Azusa Pacific’s star defender nearly missed playing for the Men’s Soccer team altogether, but a series of unexpected turns led him right where he needed to be.
As a business management graduate student, it’s Fritz Oestreicher’s last semester at Azusa Pacific. It’s also his final collegiate soccer season–an opportunity he left Germany for more than four years ago.
During his three years at APU, he’s become “one of the most decorated players in the PacWest.” He’s also this season’s most seasoned player, having started in almost every game while a part of the Cougar’s team. However, before Oestreicher spoke about his final homestretch, he reflected on what it took to get him there.
“I think it started in kindergarten, we had like a nice field and I was just loving the sport right away and every break that we had from our inside activities, I just went out and played. Probably that my grandfather played professionally helped too and made me even more excited about it,” Oestreicher said.
When Oestreicher was six, he was determined to join his school’s club soccer team in Darmstadt, Germany. On one of the first days of school, Oestreicher’s mom didn’t bring his soccer cleats as it was unlikely her son would be able to try out. The youngest boys on the school’s team were around eight or nine. However, he was invited and his mom drove back home to grab the cleats.
The club instantly saw talent in Oestreicher. Quickly, a dream of playing professional soccer formed inside of young Oestreicher’s heart. After four years of playing in Darmstadt, he transferred to a bigger academy for nine and a half years. He dedicated his childhood to the sport, missing out on plenty of his friends’ birthday parties.
It paid off. He was making a name for himself in the soccer world. At the age of fifteen, in 2015, Oestreicher played in the Dallas Cup. “The oldest and most prestigious international youth soccer tournament in North America,” the Dallas Cup brought in the top soccer players, and sponsors, from around the world to Texas. There Oestreicher was, in the middle of all of it, as he scored the final goal to help his team to win the whole tournament.
In 2017, Oestreicher was nominated for the Youth German National Team–one of the greatest honors for a young athlete.
However, the excitement was short-lived when Oestriecher missed out on the National Team due to an injury.
“Injury is part of the game,” Oestreicher said. He expressed that soccer moves quickly on and off the field. When one player falls, it isn’t long before another invite is sent out to someone else. Sometimes players get another chance, and oftentimes they don’t. “It hurts for every soccer player, but that’s how it is. I had to take it using other opportunities.”
A few years later, one of Oestreicher’s former coaches from his tween years returned and approached Oestreicher and his teammates after practice. This former coach was now a manager, working to bring soccer players from Germany to America. He told the guys he was having a presentation about what playing soccer at an American college was like. “You might want to check it out,” the manager said.
Seeing they all had nothing to lose, Oestreicher encouraged his friends to attend. Impressed with the videos of what America was like, he decided to keep it as an option in case professional soccer didn’t go as planned.
Oestreicher’s dream of playing professionally did come true. However, his first season was during COVID-19 and since he was a fourth division player, there was only a little money in it.
There wasn’t much disappointment for long though when San Diego State called up Oestreicher to sunny California. In going through with this decision, he would be leaving his biggest support system.
“My mom was the biggest support always and she was always there for me,”Oestreicher said. “Especially when I transferred to the academy, with traffic it was like a one hour drive and we had practice almost every day and on the weekends we had games somewhere else in Germany or even in Europe and she would just come to every game and support me and drive me.”
At SDSU, he didn’t have too much time to miss home. Instead, he focused more on academics (something soccer often took over in Germany). Oestreicher also received some playing time.
Yet, he was on edge still. His coach was looking to make major changes to the team the following year. The team’s group chat started to blow up. It seemed one by one his teammates were texting that they had just been informed they had to leave. Then, Oestreicher had his end of season call. He was safe. While the coach was looking for him to improve in areas, he was excited to get Oestreicher back on the field.
After the semester ended, Oestreicher visited Hawaii where his two friends were now studying— the same ones he had attended the presentation with.
