Diary: Done!

“We wanted to get to know each other quickly as a group and integrate the new players,” the Lilien head coach tells us on the roof terrace of the Hotel Sonnenhof in Lautenbach. We met with Torsten Lieberknecht at 8:30am for the final interview of the first training camp. Five strenuous and intense, but also very instructive and good days lie behind the players who began their journey back home to southern Hesse on Friday afternoon. “We had to find a good mix of runs and football elements,” summed up the 50-year-old.

Before the 98ers finally headed home, there was one last session on the SV Lautenbach sports field from 10am. At the beginning, the team simulated the warm-up program, which will also be practiced before the games in the future. Offensive and defensive sequences were then rehearsed again. “This week we were able to show the team how we want to play football in the coming season,” said Lieberknecht in an interview. Set piece situations were also part of the last training session in the Black Forest, so both corners and free kicks were taken extensively and interrupted by explanations from the coaching team.

After the session, we had lunch together at the Hotel Sonnenhof before the Lilies headed home again at around 1pm. However, the boys don’t have long to catch their breath; the first test match of the summer preparation is scheduled for Saturday (June 29th/1pm). The SV 98 will be guests at SpVgg Hainstadt, and Lieberknecht is looking forward to it: “It is very important that we present ourselves here in the region to show that we really embody closeness to the fans.”

The Lilien’s training camp in Lautenbach was intended to offer the team a mix of football and running units. And the fourth day was once again the perfect proof of how concretely the coaching team is following this plan in the Black Forest. But first things first.

Before the fourth day of SVD training had really begun, the mayor of the municipality of Lautenbach, Thomas Krechtler, took the opportunity to personally welcome the SV Darmstadt 98 players to his town. Torsten Lieberknecht then gathered his team together in a circle again so that Tobias Kempe received his birthday serenade from the entire team – including from us, happy 35th birthday, Tobi!

After a short warm-up, the ball was the focus of the morning training. In addition to some passing relays, there were various forms of play in which the South Hesse team trained extensively on a smaller field. Since, as mentioned at the beginning, important footballing accents should also be set in addition to the athletic part, everything was completed with the ball at the foot in this training session.

The right mix. That’s why the Lilies moved on to the athletic part in the afternoon. Short and sweet, but extremely strenuous and highly intense. “Bleep test” is what the exercise that the SVD men had to complete is colloquially called. A certain program ran via a music box that worked like this: A level within this test consists of 30 seconds of exercise and 15 seconds of rest. Within 30 seconds, the Lilien professionals have to cover a certain distance at the specified speed. If the music box beeps, you must have covered a certain distance. The first level starts at 10 km/h and the speed increases steadily by 0.5 km/h. Meanwhile, the Lilies in the strongest condition managed the test up to a maximum of 22 km/h.

Afterwards, the last full day of training of the first training camp of this summer preparation was over and the team went back to their accommodation exhausted. You can see exactly what it looks like in the Hotel Sonnenhof and what is waiting for the Lilien players on our YouTube channel, where Clemens Riedel and new addition Kai Klefisch have given you a detailed hotel tour of the Sonnenhof for you.

Tuesday evening in the Black Forest. And an Englishman is eagerly waiting for a native of Mainz. Sounds weird? But that’s exactly what happened in the Lilies‘ training camp. Paul Fernie, sports director of the SVD, waited eagerly in front of the Hotel Sonnenhof in Lautenbach to welcome new signing Merveille Papela, who joined the team after his medical checks and signing his contract in Darmstadt. The live location that Michael Stegmayer previously sent him was Fernie’s greatest friend: just in time for his arrival, the sports director stood in front of the entrance gates and warmly welcomed Papela.

“I am now happy to be part of the club and the team and am positively excited about what awaits me in the first session,” said the midfielder after his move to the Lilies. No sooner said than done: On Wednesday morning, Torsten Lieberknecht asked his team to go for a run – start time: 7.30am. In the morning the team took to the pitch to meet the eight new additions. The Lilies had the ball at their feet a lot and practiced offensive and defensive processes.

Lieberknecht and his coaching team proved to be good weather experts. Before a violent thunderstorm broke out in Lautenbach, the lilies were already back at the hotel. The third session of the day was on the agenda in the afternoon, with three groups of eight players each completing an intensive fitness session in the hotel’s own gym – including typical strength training faces.

Tuesday. „This saying means that getting up early is worth it because it’s easy to work in the morning and early risers achieve more,“ the statement said. The SV Darmstadt 98 team found optimal conditions in the Hotel Sonnenhof in Lautenbach. The weather is also good: the sun is shining. That’s why it’s important not to waste any time. There was no time to rest or sleep in, on Tuesday morning we went to the agreed meeting point on the roof terrace at 7.30am – and again not to enjoy the idyllic view of the Black Forest. Strength and stabilisation exercises were on the Lilies‘ agenda, so they were sweating at an early hour.

After breakfast, the South Hessians continued with the next unit. This time the lilies gathered at the SV Lautenbach training ground. As was the case the day before, the program included numerous improvement and speed runs, and for the first time in this training camp there was also an intense and strenuous eleven-on-eleven game played across the entire pitch – including some sensible moves and nice hits. Afterwards: regeneration. In order to cool down a little, numerous Lily professionals sought their way to the neighboring Rench.

The afternoon was also entitled “Regeneration” after the strenuous sessions yesterday and today. Torsten Lieberknecht gave his men the choice to regenerate either passively or actively. This meant that the people of Darmstadt were able to move around the pitch with ease, take various active measures together with the athletic trainers or relax their tired muscles in the ice bath or sauna. So it was time to gather strength, after all, three units are waiting for the SV 98 team tomorrow, Wednesday.

Monday. Shortly after 10:30am, the 98 team bus rolled off the stadium grounds in Darmstadt and set off on the two-hour journey to the Black Forest. The team, coaching team and staff of the Lilies will stay here for five days – from Monday to Friday. It is the first of two training camps this summer. SV Darmstadt 98 wants to lay the foundations for a successful second division season early in the preparation.

The first day of the training camp already showed what the Lilies in Lautenbach were up to – namely, work, work and work again. At 4.30pm sharp, the South Hesse players entered the SV Lautenbach sports field for the first time to hold their first of numerous, sweaty sessions. Get in easy first? Torsten Lieberknecht previously denied this in a short one-on-one conversation with a mischievous smile on his face. The head coach of SV 98 had his men working under the Baden-Württemberg afternoon sun for almost two hours. The program included several increases and speed runs, as well as athleticism, ball work as well as forms of play, finishing and intensive duels. “A great unit, boys. “That was a good start to the training camp,” said Lieberknecht afterwards, praising his team. It can carry on like this!