Norderstedt & Campus
Two locations, one goal
The Hamburger SV academy is currently split between two locations, the Alexander-Otto-Akademie next to the Volksparkstadion and the Paul-Hauenschild-Plätze in Norderstedt.
As the under-16s to the under-21s are now located in the HSV Campus, the focus from the media is mainly on the Alexander-Otto-Akademie (the official name for the HSV Campus), yet the foundations for successful work with the older age groups is laid whilst the players are at the Ulzburger Straße in Norderstedt, from under-11 to under-15 level.
For this reason, the academy doesn‘t just look to maintain the infrastructure already in place in Norderstedt, but to continually expand and improve. This is to create a professional working environment for the academy that is spread over two different locations, but functions as one.
Sebastian Harms is the sporting director of the academy and leads the way at the Alexander-Otto-Akademie next to the Volksparkstadion. Florian Graudegus, co-ordinator for the younger age groups, Maximilian Franke, head of regional scouting, and Frederick Neumann, prospective training co-ordinator, are responsible for the sporting side in Norderstedt. Meanwhile, Benjamin Scherner, who controls the scouting for the whole academy, is situated at Sylvesteralle 5, organising and planning the scouting trips for himself and the team under his management.
The campus canteen as standout project
As the club’s boarding house for the academy players, whose families are situated further away from Hamburg, moved to Sylvesterallee 5 three years ago, there has been a marked increase in the amount of people looking after the players. The players in Norderstedt continue to be cared for by Daniel Wächtler, whilst in the Alexander-Otto-Akademie, there are up to 25 academy players daily, as well as the 15 boarding house players, who have to be looked after by Oliver Spincke and his team.
Almost every position in the AOA (Alexander-Otto-Akademie) has its counterpart in Norderstedt. Sven Marr is the administrative director of the academy at the Volkspark, whilst Eva Lotta Lockner is the director of the facilities in Norderstedt, organising everything to do with the younger age groups. Patrick Dippel is responsible for player analysis for the under-16s to under-21s, ably assisted by Johann Schmidt, analyst in Norderstedt, and a number of interns who are given an insight into the player analysis department throughout the year. Frank Weiland is the director of sport psychology at the Campus, and is supported by Sinikka Heisler for the teams in Norderstedt.
The standout project on campus is the canteen. Head chef Ludwig Ernst and his team organise various buffets that are suited to the dietary requirements of professional athletes. “Together with the coaches we have developed a basic diet plan,” Ernst explains, who is also responsible for the nutrition on offer in Norderstedt. In this way, the players are supervised and cared for in all facets of academy life, from a sporting, educational, mental and dietary point of view, receiving the best support possible. Reinforcing the motto: two locations, one goal.