Football and diabetes go well together
Daniel has been living with diabetes for over 35 years - and is very active. The football coach is on the pitch twice a week and trains a youth team. With myLoop, he can devote his full concentration to training.
Football is your passion. How did it come about that you became a coach for a youth team?
I love football and have played in a team since I went to school myself - even before that on the football pitch. As a father of three sons, I am very happy to pass on this passion. But when two of my boys were ready, there were no coaches in the village. Together with two friends, we then formed a coaching team and have been on the pitch twice a week ever since. And at the weekend, of course, on the sidelines at matches.
Maybe we can talk about your diabetes story for a moment, Daniel
With pleasure. I was born in the GDR and come from a time when there was no technical support for therapy. At the end of the 1980s, I was initially treated with porcine insulin, then a rigid therapy plan with mixed insulin and 6 fixed meals was introduced: same time, same amount of BE. Every day - regardless of whether I was hungry or not. There were no pens yet and luckily I had an uncle who could organise the "good" disposable syringes from the West. Blood sugar was measured in my finger. This went on until I was about 9 or 10. Then I got my first insulin pump: a D-Tron from Disetronic. It flew away again in my teenage years and I continued with pen therapy. Sport was always a part of my life, football and sometimes martial arts. Just like diabetes, which was always there. It was usually running somehow, I only knew exactly when I was measuring it. Nine or ten years ago, I came across a Libre 1 sensor from the USA by chance. That was great. Since then, I've kept an eye on technological developments. In 2020, I was prescribed the YpsoPump, and two years later the myLoop with automated insulin delivery was added. A real game changer for me!
Sport and diabetes don't always go together. Do you just watch your boys train or are you active yourself?
Youth training without taking part is hardly possible and doesn't fulfil my aspiration to be a role model for the children. Of course I take part in the entire warm-up programme, including stretching. But even the whole match preparation, carrying the goals and setting up the training materials gets my body moving. With the myLoop, this is no longer a problem: all I have to do is switch on the easy-off mode on my app about an hour before training, have a small snack beforehand and then everything runs by itself without me having to pay any special attention. That has worked really well.
Where do you leave your pump and mobile phone during training?
Fortunately, I don't have to get my insulin pump out from under my clothes to control my diabetes because everything runs via a mobile phone app. I actually stow the pump in a small pocket in my underwear. It's invisible and well protected and always with me. During youth training, I keep my smartphone in the pocket of my training trousers to control my therapy.
The European Championships are currently fuelling the enthusiasm of almost everyone in Germany and Europe. Enthusiasm for the sport is uniting young and old alike and is creating a real football fever in living rooms as well as in the fan zones of cities. The new European champions will be crowned in mid-July. What will remain of the European Championships?
World and European Championships always have a great effect on the enthusiasm for football. Many children and young people take the athletes as role models and I expect a noticeable increase in the number of children in the clubs. That's great! We urgently need more exercise in all age groups - there is less playing and football on the streets. Instead, more and more children are sitting in front of the computer for hours on end. We welcome everyone who wants to train seriously, exercise and have fun!
Let's talk about diabetes again: Do you have any more advice for football-mad girls or boys with type 1 diabetes who dream of becoming successful athletes?
Believe in yourself. Diabetes will always be there, but it should never become an obstacle to achieving your personal sporting goals. We live in a time when technological development has already made many things possible. Modern AID systems like mine can make everyday life with diabetes much easier. And there is still no end in sight to technical development. You have to look after your diabetes, so be open and admit your illness - then friends can look after you too.
So: make diabetes a minor matter in your life, exercise and have fun!