PrintShare
The American football career of Pongsagorn Tommy Le (left) – here alongside Oliver Roth, the Lightnings receivers coach on offense – began ten years ago rather by chance. But the Remscheider has moved around a lot since then. © Baankreis, Wesley
Pongsagorn Tommy Le has played American football on the other side of the world. But even in the comparatively small Lüdenscheid, the Lightning’s 21-year-old tight end feels right at home. The story of a young but already very eventful sports career.
Lüdenscheid – The direct route between Remscheid and Lüdenscheid is just over 39 kilometers. At best, it takes around 40 minutes by car to get from Bergisch to Märkisch. The path he previously traveled was much longer for Pongsagorn Tommy Le – because it led from Remscheid via Portugal, Australia and Ravensburg before he joined the Lüdenscheid Lightnings in the previous summer, with whom he will be in his career in 2024 second season will go.
The tight end’s athletic background – behind it he is a more robust pass receiver who also takes on blocking tasks – is not even typical for a footballer, but it suits the 21-year-old well. Tommy Le started his career at the age of eleven rather by chance. “I met a few friends on the bus who were on the way to football training. After I asked them where they wanted to go, I just went with them,” he says. He was actually still playing football at the time, “but had already lost a little interest. I immediately liked American football and stuck with it, had my first training with the U17s and then started with the U13s in Remscheid in the summer,” continues Pongsagorn Tommy Le.
Due to his size and weight, the Remscheid native had to play as a center before he became a quarterback during his youth, when he trained under the Lightning’s current offensive line coach, Marcel Dondorf. “My dream was always to catch the ball. After all, pass receiver is one of the most interesting positions in the offense after quarterback. But I never had the athleticism to be a receiver. It looks different as a tight end – that suited me more and is a position that I like,” explains the offensive player, who moved to his current position when he made the transition to senior level.
World traveler on American football ends up stranded in Lüdenscheid
Before Tommy Le made his debut with the adults, he moved from Remscheid to the U19 team in Solingen, where the conditions were a little more professional. A circumstance that played a significant role for the ambitious Lightnings top newcomer last summer: “I always enjoyed football and then wanted to take the next step, maybe even attract a few scouts from the USA for the colleges to draw attention. This required more professional conditions and also video material.”
However, the outbreak of the corona pandemic stopped Pongsagorn Tommy Le’s time in the youth sector as play there was completely stopped. The youngster was still able to play because he moved to the senior team of the Solingen Paladins in the GFL2, the second highest German league. But he wasn’t completely happy at the time: “There were also moments when I thought about whether everything with American football made so much sense,” he remembers.
Short guest appearance in Portugal
By a stroke of luck, the first foreign offer came to the table when a scout from Ravensburg contacted Pongsagorn Tommy Le and offered him a first league commitment in Portugal. “I was immediately excited and didn’t have to think about it for long. After that I organized everything and at some point I came home to my parents and told them that I was going to Lisbon to play American football and that everything was already planned. At first they were of course a little worried. But after I explained everything to them, everything looked better again,” says Pongsagorn Tommy Le. A short time later the plane took off to the Portuguese capital, where he was scheduled to play for the Lisboa Lions in January 2022 for the second half of the season.
But this commitment didn’t last too long as the German suffered a tear in his inner and outer ligament. Medical care was also difficult due to the language barrier, which is why Tommy Le returned to Germany: “In Remscheid I was able to regenerate and get fit at my old club. That’s where I met our current offensive coordinator, Paolo Bizzarri, who was the head coach in Remscheid at the time. The chemistry was right from the start. He also likes to use the tight ends on plays, which I obviously really like.”
However, just a few months later, the journey continued for the offensive player. Through the same scout who had introduced him to the club in Portugal, the then 19-year-old got a contract in the Australian league with the West Coast Wolverines: He then played as a tight end in Craigie, a suburb of Perth in southwest Australia as a fullback. “Especially in Australia, but also in Portugal, American football is not yet as advanced as in Germany, Austria or Italy. But the people there enjoy the game and are passionate about it. Especially in Australia you notice that many people already have experience in rugby, which has a positive effect on football,” says Pongsagorn Tommy Le. On the other side of the world, he also learned how small the (football) world actually is. “I played against an American who was wearing a helmet from Marburg because he used to play there. That was of course an interesting coincidence. After all, it’s not that far away from here. When I was back in Germany and in Marburg, I asked them and they remembered him straight away,” says Tommy Le.
Le will not be happy in Ravensburg
But the ambitious footballer not only gained valuable experience as a player during his time on the fifth continent. The now 21-year-old also worked as a coach for the women’s team at the Wolverines. “It was a completely new experience and helped me advance on many levels,” he says looking back.
Back in Germany, he finally made the jump to the GFL, the highest league, to the Ravensburg Razorbacks. And that was straight from the plane: “I came back and then, like in Australia, we went almost straight to training and a few days later to the first test match.” But Tommy Le wasn’t really happy in Ravensburg.
“The boys and the teams were good. But somehow it didn’t fit – and when things don’t go well, there’s also a bit of homesickness. Football is my job. But I love sport and having fun is important. “It doesn’t work without it,” says the Remscheider, explaining his decision to end his involvement with the Razorbacks after the first half of the season and move back to his hometown.
But he definitely didn’t want to stop playing American football and found his way to the Lüdenscheid Lightnings through contacts with his former coaches Marcel Dondorf and Paolo Bizzarri. “Of course it was something completely different than my previous positions. But when I was in the stadium at my first home game and there were more than 1,400 people in the stands, it was incredible. “I’ve never experienced anything like that,” the tight end remembers of his home debut for the Bergstadt team.
The home game backdrop at Nattenberg impresses the newcomer
In Lüdenscheid, it’s not just the atmospheric home game backdrop that inspires the youngster – he’s impressed by the Lightning’s overall concept, the coaches and everything around them. “It’s just great to see the enthusiasm for American football in a city like Lüdenscheid and what the Lightnings are doing here. The fans are great support. It’s just fun to play,” says Pongsagorn Tommy Le.
Looking ahead to the new season, there is great anticipation among the tight end, which is also due to the two US players the Lightning were able to acquire this winter. “It will be an exciting journey and I hope for many great, successful games in the next few years,” says the Remscheider, who now works in Cologne. However, it’s not just his own team that’s important to him: “We’re not just doing this to play football. It is also important to get people excited about our sport. The club is also putting a lot of work into the youth team and the women’s team at the moment, and I hope that we can achieve good development here too. Because American football is a great sport and the club has a good philosophy that I am very happy to support,” emphasizes Pongsagorn Tommy Le, who is happy to take the almost 40-kilometer route from Remscheid to Lüdenscheid.
2023-12-24 08:08:41
#World #traveler #American #football #ends #stranded #Lüdenscheid
