Auckland’s goalkeeper coach in an interview
© Jonas Hoffmann
Jonas Hoffmann used the chance to discover the other side of the earth through football. The former young goalkeeper of Hansa Rostock in New Zealand has been living and working for several years. A big highlight is waiting for the 29-year-old in a few weeks when he and his team Auckland City FC meet FC Bayern Munich at the FIFA club World Cup. At the transfer market, he explains why his dream as a professional footballer did not become anything, but why he still cannot live without sport.
When the TV cameras held the team’s cheering grape from Auckland City FC after winning the OFC Champions League, his goalkeeper coach also noticed with the extravagant vokuhila: none other than Jonas Hoffmann. “My Vokuhila is a tribute to my brother and now my trademark. In Germany this may still be noticeable, this is not a trend hairstyle here in New Zealand. If I am now addressed to the final, I still have goose bumps. The final was held on the Solomon Islands and there is a big and extensive one. I just know that I have slipped through the cabin on my stomach, ”he says with a laugh.
But back to the beginnings. Hoffmann’s journey started in German football, more precisely in the NLZ by Hansa Rostock. Like so many children and young people, the native of Gera dreamed of playing in the big stadiums at some point. “Since I can think, I had a goalkeeper gloves. In my youth, I was one of the top addresses for German junior football. My children’s room was full of posters by Manuel Neuer. In addition, the goalkeeper gloves from Jörg Hahnel, which I received after a benefit game in the neighboring village of the then, was given my greatest wish, of course, in the Baltic Seaadion Calling this incredible atmospheric backdrop, ”recalls the 29-year-old.
His skills and possible potential made him appear on the RB Leipzig radar. He played for the U17 of Leipzig for half a year, more precisely he was in the squad, because he did not get many times. “Back then, the frustration and the disappointment about the few chances were of course huge, today I look at it with different eyes. I was not up to the circumstances, such as the pressure to perform. I was not mentally and physically done for professional football. Only I didn’t know at the time. Over time, it hit my health, but because I did not listen to the warning signs from my body and did not want to give up my dream of professional football, I continued to fight until the plugs were pulled by an autoimmund diagnosis, ”says Hoffmann.
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Over time, he realized that it could be complicated with the Bundesliga dream. “It is quite difficult to find your personality and values next to the square if everything has so far been designed to put on the goalkeeper gloves. In this identity crisis I booked a flight to Australia to leave everything behind and far from everything, to be able to spend time with Jonas without football.”
However, it didn’t take long and football captured it again. Through an acquaintance at the hitchhike, he ended up in Hobart at the South Hobart FC as a goalkeeper coach and became Tasmanian champion there in 2016/17.
Back in Germany, he devoted himself to studying mechanical engineering at the HTWK and caught up with things that he had dispensed with in junior football. With the move to Leipzig, he joined ZFC Meuselwitz in the Regionalliga Northeast as a goalkeeper coach. After two and a half years on the glazing, a broken pandemic and a bachelor’s degree, but he was drawn back to Rostock for a master’s degree in shipping and marine technology.
Here, too, he did not last long without football and trained the goalkeepers of Greifswald FC in the same division in the 2022/23 season. This time formed him as a goalkeeper coach because he was able to develop his own philosophy and his principles for good goalkeeper training. These ideas were solidified by some internships, for example at SC Freiburg, and his goalkeeper coach B license. “In general, it was cool that I was able to finance my studies with football and the smell of grass was a nice balance to differential equations. I think clear principles and structures are essential for good goalkeeper training. To set that the game becomes routine so that the goalkeeper can react more relaxed to stressful situations, ”emphasizes Hoffmann and pushes:
“A study suggests that the goalkeeper position is the most important key position in football. The goalkeeper is the doorman to win games, but at the same time also the position with little actions and no scope for mistakes, so the mental load is very great. In the course of my own experience, I have developed a yoga coach to create an offer of the body and spirit swell. In recent years, the wind has also turned in a more holistic direction and such offers are increasingly in demand and accepted. ”
Hoffmann moves to New Zealand to Waiheke United
Two years ago, Hoffmann decided to take another step abroad after the end of his commitment in Greifswald and went to New Zealand. There he became chief and goalkeeper coach at the New Zealand third division team Waiheke United after a good six months.
Jonas Hoffmann at Waiheke United
“I had completed my master and the season was over. After that, I wanted to gain a few experiences abroad and wrote 200 clubs, associations, coaches and institutions abroad. I quickly understood what it is worth in football in football. In a camper van in a parking lot. Win the championship at the end of the season. “
At Waiheke, not only did he bring new input to his team, but also achieved a lot of new knowledge and experiences at the coaching level. A curious peculiarity in his club at the time was that a large number of South American players were in the squad. “For the first time ten years ago, a few Argentinians who studied, lived and worked in New Zealand have been switched to Waiheke United. A lot was reported in Argentina, so that more Argentinians were added over time, but players from Uruguay and Chile were also on the island of football number one and rugby have a lot here. Motively set, for example, there is a large and lively fan scene with choreos and pyrotechnics in home and away games, ”says Hoffmann.
Auckland City calls: “Here everything is subordinate to success”
His work at Waiheke United was perceived nationally and so the New Zealand record champion Auckland City FC became aware of him and signed him as a goalkeeper coach. “Everything is subordinate to success, here there is a special winning mentality. The next game is the most important thing if we have won a title, the focus will go back to the next game. This attitude may be normal in professional football, but this is not given here, since many players still work in a regular way,” says the 29-year-old, who explains:
“The people who are devoting themselves to football in New Zealand are a conspiratorial bunch, but football is just behind Rugby and Cricket is only number three. The result is that the division in Auckland City FC is a semi -professional league. As long as this does not change, it is difficult that football grows further. New Zealand clubs such as Auckland FC and Wellington Phoenix, which play in the Australian A-League, are extremely important to show young talents a way and to spark a football. “
Hoffmann not only sees himself as a goalkeeper coach for the first team, but also wants to build sustainable structures in relation to the development of young gateers. “As best I can, I try to use data and videos to validate and recognize progress and development potential at an early stage. To reverse this workload for the senior and junior keeper is a pretty chunk but necessary. With a high permeability between the first team and young people, we try to get used to the level at an early stage without getting too high and tearing them out of their age environment too early. There is nothing better for young goalkeepers than having tangible role models.
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Hoffmann’s role models are Fabian Otte, who works at Liverpool FC, and Bavaria’s Michael calculator. “I am trying to continue to develop and maintain new input, which is why the exchange with other goalkeeper coaches is essential. For me, Otte, who even started his coaching career in New Zealand, is one of the best goalkeeper coaches worldwide,” said the 29-year-old.
In a few weeks, he will be given the opportunity to go into personal exchange with computers, because Auckland City will also meet the Munich team at the club World Cup starting in June next to the Boca Juniors and Benfica Lisbon. “As a German, I naturally look forward to the game very much. As a child and adolescents, the Bavarians were the dominator of German football, now to Michael Rechner and Manuel Neuer, is of course incredible and surreal for me. Perhaps there is the opportunity for a small conversation with Manuel, in which a jersey may also jump out, I can then hang next to the poster in my old children’s room. Career highlights and moments that we will not forget, ”emphasizes Jonas Hoffmann at the end.
Interview and text by Henrik Stadnischenko