MArius von Cysewski (23) and Alexander Schulte (24) have a lot in common. The center of their lives, both live in a shared flat in Paderborn. But above all their story: Von Cysewski and Schulte are flushed to Borussia Dortmund at the age of 14 as sought-after young footballers. They experience flights of fancy, fly around the world for tournaments with BVB, become U-national players, and sign their first supplier contracts as youngsters. Her life is trimmed to football, and initially successfully. Independently of each other, von Cysewski and Schulte celebrate the title as German A youth champions.
However, they never achieve their dream. Both fail on the threshold of becoming a professional footballer. They’re exiting a system of talent development that only gets very few to the top. Today – as students – they question it: openly, honestly and critically.