German engineering
- Updated: June 24, 2015
[corner-ad id=2]Oxford keeper Schoening back in States after two-week trip to Europe training with German clubs
Oxford’s Miranda Schoening makes a save during a training session with a club team in Mannheim, Germany. On the cover, Schoening makes a save in a regular-season game against Jacksonville.
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
OXFORD – Miranda Schoening has no idea how she got invited for a training trip of a lifetime, but she’s really glad she did.
Schoening, the rising senior goalkeeper on Oxford’s girls soccer team, was back on familiar ground Tuesday after two weeks learning the finer points of her craft in Europe.
She was among seven U.S. players — three goalies — and the only girl — training with several German club keepers and coaches. She even got to play against a German U16 boys team as part of the experience.
“I was excited for the chance to go,” she said. “It was fun to be overseas and getting another point of view how to do things, how they do things, how they train their keepers versus how the U.S. trains them.
“The training was different. The training itself wasn’t harder. I’d say the training in the U.S. is harder than Germany, but it’s different.”
Even though it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Schoening was a little apprehensive about going at first. Her father, an area soccer referee, was scheduled for surgery during the time she would be away and her premier-level club team was scheduled to play in a major tournament in Arkansas.
She decided to go because her father would have wanted her to pursue it. And her club coach, well, even though Schoening’s absence left the team with only one keeper for the tournament, he thought it was a no-brainer – and that’s what sealed it for her.
Six weeks later, it was wheels down in Dusseldorf, where the group began the adventure that took them to Cologne, training site Mannheim and France.
“I think it was an easy decision,” Alabama FC/BUSA 96 coach Andrew Brower said. “Let’s see, the options are Germany or Little Rock, Arkansas. I think you take Germany every time.
“I’m all for kids having a good life experience. Going to a foreign country where you don’t have mom and dad helping you out, that’s a good life experience, and that will hopefully help you become a better college player, a better college student and a better person down the road.”
Schoening already is one of the top women’s keepers in the state, evidenced by her roster spot on Brower’s squad. This past spring at Oxford she had a 2.34 goals against average and four shutouts. Since 2010 when she began playing varsity soccer she has 1375 career saves and 31 combined club and high school shutouts.
She has been committed to the University of North Texas for a while and is expected to sign with the Mean Green in February. In July she’ll be playing in the North-South All-Star Game in Montgomery.
Her 6-foot-1 frame and long wingspan already give her a big leg up in the box and she has made saves from the routine to the spectacular throughout her career. The trip to Germany exposed her to more nuances of the position such as hand position, tipping balls over the crossbar and playing the ball with her feet.
“They told us the German coaches were really picky about things,” Schoening said. “They focus more on easy way to save the ball unlike America where it’s technique.
“I’m glad I was selected to do this. Hopefully in the long run it will make me better.”
Oxford keeper Miranda Schoening (R) and Michelle Schmitt prepare to watch the U.S. and German men’s national teams play in Rhein-Energie Stadion. Schmitt was an exchange student who played forward/center midfield during her time at Oxford. (Photos courtesy Schoening family).
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