Bernhard Ebner and Tim Schüle from DEG - Daniel Pietta and Martin Schymainski from KEV: On the ice, the rivals give each other nothing. Off the ice, they work together on their professional future after professional sport.
A few days before the explosive derby between Düsseldorfer EG and the Krefeld Pinguinen in the German Ice Hockey League, the four professional ice hockey players met on the premises of IST University and the IST Study Institute. Together they wanted to demonstrate how important it is for professional athletes in particular to work on their post-career at an early stage.
Schüle and Pietta are studying "Sports Managementt"Schymainski is taking the "Sports and fitness training" course" and Ebner is completing a Bachelor's degree in "Sports Business Management". The four ice hockey pros are happy to have opted for the "virtual lecture hall".
"I really like the sports management course because, as a professional athlete, I can organize my study times very flexibly, for example on my return journey from away games. I then watch the online lectures on my laptop or access the study books, which are perfectly prepared and very informative," says Schüle.
From his own experience, the 25-year-old DEG defender knows the importance of planning his career after his career: he was only recently able to return to training and playing after a break of several weeks due to injury. "Injuries can always affect you. That's why it's important for me to build up a second pillar early on."
Team-mate Christoph Gawlik, who has not been able to play a single championship game this season due to a cruciate ligament rupture, has been hit much harder. He already has an IST diploma in sports management in his pocket and, alongside Schüle, Ebner and Maximilian Kammerer, is one of the DEG players who have opted for further training at the IST Study Institute or a course of study at the IST University. Like Gawlik, Niki Mondt is a sports management graduate.
On the Krefeld side, coach Franz Fritzmeier, office manager Simone Akin (both "Sports Management") and press spokeswoman Katharina Schneider-Bodien (Bachelor "Sports Business Management") have acquired sports expertise at the IST University of Applied Sciences and the IST Study Institute.
By the way: The Krefeld team won the duel on the ice. In front of over 12,000 spectators in Düsseldorf's ISS Dome, KEV won 1:0 after a penalty shoot-out against DEG.
Source: IST Institute
Published on: 9 May 2016