Mülheimer Sport Magazin

Christian Schweichler – Goalkeeper Coach from Mülheim is in demand worldwide

My grandmother would have asked, what are you doing there? Christian Schweichler, professional goalkeeper coach from Mülheim and obsessed with football, would answer this question quite simply: gaining experience for life, getting to know exciting foreign cultures. And he has experienced a lot of that in his 42-year life, in Africa: Sudan, Kenya, Rwanda, in Asia: China, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Iran, South Korea, Near and Middle East: Lebanon, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi -Arabia and also Australia.

What were the reasons that made him decide to look for something foreign? He gives an example of this from his youth:

“When I was a child, a certain bridge between my district and another district was a kind of invisible border. There were only a few kilometers between the districtes, and yet they were worlds apart. Children of my district did not go to the other district to play and the other way round. 90% of the football youth teams of the other district consisted of turkish boys. After games with my team, I was often the only one staying there, I was curious and came into contact with them. That’s how the door to foreign cultures opened for me as a child.”

And that has remained the case to this day. In terms of sport, however, it all started in his hometown of Mülheim. He played for VfB Speldorf as a youth and went through all age groups: from the Bambinis to the 1st team in the Oberliga. His goalkeeping skills were discovered early on. At 17, he was declared a senior player. He will also be remembered by older football enthusiasts for his outstanding performances.

Schweichler knew what he wanted to be even before he began studying sports science at the universities of Bochum and Cologne.

“Parallel to my studies, I started my own business with a sports school in order to work in the professional field that awaits me later.”

In his early 20s, he took his first coaching job. One certifies him a meticulous working method, he prepares in detail. It is not for nothing that he is in great demand as a professional licensed goalkeeper coach. He holds certificates of the German Football Association (DFB) and the Dutch Football Association (KNVB). He has also worked within UEFA, the Confederation of African Confederations (CAF) and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). His collection of trophies, primarily in Asian and African countries, is impressive, although it cannot be compared to European or German conditions: cup winners with Al Merrikh (Sudan), successful World Cup and Asia Cup qualifiers with the national team of Lebanon, promotion with a Beijing Sports University (BSU FC) team.

You have to know that the professional clubs in China are either owned by companies or state institutions. Schweichler, who currently lives nearby the capital Beijing, works for the BSU, which is directly linked to the Ministry of Sports. Three professional clubs and their joint academy are set up under their roof.

“Last year I was active as a goalkeeper coach for one of the three clubs. After my contract extension, I was also promoted to Head of Goalkeeping and am now also responsible for 60 goalkeepers and eight goalkeeper coaches at the academy.”

Schweichler works and lives at the Olympic base in Quinhuangdao. By Chinese standards, with a population of 2.9 million, a quiet little seaside town that hosted a total of 12 preliminary round games during the 2008 Olympic Games.

“I often spend weekends in Beijing, which is only two hours away by highspeed train.”

Of course he can imagine being active in German professional football at some point.

“I’m a boy from the Ruhr area and I like the people and their clubs. There are choices there. Until then, however, I would like to keep my motto “Explore.Dream.Discover.Coach. fill some time abroad with life”.

He will still have enough time for this, because at the moment he will not want to and be able to travel to Mülheim, where his family and many friends live, due to the pandemic and the associated travel restrictions. In any case, he seems more than comfortable in China, because he lives there with his girlfriend Dandan Wang, who was born and raised in Beijing and is a German citizen with excellent knowledge of German language. She also went to school in the USA, studied in England and did her doctorate in psychology. She has worked in Germany and Switzerland and has traveled to over 80 countries. She currently works as a manager at BMW.

 “Two people have met here who previously lived a similar life on their own and are now living together. Our wedding is planned for next year.”