Elite School - Balance between Sport and School

Elite Football School – a Neat One-Two

The DFB-certified “Elite Football Schools” play a key role in helping talented youngsters successfully complete a dual sporting and educational program. A cooperation involving six partner schools offers the TSG Academy’s elite students many benefits:

• Attendance at a suitable partner school in nearby Sinsheim

• Release for additional training sessions on several days a week (each lasting two hours)

• Catch-up sessions at the Academy for missed lessons

• Advice and support from a large team of teachers

• Collaboration with the coordinators at the partner schools

What is an Elite School of Football?

A large number of the most talented football players have to handle the conflict of their academic commitments clashing with the regular training sessions and other expectations the club might have. For this reason it is important to help the youngsters handle the increased burden of achieving both their academic and competitive sporting goals.. In this respect a close cooperation between the football association, the club, and the school is essential.

The Elite Schools of Football should lay the foundations for the talented players to cope with and ultimately ease the burden they are confronted with. “The founding of these elite schools is another step towards optimising talent development in the region”, explained Dr. Theo Zwanziger, President of the German Football Association (DFB). “Elite School of Football” is a certificate that represents a well-run network of schools, performance centres and sports clubs. It guarantees that all the top talents will be given full assistance, with the goal of developing their academic performance alongside their sporting performance. The additional morning training sessions that are coordinated with their morning lessons are a prime example of this, as is the assistance with homework, tutoring and flexible exam times the players are afforded.

In order to be certified as an Elite School of Football, the institution will have to meet a long list of criteria. In May 2008 the DFB's board of examiners representatives, Frank Engel and Claus Junginger were highly impressed with Hoffenheim's correct implementation of the core concepts. "We had a picture in our head before arriving and were proven right when we saw what an great job everyone had done and how hard they had all worked", stated the two satisfied DFB representatives.

Partner Schools

	Wilhelmi-Gymnasium Sinsheim Schubertstraße 2 74889 Sinsheim www.wilhelmi-sinsheim.de
	Max-Weber-Schule Alte Daisbacher Straße 7 74889 Sinsheim www.mws-sinsheim.de
	Friedrich-Hecker-Schule Kelterbuckel 2 74889 Sinsheim www.friedrich-hecker-schule.de
	Kraichgau-Realschule Sinsheim Stiftstraße 20 74889 Sinsheim kraichgau-realschule.de
	Theodor-Heuss-Schule Am Unteren Tor 1 74889 Sinsheim www.ths-sinsheim.de
	Albert-Schweitzer-Schule Alte Daisbacher Straße 7a 74889 Sinsheim  www.ass-sinsheim.de