They have their hands full right now, because both have one big goal: the best team for the coming one World Championship put together. Both men and women.
And the time is running out – the tryouts are due in June, followed by five training camps, until the one in December WM is on the agenda. The highlight of this year IFAF-Football Calendars!
A good reason to introduce the two heads of the national teams in more detail. There are some similarities, but also many contrasts in the career. In terms of age, both are very close together. Maximilian Gross is 34 years old, Stefan book is one year younger. Both are married and each have one child. Although Maximilian Gross has held the helm in his hands for the men since 2018 and Stefan book has only taken the lead among the women since then, both of them have no international experience as head coaches of the national teams. In 2021 national teams will be able to compete in an international championship for the first time after a long break. So much for the parallels.
Large, an elementary school teacher in normal life, has a lot of experience in the coaching field despite his young age. And very successfully. In 2011 he was allowed to join the German school flag championship with the GaMagics from Bad Schwartau as well as winning the German Flag Open Championship celebrate the first titles with the Lübeck Fun Cougars. He celebrated the greatest success in flag football with the Silver medal of the women’s national team at the European Championship 2017. But Groß has also left his mark on tackle as a coach. There he reached in 2018 as an offensive coordinator with the Hamburg Pioneers the runner-up in the regional league. A year later – albeit one league higher – he was appointed Special Teams Coordinator Lübeck Cougars again runner-up in GFL 2. In addition to his position in the Flag Football National Team, the Schleswig-Holsteiner is currently also a Special Teams Coordinator with the Lübeck Cougars in GFL 2. He is always willing to share his knowledge in trainer training courses. Anyone who says you have to decide on an area is welcome to ask Maximilian Groß how it can be done differently. The 34-year-old has been in possession of the Trainer B license since 2017.
Also Stefan book has a lot of experience – but mainly as a player. For 17 years, the former wide receiver caught the balls for the Kelkheim Lizzards in different flag football leagues. During this time he and his team became German Flag Bowl Champion nine times and four times German Flag Open Sieger. In 2006, 2011 and 2012 he was a member of the German national teams. In the tackle area, he was mainly for them Wiesbaden Phantoms active. As a coach, the 33-year-old collected from 2015 as a game coach of the Lizzards first experiences before the electrical engineer took over the women’s national team from Chris Kampf in 2020. In his time as Youth warden the Lizzards between 2015 and 2019, Buch built in Kelkheim a whole young generation was instrumental in ensuring that the next generation now plays flag football at the highest level.
Since both have known each other for a long time, there is also an intensive exchange. Tryouts and camps were planned together. After all, they both have an important goal in common: to place the teams well in the WM the ticket for the World Games 2022 to solve.
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