“I went to Hawaii for two or three weeks and my coach texted me and said ‘hey can we call again?’ I pick up the phone and he calls me and says ’hey you have to leave. It’s better if you leave the team.’ And I’m there in Hawaii having a good time and was like ’oh wow that is tough. I’m just going to go back home now. It doesn’t matter,’” Oestreicher said.
With Germany’s strict COVID-19 restrictions, Oestreicher’s mom encouraged him to stay in the United States. With no idea what life held next, Oestreicher stayed in Florida with his dad. At this time, convinced by the same manager who guided him to SDSU and by his mom, Oestreicher entered the NCAA transfer portal. There were some D1 schools interested in him but he couldn’t say goodbye to that California weather yet.
APU had contacted Oestreicher before he first came to America. ”I had to say [to APU] ‘hey sorry I have to tell you but I chose San Diego State.’ A couple of months later and I’m here at APU.”
Before landing on APU, Oestreicher talked to some of the German players on the team including James Ndubueze and Gregoire Diep, who both encouraged him to come. What was to follow was a magical first season with the Cougars.
APU was in overtime against Biola with the PacWest title on the line. Oestreicher and his roommate Joseph Macpherson were so sick and were just trying to make it on DayQuil and adrenaline for more than 90 minutes. It must’ve worked because APU became PacWest champions that day. Oestreicher’s eyes still light up describing what it was like to win that game.
No post-season has been quite the same since that first one, but Oestreicher has picked up some individual awards along the way such as being named All-PacWest second team for three years straught. But for Oestreicher, it’s not really about the PacWest honors. “If the team doesn’t win then [the awards] don’t bring any joy.”
Another aspect that has made his APU soccer experience unique is the faith integration. Oestreicher grew up with a Christian family but he says his faith has become more important to him in the past few years. “We apply it everyday in soccer and we’re praying every time and I believe in God. It’s just nice to know that he supports you in all aspects of life and he’s there for you.”
No experience is without its struggles though. Having lost the last five games to start the 2024 season, it’s been a bit of a tough start for the men’s soccer team. However, Oestreicher isn’t sticking his head too far in the past or too far in the future. He’s taking it one game at a time knowing the tide could change at any moment.
That’s not to say Oestreicher hasn’t thought about what it will be like once the season ends. Nothing will be like playing with APU. Back in Germany at the elite level, Oestreicher described how everyone has their elbows out, knowing their teammate beside them could very well ruin their chances of playing on a professional team. At APU though, it’s a brotherhood.
While to many athletes, leaving collegiate athletics results in an identity crisis, for Oestreicher it’s a bit of a relief. “I always had the thing that I thought my whole identity is soccer and people see me like this and I always feared that a little because I’m also other things other than soccer. I’m not just soccer anymore and I can prove myself in other fields of life,” he said.
Oestreicher will soon be moving back to Europe, except this time he’ll most likely be in Switzerland where his sister and mom have moved to. After all the support his family has given him, he feels it’s time to be there for them in return.
He took time to think about what life may look like ten years from now: “Ten years is tough. But I’ll try ten. I’ll be having a good job maybe in Switzerland, maybe in real estate or something in finance. I’ll be 33. That’s like having my own apartment, a nice one, maybe a girlfriend, wife, eh maybe still a girlfriend but maybe I’ll find my wife already and slowly start to build a family. Then maybe I’ll move a little more to the countryside and have a nice house and support my family.”
In the more immediate future too, Oestreicher may not be ready to hang up his cleats. If he has time, he might play for a local team in Switzerland. He joked that maybe he’ll pick up the childhood activities he left behind for soccer like playing the guitar or piano, or participating in Hapkido, a South Korean martial art.
Ultimately, Oestreicher is up for another adventure, which has been a defining factor of his life and certainly describes his journey to APU. “I came back to APU and it worked out perfectly. I’m happy to be here,” Oestreicher said.
With this in mind, he thinks back on all the triumphs and disappointments. He feels no regret, but a sense of gratitude and confidence that it’s only just the beginning.