Concordia Wiemelhausen has found a new sporting director in Hakan Yalcinkaya. He tells us how he came to take on his new role and what his goals are.
Last season, Hakan Yalcinkaya was still coach at crisis-stricken TVD Velbert. Now, the former Oberliga player is taking on a new role: starting in the new calendar year, he will be the sporting director of Concordia Wiemelhausen, which is currently in eleventh place in the Westfalenliga 2. The first contact was made in the summer when his former club played a test match against Bochum. There is also a connection between Yalcinkaya and one of the coaches, as the former reports: “I have known the current coach, Jürgen Heipertz, since my youth, because he was my youth coach at VfL Bochum. After that, we remained in sporadic contact.”
Things became more concrete when the club approached Yalcinkaya and invited him to a game. “After last year’s relegation, there was a shake-up there. The coach and sporting director left,” says the former ETB U19 coach. There were many reasons why he ultimately decided to take on the role of sporting director there. Above all, the conscious decision not to work as a coach again was clear from the outset. “I had a few offers in the summer, but I wanted to take a break for my family. I thought about it carefully. I decided to do it because I would like to get to know the Westfalenliga. Plus, the facility isn’t too far from home,” explains Yalcinkaya, who also praises his new club: “It’s a very well-run and reputable club.”
Yalcinkaya wants to throw himself into his new challenge as sporting director. It is important to him that he can continue to drive the club forward, as he tells us: “My personal goal is to add value to the club. I would say that I have a very good network, which I can certainly use to help. And I can identify with the task.”
The new team manager already has concrete ideas about the sporting future of the Bochum club. “This year, the goal is to stay in the league, which we should be able to do without any problems,” says Yalcinkaya confidently. But he also has ideas beyond the current season: “After that, it’s my job to put together a good and ambitious team. We don’t want to hide away; we want to have our say. It’s also about bringing continuity to the club.”