Year in review: Summer training camp in new territory

The coronavirus pandemic brought about numerous changes. For the last eight years, the Foals have held their summer training camp in Tegernsee. Things were different this year, though, as Borussia visited Harsewinkel-Marienfeld instead.

The Foals had planned to prepare for the new season at Lake Tegernsee in Rottach-Egern, just as they had the previous eight years, but in 2020 the Foals had to travel to Harsewinkel-Marienfeld instead. The pandemic meant that a trip to Bavaria simply wasn’t possible, so Borussia spent a week at the former monastery between the 17th and 23rd August. “We have settled in well here and the facilities are top-class,” said team co-ordinator Christofer Heimeroth.

During their visit to the Gütersloh area, the Foals stayed at the sports hotel in Harsewinkel-Marienfeld, North Rhine-Westphalia, which was opened in the build-up to the 2006 World Cup. The Portugal national team stayed there during the tournament. The hotel specialises in providing optimal conditions for football clubs and can accommodate up to eight teams in the space of a year. “We don’t have far to travel here and the food is good,” said Heimeroth.

Tough training sessions and a friendly against Paderborn

31 players made the trip to the training camp. The only ones to stay behind were Alassane Plea, who remained at BORUSSIA-PARK due to muscle issues, and new signing Valentino Lazaro. Unfortunately no fans were able to be with the club due to the numerous health and safety measures that had to be put in place. All training sessions took place behind closed doors.

Spending around a week in Harsewinkel-Marienfeld, the Foals trained hard during their numerous hours on the pitch while also spending time in the weights room. To end the training camp, the Foals played a friendly match against SC Paderborn. With a 2-0 win over the second-division side, Borussia notched their third win in three friendly matches after prior wins against SC Verl and MSV Duisburg (both 4-0). Gladbach made it three clean sheets in a row at the old monastery with Hannes Wolf and Stefan Lainer scoring the goals after the break. With that, the Foals closed out a successful training camp. “We have had a really good training camp as a team,” said head coach Marco Rose. “The boys have shown insane concentration, but they have also worked with plenty of enthusiasm. Overall it was a really enjoyable week. The conditions and food were good, we didn’t have far to travel and the pitch was well-kept. All I can say to other clubs is that you can train really well here.”