem (see below).

Leon Doubrawa was born in Ebersberg - just like his four years older brother Lukas - and lives with his parents in Markt Schwaben. At EHC Klostersee, Leon takes his first steps on the ice. With the Bambini everyone can go into the goal, the equipment is provided. “I had so much fun that I stayed in goal,” he says. The Erdingen junior coach Stefan Teufel, who was also the BEV base trainer at the time, brought the Doubrawa brothers to TSV. After Teufel, Markus Poetzel and Robert Steinmann, among others, will be her trainers in the following years.

Striker Lukas Doubrawa, who as a U19 player even has a job with the Gladiators, then begins his studies in Passau and joins the national division ESC Vilshofen. Leon wants to take the next step in his career and goes to EV Landshut - at the instigation of EVL junior boss Rupert Meister, who used to be a strong first division manager, in Landshut, Iserlohn, Munich, Berlin, Augsburg and Frankfurt, among others.

Master surprisingly leaves the EVL and becomes DNL trainer at SC Bietigheim-Bissingen. He should lead the team - together with his old Landshut specialist Helmut Steiger - from the DNL Division 3 upwards. He brings Leon Doubrawa to Bietigheim. "It was actually a relegation from Division 1 to Division 3, but I had the promise that I would be allowed to train as the third goalkeeper for the DEL 2 team," says Doubrawa. He doesn't have that chance in Landshut, with three seasoned keepers under contract: Dimitri Pätzold, Jaroslav Hübl and Kristian Hufsky.

What happens then, the 19-year-old, as he shakes his head, “still can't put into words”. The two goalkeepers from Bietigheim, Cody Brenner and Jimmy Hertel, are alternately suffering from injuries, and so Doubrawa sits on the bench as a backup for Hertel against Bad Tölz. “That was on December 26th, I know exactly,” says Doubrawa with a beaming smile. With a score of 5: 3 for Tölz, he comes on at the beginning of the second period - and Bietigheim wins 8: 7. "I even did an assist, no idea how that went."

Because Hertel is ill and Brenner is still ailing, Doubrawa gets his first start against Crimmitschau. “I was still very excited then, but it got better and better over time as I found my way more and more and developed a rhythm of the game,” he says. Bietigheim wins 4: 2, and head coach Danny Naud states: "Old goalkeeping rule: If you win, you can play the next game." However, the Steelers lose 2: 3. Later, Doubrawa was allowed to play in Landshut of all places (“A special game”) and celebrate a 2: 1 after extra time.

Then it's unbelievable what happens in the playoffs. Doubrawa has Corona and missed the first playoff game against Frankfurt. But then the end comes for Hertel, who tears a muscle bundle. Because Brenner still has hip problems, Leon Doubrawa is now number one. Brenner sits on the bench as an emergency nail. "I was very excited and nervous, but then a lot of the players and the coaches talked to me and calmed me down, and when I got the first few shots I was completely in and the excitement was gone," remembers he himself.

Bietigheim had to play five games in the quarter-finals against Frankfurt, in the semi-finals against Freiburg and in the final against Kassel, even made up a 2-0 deficit against Kassel in a dramatic series and finally won the title. “We never doubted that we couldn't do it. We've already shown that we can come back, ”said the 19-year-old playoff hero. "I managed to stay calm because I just felt the support from the whole team and I fully believed in ourselves that we could achieve anything as a team." , 88 meter tall goalkeeper. “The guys always did a great job, I always had a clear view, they cleared up the rebounds and closed the pass paths."And the intensive training sessions with Fabian Dahlem would have paid off:" I work a lot with him, he is a really good goalkeeping coach. "

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Right in the middle, instead of just being there: Leon Doubrawa was constantly challenged in the playoff final series against the Kassel Huskies - here he is attacked by Lois Spitzner.

© Imago Images

What then goes on in Bietigheim is unbelievable. “We partied for a few days,” he says with a laugh. Afterwards, many congratulations were received, including from some former Erdinger team mates, above all from Kilian Steinmann - “a good friend”, as Doubrawa emphasizes. There is no great journey afterwards. With his friend Lena, with whom he lives in Bietigheim and who comes from Reutlingen, Leon Doubrawa is on “vacation at home”, as he says: “I showed her my home, the Munich area, including Erding and Markt Schwaben, of course.” Thinks he after a return home? At the moment the question doesn't arise anyway, “because I still have a contract with the Steelers”. But he frankly admits: “I could imagine a future in Bietigheim. The city is beautiful and the surroundings are beautiful. "

Now we have to wait and see if DEL 2 master Bietigheim Steelers gets the license for the DEL.

"The performance audit is running", knows Leon Doubrawa, who wishes to be in goal against Red Bull next season in Munich.

“At home, that would be a dream,” he says with a smile.

Indeed, there are stories that cannot be made up.

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Visit home: Equipped with a gold medal and a championship shirt, Leon Doubrawa (right) stopped by the editor Wolfgang Krzizok in the sports department.

© Hans Moritz

Bietigheim's goalkeeping coach Fabian Dahlem has further shaped Leon Doubrawa's talent.

Fabian Dahlem is assistant trainer at the Bietigheim Steelers and, as a former keeper, is primarily responsible for the goalkeepers. The 55-year-old is a brother of former Erding Jets goalkeeper Thomas Dahlem. For more than a decade he was in goal with various second division teams, including in 1997 with German second division champions EHC Neuwied, who won the final series against the Erding Jets at the time. Born in Rosenheim, he has been in the coaching business for 20 years.

"Leon Doubrawa was planned as DNL goalkeeper as number three in the second division squad," says Dahlem. “When the youngsters were hired because of Corona, they trained with us permanently.” He saw that the 1.88 meter tall boy had “had a good education among the youngsters”: “And he's a great goalkeeper - that I like it. ”During his assignments in DEL 2, he showed his potential straight away. What is very important: “He is a clever Bua and quite sensible. He has no nonsense, and his clear goal is to become a professional. ”What is also important:“ He's not one who freaks out when he first wins. ”Dahlem emphasizes that he always talked a lot with Leon Doubrawa:“ He could and can always come to me. "

For the goalkeeping coach of the Steelers it was “on an unbelievable journey” not least because there is great trust between Doubrawa and the coaching team. "Leon has always remained calm and exuded a lot of self-confidence." And then the team performance should also be emphasized. Everyone sacrificed himself for the other. “The station wagon was right, and the defensive in particular developed during the season,” said Dahlem. “We allowed the fewest shots in the playoffs.” And when things got tough, Leon Doubrawa was there, “with his key saves, meaning the saves at the right time,” explains the 55-year-old.

The championship cannot be rated highly enough in view of the personal misery, and not only in terms of the goalkeepers, Dahlem notes. In the final, top scorer Riley Sheen (concussion) and Brett Breitkreuz (torn ligament) failed in game one, and captain Niki Goc in game two. "Then the guys from the third row jumped into the breach," praised Dahlem. And goalkeeper number three.