Boys Soccer: German foreign exchange student Karl Gattinger fitting right in at Geneva

GENEVA – Karl Gattinger has lived in Geneva for just over a month, but it didn’t take long for coaches within the soccer program to notice his ability on the pitch.

Perhaps, then, his quick ascension to varsity soccer in one week should come as no surprise.

Gattinger, a 16-year-old foreign exchange student from Munich, Germany, played soccer – or football, as Europe recognizes the sport – for 11 years for FT Gern, a club soccer program in Munich.

“Do you know Philipp Lahm?” Gattinger said. “Lahm was a professional soccer player for FC Bayern Munich. He was the captain of the national team in Germany and his first club was FT Gern. I played for 11 years for [that club].

“Lahm’s son plays now for FT Gern and so I can see him very often on the soccer field, so that’s really cool.”

Gattinger in recent weeks experienced his first Portillo’s Italian beef, first baseball game at the Kane County Cougars and first trip to Chicago. On Sept. 13, he played in his first varsity soccer game with Geneva, the Vikings’ 1-1 tie with Wheaton Warrenville South.

Gattinger originally was placed on the second junior varsity team in the program, but he kept scoring goals.

“It became pretty clear quickly that when he plays with [more skilled players], he excels,” Geneva coach Jason Bhatta said. “I thought we’d give him the last minutes of the first half and he came in, I think he completed every pass that he had and didn’t lose the ball once. He became dangerous and got the assist on the corner [kick on Colin Hasty’s goal].”

Gattinger said there are no high school specific sports in Germany, just club-based.

“The first soccer game [Sept. 13] was really amazing. It was a nice experience,” Gattinger said. “At the beginning [walking out] with the national anthem and we were on the field like a professional soccer game. That was really cool.

“The soccer level on varsity was very high. It’s very athletic. So after every practice and after the game, [I was] very tired.”

The style of play between what he’s accustomed to, evidently, took some adjusting.

“In Germany, in our club, we play more possession and not straight to the goal and it’s not so [fast-paced],” Gattinger said. “More passing and combinations.”

Geneva teammate Luke Easter, who is playing with a hard cast as he heals from three broken bones in his left wrist, said Gattinger is a nice addition to the team.

“He’s definitely up for [the level of play]. He’s quick. He, for sure, can play long balls straight [to others],” Easter said. “He really stepped up in practice when he was moved up this week. He instantly looked like he was part of the team.”

School life in Germany and the U.S., Gattinger observed, is quite dissimilar. German students can learn two additional languages – English typically being one of them – as part of their education.

“Everything is different. In our German school, we have only 500 students,” Gattinger said. “The school building [in Geneva] is very big and huge. You have a lot of classrooms. Everything is so big. For every class, you have new people around you. In Germany, from the first until the 13th class, [you are] with the same people. I’m 13 years with the same people in a class.

“Before I came here, I knew the school only from movies. I think it is exactly like in a movie [in] this school and high school life. Many of my friends ask me: [I told them], Yeah, they have lockers. They have many lockers and we don’t have lockers in Germany. I think that’s a typical high school thing.”