Quite surprisingly, Marco Schmitt has made his position as coach at TSV Bernbeuren available.
Before the season he had come to the district league team.
He now explains why this step came about.
Bernbeuren - “The fear was huge.” Marco Schmitt recalls that fateful day last July with a shudder.
During a friendly game in Kaufbeuren, the TSV Bernbeuren player-coach suddenly collapsed and was admitted to the local hospital.
The 40-year-old had to endure all kinds of examinations for five days.
On the one hand, the doctors' findings brought relief, but also left him with a little uncertainty.
“They tick like Swiss clockwork,” was the diagnosis of the doctors.
"I'm actually very stress-resistant," says Schmitt.
He sees himself as a healthy person who knows how to deal with stress.
His main job is for the agricultural machinery manufacturer Fendt, and two years ago he opened a small insurance agency.
Yes, and there is still football.
In the summer he started working as a coach at TSV Bernbeuren.
He only plays in the district league, but the effort is not exactly low during the season.
Practice twice a week and a game on the weekend are standard.
In addition, there is the observation of the opponents.
Packing all of this into a 24-hour day is quite a feat.
“There's not much time left to regenerate,” he admits.
Suddenly everything became too much
Two weeks ago everything became too much for Schmitt. The coach quit his job at TSV for health reasons. “It was a huge burden,” he admits. At some point he sat down with his wife and two children. They left him the free choice. "If you want to go through with it, go through with it," they signaled to him that they were ready to support him even longer if they wanted to continue to be a coach. His father Ludwig advised him to look things in the eye. "If it no longer works, it no longer works."
He had come to an understanding with those responsible at TSV that they wanted to wait for the winter break. But then Schmitt had doubts. The next incident occurred in early August when he felt uncomfortable while speaking in the cabin. After his vacation in Turkey, the whole thing was repeated again in September. "I noticed that something was wrong." He suddenly began to doubt. Didn't the doctors at the hospital in July certify that he was perfectly healthy? Then why did he feel the next collapse approaching?
He did not get a plausible answer. At least not from the experts. His body was already using a more precise language. "Marco, you have to turn some screw," he heard the message as he listened to himself. Not only to perceive this voice, but also to obey it is an immense challenge. Schmitt is one of those contemporaries who are constantly driven by their ambition. "120 percent", he wanted to give in Bernbeuren. Switching off is not part of his daily schedule, not even on the weekend. "I'm not a person who lies down on the couch for two hours and does nothing."
Last weekend he was no longer sitting on the bench at TSV Bernbeuren, but Martin Kindermann. The interim coach has already made it clear that commuting from his home in Eberfing to the western border of the district is too much for him to get used to .
Schmitt has now also noticed that not everything is possible for a man in his prime.
“I won't do anything until the winter break,” he says.
Then he wants to kick again, but not train.
Does his body agree?
