A life without soccer would be unimaginable for Timo Baeuerle, CSU East Bay student, who lives and breathes the sport. It is his passion.

“I love soccer. It’s my life; it’s really my life. It gives me so much.”  Baeuerle said. “It’s everything. I met my friends through soccer, I had so many experiences through soccer, I’ve been traveling so much because of soccer. Yeah, its part of my whole life.”

Growing up in a small, rural part of Germany, Timo Baeuerle has always imagined he would some day move to and live in America, if not only just for a few months. His supportive family, dedication to school, and love of soccer helped actualize his dream.

His accent is thick and his words are sincere. He began to explain the close ties he has with his mother and father and the drive they instilled in him from a young age to not only excel in school, but to push and fight for what he loves. Through that guidance, Baeurele graduated from grammar school among a group of students who he said were perceived as the brightest from their class, which allowed him to move onto a university.

“It takes time, it’s kind of a discipline.”  Baeurele explains, touching down on the only real issue he has found with juggling both sports and school. “I try to use my time efficiently. If you’re a soccer player you need a structure.”

“Football … err, soccer,” Baeuerle stumbles over the word, shaking his head and smiling. “There was never a point when I decided, I love soccer. It was a progression.

“I loved it from the first touch. Actually from the first touch of the ball.”

He was part of every youth soccer club he could join growing up, and once he turned 18 he was able to move to the adult teams where he further honed his skills.

When in Germany, he was part of an agency that focuses on finding outstanding college age soccer players to practice their sport internationally. CSU East Bay needed a left back player for their soccer team, and contacted the agency.

“Timo would be perfect,” he joked, talking about himself in third person as if he was an agent.

The day he received word from East Bay that he was invited to study abroad, and play soccer for the team, he almost couldn’t believe it was true. His mind focused in on the word California, a state that is known worldwide for being one of the most desirable locations in the country. They were offering for him to live, study, and play sports there and he knew that this was meant to be. He describes it as a dream come true.

“I was here for three or four days and I started to realize that, oh my god, San Francisco is not that far, San Jose is not that far, Oakland is not that far. There are so many opportunities here. And especially if you’re interested in sports you have the 49ers, you have the Raiders, you have the Giants, you have the Athletics and the Warriors.”

And he still feels that same joy; describing the feelings he gets when he wakes up and looks out at the sunshine beaming down into his window as  “unreal.” Baeuerle expressed his newfound love for America, the culture and lifestyle with sincerity.

He hasn’t encountered one person who rejects him for being foreign, as compared to his homeland where it often takes meeting someone three or four times for an individual to open up, according to Baeuerle. At CSU East Bay, his peers have embraced him, not faltering to lend a hand to help the new guy who isn’t familiar with the campus or the curriculum.
Currently he is studying kinesiology, the biology behind the mechanics of body movement at CSU East Bay. Last quarter he took activity classes as a fail safe, but once he felt more comfortable he dove head first into upper level classes such as human anatomy and sport and film critique.

Amid the stresses of major classes, Baeuerle finds peace and serenity in the sport that brought him to this country.  His teammates and soccer are driving factors in his life, ultimately helping him find comfort in a home away from home.

He smiles, “The soccer ball was my best friend from the beginning, and then it was my brother, and then my teammates took that place.”