We connect soccer training with the Playstation!

It is a cold February Friday in the foothills of the Alps in Upper Bavaria. It is cold, the breath clouds hover unusually long in front of our faces. The imposing Wendelstein – Bad Aibling's local mountain – looks down on us.

We have an appointment with the players and coaches of the DFI Bad Aibling and the Talent Project Bad Aibling.

DFI Bad Aibling e.V. is a pure training club for young, talented and passionate soccer players. Unlike the youth academies of many professional clubs, the DFI does not participate in the adult game. The complete focus of the soccer training is on individual development. Team success comes only second.

The Talent Projekt Soccer is a 10-month program for elite North American youth players to bridge the gap to the German professional and youth soccer system. The philosophy includes individual support beyond sports. The teaching of values and character building are at least as important as shooting technique and tackling.

For all of us, soccer in itself and youth soccer in particular is more than just a sporting activity.

For us, supporting young people always takes precedence over the success of clubs and the reputation of academies.

In this context, the individual support and training of young people involves much more than soccer training on the pitch.

The goal is to make these young people capable of excellent conduct, to support them in their personal decision-making and problem-solving skills, and to develop these skills. As a soccer player and as part of our society.

We firmly believe that every athlete has the opportunity to make a positive difference in our society through sports.

We combine training and gaming in an unprecedented way.

The special thing about it is that the teams play against each other both on the pitch and on the Playstation. Sounds unorthodox at first, but it's our vision of how we can get young people more excited about soccer in the future and motivate them to train.

The idea?

The youngsters train with the B42 app and complete performance tests there. Those who are a little familiar with the B42 app know: the performance data is recorded in the B42 player card.

Then the actual tournament begins.

Here, the teams first meet on the pitch and afterwards on the Playstation. The young people play their own team, consisting of the actual players who have been created in advance on the basis of their Playercard in the B42 app with the corresponding performance values in FIFA.

The young people thus not only act as soccer players, but also become their own e-sports characters.

By combining training and gaming, we bring young people back onto the pitch.

To improve their scores on the Playstation, the players have to train in real life.

In the test runs, this worked much better than we had imagined.

The young people ask us, but mostly themselves:

"Why is he so much faster than me?"

"Why can he shoot so hard and I can't?"

While the youngsters had to be actively and repeatedly pushed by the coaches to work on their strength, mobility, endurance, and speed with our app before the tournament, some couldn't wait to improve their scores as quickly as possible afterwards.

The competitive visualization of their own performance was an unprecedented stimulus for many.

And what is the result of motivated soccer players?

Fitter and healthier young people who can't imagine anything better than being able to stand on the pitch again in and with their club during training and games.

Soccer wins.

The clubs win.

The young people win.

An essential aspect of motivating young people and giving them the will to work on themselves is perspective. An opportunity.

The prospect of what you want to achieve. What you can achieve.

If you're willing to train and learn for it consistently.

Every child who starts playing soccer has the dream of becoming a professional soccer player at some point.

Those who are blessed with the appropriate talent and continue to work on their dream on the training fields of youth academies throughout the country have already taken a big step toward that goal.

But there is still a long way to go to become a professional and only very few will succeed in taking the final steps.

Be fearless. Be focused.

Besides, all young people know the console game FIFA, the soccer simulation.

And they all ask themselves: how good would I be at FIFA?
If only I existed as a player?

The point is that we can fulfill this wish. And by doing so, we achieve so much more than just the few hours of fun the youngsters have playing themselves.

We show them what they can achieve. We show them their prospect.

That of a professional soccer player, playable on FIFA.

And if the dream doesn't work out? It doesn't matter, because once you've learned to pursue a goal in life, you can apply that quality not only to sports, but to life in general.

But we don't think about failure.

Be fearless. Be focused. B42.