Lehigh University Athletics
Schwenk will continue his career in Germany
3/30/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
Former Lehigh quarterback Chad Schwenk will be taking his game overseas to Hannover, Germany in the coming months to compete in the German Football League for the Hannover Musketeers. Schwenk will be in Germany from April to September and as of now is slated to be the starting quarterback for a team that has been outright or co-champions of its league for four out of the last five seasons. After arriving in Hannover in early April, Schwenk will have two months of preparation with the team before beginning the regular season in late May. In addition to playing on the team, Schwenk will also assist the coaches of the youth and flag-football league teams to help teach German youngsters the game of football.
Hannover is the main city in Lower Saxony, approximately 150 miles west of Berlin, and has a population of around 500,000. The Musketeers are one of two football teams in Hannover, but more and more players have been making the switch and moving up a level to play for the Musketeers. The Musketeers are a club team, which means the athletes on the team are not from high schools of universities, which opens up participation to anyone. The Hannover Musketeers were founded in 1997, as a union of three football clubs, the Burgwedel Colts, Hannover Broncos and Seelze Mosquitos, into one.
The Musketeers are comprised of around 50 players who hail from the Hannover region; each of them is of amateur status. Schwenk will not be the only American on the team however, as Scott Quigley, a safety from Charleston Southern University will also be on the team. The Musketeers play in the German Football League’s north group, which is comprised of the Berlin Adler, Braunschweig Lions, Dresden Monarchs, Dusseldorf Panthers, and the Hamburg Blue Devils.
While at Lehigh, Schwenk completed 233-of-425 passes (55%) for 2,713 career yards. He threw 21 touchdown passes at Lehigh, and 17 interceptions. During his senior season, Schwenk became the first Lehigh quarterback since Phil Stambaugh in 1999 to have multiple 300+ yard games in a season when he threw for 302 yards against Holy Cross and 301 in a win at Princeton. Schwenk was injured versus Connecticut on October 4, when he fractured his wrist, causing him to miss the remainder of the season.
Head Coach Pete Lembo is pleased for Schwenk and excited about the opportunities that this will afford his former signal caller. “We are pleased that Chad has the opportunity to continue his playing career in Europe. You often hear of recent college graduates heading to Europe to experience different cultures before plunging into the real world for the rest of their lives. Chad has the ability to do this while continuing to pursue his passion... the game of football. With his outstanding academic credentials, he will definitely have promising career opportunities back here in the states when he returns."
The team’s first preseason game will be May 8 versus the Weyhe Vikings of the second division. The regular season gets underway on May 29 and consists of 12 games.
