Le revers de la médaille

[kurosawa]

On a quelques jeunes québécois qui ont tentés l'expérience en Europe récemment, voici un example canadien qui a mal tourné.


Promises made, promises broken

by Michael Matsumaru

Marinko Maras glanced at his passport and noticed his visa had expired two months ago. The 17-year-old from Pitt Meadows, living in Kaiserlautern, Germany was caught off guard. His first time living away from home and now this happens. Another reason to worry, another reason to doubt his ever coming to the southwestern German town in the first place. All this for soccer?

When he broached the subject with team management - his Visa expired in January and it was already March, he was shocked by their reaction. They were far from sympathetic.

"They didn't really do anything," said Maras. "They were making jokes about handcuffs and throwing me in jail. I was like, 'Oh my god, you guys are losers'."

Fast forward to May 3, one of the best days of Maras' young life. He was excited about going home and clearing his head. He was looking forward to seeing his family and friends again. He was heading back to Pitt Meadows after a year and a half abroad, playing for the U-17 version of F.C. Kaiserslautern.

At the airport, Maras ran into a roadblock, as a handful of German officials from customs spoke in hushed tones, debating what should be done with the Canadian and his expired visa. After about an hour, they let him board the plane.

Although they had promised to take care of Maras' visa, nothing ever came of it. It was just another example of a broken promise - the foundation of Maras' stay in Germany.

It took a lot of sweet talk and promises to get Maras out of Pitt Meadows. He was 15 at the time. An honour roll student at Archbishop Carney and a stint with the U-17 junior national team had solidified his reputation as one of the top young prospects in Canada.

Maras and his parents - Doris and Peter - put a lot of faith in Dr. Andreas Kirsch, a German lawyer and the main agent for F.C. Kaiserslautern. He promised education, the soccer would be a step up for Maras, and all expenses would be paid for. In many ways, he delivered those promises. In several key areas, he was an absolute disaster.

Maras lived with Kirsch for a few months, when he first arrived in Germany. It wasn't too bad when Kirsch was at home - he was a decent cook - and Maras had some company. But, as time went on, Kirsch left the 15-year-old Maras (at the time) alone in the house for weeks on end, as he travelled across the country for work.

Stuck in the "boonies" and living on packaged food left behind by Kirsch, Maras was miserable. He worked out a lot. It was pretty much all he did.

"I was like Rocky, kind of on a little mission," said Maras.

He learned to wash his own clothes by hand - the washing machine was busted for several months - which was a good learning experience.

After about five months, Maras snapped. He got into an argument with Kirsch, who was choked because he felt his work wasn't appreciated. What was wrong with frozen pizzas for a young soccer player?

Thankfully, for Maras, his older brother Mirko was in Germany at the time and put him in touch with Dylan Hughes, a Vancouverite who had experienced his own run-in with Kirsch. Maras later found out that three Canadian players had already been through altercations with Kirsch. Hughes was far from shocked when he heard about Maras' troubles. He was a savior to Maras and let him stay at his place for a few weeks.

The argument between Maras and Kirsch made its way back to the club, eventually.

"They kind of told him off," said Maras. "I was there, it was kind of funny."

From there, Maras was put up in a hotel for three months and given a bike to ride to practices - four per week. The bike rides were exhausting after practice - he rode 25 minutes each way - but they kept him in great shape.

It was far from a five star hotel, though.

"It was brutal, the room was like a walk-in closet," said Maras.

The main reason Maras returned to Pitt Meadows was education.

Kirsch had said Maras would attend the Heinriche-Heine Gymnasium, a private school home to many of the country's top junior athletes. Maras went there for about a week.

He says he made it to school every day that week, except for a Wednesday when was sick. The team was told that Maras missed class that entire week. The end result of the disagreement: Maras did not attend a school for the rest of his time in Germany.

He was told constantly his German wasn't good enough. Initially, he was slated to take German classes, but those never materialized.

"His education has gone down the tubes," said Doris. "He's supposed to be going into Grade 12 and he's only in Grade 10."

She is contemplating filing a complaint against the club, but fears it could be bad for her son's career. FIFA guidelines, however, do require clubs to provide junior players with some form of academic education.

When the situation at the hotel deteriorated, Maras was put up in a home with an elderly couple in their 60s. That turned out to be a bit of a gong show.

Not exactly an early riser, Maras never complained about having to get up at 8:30 a.m. for breakfast, but when he showed up late one morning the wife was not impressed.

"She had a little tweak show and I had to eat breakfast in my room for the rest of the time I was there," said Maras.

On the field, Maras says it was a great experience. He competed for a left back position against a player on the German U-17 national team and ended up playing in nearly every game. Even if he didn't start, he was able to play for at least half of the game. Maras got along well with most of his teammates, however his mind was often clouded with other thoughts when he was on the pitch.

"So many other things were on my mind," said Maras. "That was the worst part, not being able to focus. It definitely got to me. I know that it wasn't me out there."

The team won the league title, but Maras flew home before the Meister Schaft (German Cup), a disappointment for Maras.

While most who love the sport of soccer were flocking to Germany in advance of the World Cup, Maras was elated to go home, even though it meant missing the cup.

On May 3, he closed the chapter on his German experience, fiasco, or whatever you want to call it. It was, however, a learning experience and he does plan on returning to Europe. Just not Germany, and definitely not Kaiserlautern.

"The first day I came back it was a brand new me," said Maras. "I'm here with my friends, my family and I'm putting that in the past."

He started training with the Whitecaps in the middle of May and played with the Whitecaps' reserves over the summer. He's going to continue training with the Whitecaps and playing games with Croatia in the Vancouver Metro Soccer League until he figures out what's next.

The family has been speaking with several agents but has yet to sign a contract. Everyone, especially Peter - the biggest supporter of Marinko, also his son's chauffeur - who is extremely skeptical of agents these days.

"We should have called them out on everything right from the beginning," said Doris.

"We were too patient."