When he is needed, he is there: Peter Dasch is once again helping out the Ingolstadt Dukes – as interim head coach. In his first assignment, the 55-year-old founding chairman of the football team secured the first win of the season. The next success is set to follow this Saturday at the last home game.
As he himself says, he had “already expected” the attack. After all, Peter Dasch himself was the one at the Ingolstadt Dukes who tipped the large bucket of soft drink over the head coach’s head during the so-called Gatorade shower. “Nobody else dared,” he recalls with a grin. When the TV 1861 footballers scored their long-awaited first win of the season, Dasch received the icy refreshment amid the collective cheers of the Schanzer core squad. 24:14 against the Weiden Vikings – the first “W” (win) after six defeats in this difficult regional league season. A weight was lifted from everyone’s shoulders, especially interim head coach Dasch.
The Dukes were born in Dasch’s kitchen
The Ingolstadt football veteran from Pichl (Markt Manching) stepped in at short notice and for the rest of the season as head coach after the Dukes parted ways with the previous head coach Peter Schwieger before the last two games. Dasch was ready again. Of course! “It’s kind of my baby,” says the man who was there from the start. The Dukes were born in his kitchen in the summer of 2007. Dasch was the founding chairman, designed the logos, was a pillar of the offensive line for more than a decade as a “very seasoned man”, and was also the sports director – and experienced the path from the very bottom up to the top division and the GFL1 play-offs first hand; and then in recent years also the two relegations to lower leagues, most recently to the state league.
Very busy professionally – also as a grill master
During the complete rebuilding under Schweiger this season, Dasch repeatedly helped out as coach of the offensive line, “as far as my time allows.” The 55-year-old is pretty busy professionally, and has managed to build up a second source of income alongside his main job as a successful grill master and participant in championships. His great passion, football, even takes a back seat in terms of time. “Head coaching is a full-time job,” says Dasch, “as much as I would like to continue doing it.”
The number 69 is no longer used by the Dukes
For him, the interim period ends this Saturday, when the Dukes celebrate the end of the season with a catch-up home game against the Würzburg Panthers (1 p.m., Nordwest district sports facility at TV 1861) with free admission and as a family celebration. The game was abandoned at halftime in July due to a storm. That game is not the only reason Dasch and the Dukes remember it vividly: for the multi-functionalist, it will remain in his memory forever. The department honored the club legend on the pitch and will no longer let another football player wear Dasch’s number 69 in the “Dukes” jersey. Unlike the “Gatorade raid” in Weiden, Dasch had no idea about it. “That totally surprised me, I had a lump in my throat,” he says of the small ceremony. For a football player, that is “the greatest honor.” Accordingly, the framed jersey has been given a place of honor at home in Pichl.
The Dukes wanted to show everyone in Weiden
Of course, the interim head coach wants to say goodbye to this season with a second win this Saturday with his boys – and to take on the spirit of Weiden. In the weeks before, the newly formed team with many football beginners had already moved ever closer to success; just as the quarterback in Dan “Lipo” Lipovanciuc was found, who will remain on board even after Schweiger’s departure. “Everyone was so motivated in training, and wanted to show everyone in Weiden,” says Dasch about the short preparation that he was able to do with the squad that had been thinned out after injuries – and in doing so, “turned a few screws. You can’t change more than that in that time.” Dasch has found the right attitude. And in the future, too, the following will apply: “If I can help, I’ll be there.”
DK
