On the Potosi Cassville football team, there is one player whose path to the football team is a little different than everyone else's. His name is Ben Stratmann, and he is a junior foreign exchange student at Cassville from Germany.
In Germany, Ben played 9-man tackle football, where he played wide receiver and wore #11. In Germany, they play 9-man tackle football from ages 14 to 16, and 11-man tackle football from 16 to 19. In Germany, Ben played football on the TFG Typhoons U16 team in a Youth Germany Football League with teams located all across Germany.
Ben said he decided to take an exchange year because “I wanted to make new experiences and I love to travel.” Ben is an only child, and the only other sport Ben played growing up was soccer. Ben is only going to be at Cassville for one semester before going back to Germany. Ben can only stay for one semester because if he stays for both semesters, he has to redo his junior year of school in Germany.
One of Ben’s favorite things about his exchange year so far was Cassville’s homecoming week. Ben discovered that he’s pretty good at kicking, which probably stems from Ben playing soccer for a little over 10 years growing up. Ben was good enough at kicking that he was the kicker for the JV at the end of the season.
On the Potosi/Cassville football team, Ben wears #24 and plays wide receiver and defensive back. Ben primarily plays JV, where their record this year is currently 1-7, with their last game being October 19th at home against Cuba City’s freshman team. Ben said, “The only difference between football in America and football in Germany is that football in America is way bigger and way more popular than any other sport.”
When Ben returns back to Germany after his exchange semester, he plans on continuing to play American football for the TGF Typhoons. When Ben returns, he will be on the U19 team, where he will play 11-man tackle football instead of 9-man.