5 April 2024
Germany — New energy and big plans
It is just possible that, in enjoying the energy and skills of the young team representing Germany, the spectators at Schaffhausen and fans around the world, might be witnessing the start of something very big in German curling.
At 28 years of age, skip Marc Muskatewitz is the old man on the team. The other four members – third Benjamin Kapp, second player Felix Messenzehl, lead Johannes Scheuerl and alternate Mario Trevisiol – made up the team that represented Germany at the World Juniors in Finland, five weeks ago.
Before that, all four won silver medals at the World Juniors in 2023 on home ice in Fuessen. And in his ‘old man’ role, Marc confirms, “Yes, they do give me a hard time!”
The team has spent the week being competitive, and claimed a couple of perhaps unexpected scalps, not least an 8-7 win over defending champions Scotland.
National coach Uli Kapp gives some background to what German curling is trying to achieve. He explains, “Having missed out on the Olympics twice now, the Federation has a long-term project. Our major goal is to get back to the Olympics with at least one team.”
Uli also explains how the team’s programme is being funded, “The Federation cannot cover the cost of everything, but this team has its own sponsors, and being involved in our sports military scheme plays a big part. All four junior players are in the military programme, and this is a big factor.”
Reflecting on what he sees as a positive week in Schaffhausen, Marc gives some background to the team and the progress it is making.
He says, “We came together at the end of last season, and I saw the potential, so I was sure that we would be able to compete here and get some wins. And we’ve had a good start, we’re still alive and we’re playing pretty well.”
Speaking about the step-up made by his young teammates, Marc adds, “I think it’s a bit step and a big difference between junior men’s and men’s worlds. I think for them it’s easier to play here because they don’t have a target on their back. So, they can just enjoy playing here and let me read the games – just do the jobs – and I think this is what has made us pretty good here. Our team dynamic is really good, and everyone is relaxed and just enjoying it.”
Speaking towards the end of the round-robin phase of the event, with his team still battling to make the play-offs, Marc also said, “It’s surprising that our standings are that good, but this is our first season as a team, and we’ve made it into top 32 on the world rankings. We had a good Canada trip and we’ve played a lot, so we had some expectations coming into this.”
However, win or lose in Schaffhausen, Marc speaks for his team and its overall aim when he says, “We want to qualify Germany for the Olympic Games, that’s important.”
Given their performances at the LGT World Men’s Championship, they seem to be well on the way to achieving that goal… Watch this space!
Engage with World Curling during the LGT World Men’s Curling Championship 2024 on TikTok, Twitter/X, Instagram, Facebook, and Weibo and by searching the hashtags #WMCC and #curling
