Simon Zoller ended his career in the summer. On Sunday, the head of performance licensed soccer at VfL Bochum will play in the NRW Traditionsmasters.

On January 2, 2026, Uwe Rösler will ask his men to get ready for the second half of the season in the 2nd Bundesliga. In preparation, Bochum wants to lay the foundation for climbing a few places in the table and having nothing more to do with the relegation battle.

The sooner this happens, the sooner important decisions for the coming season can be made. VfL wants to have a team that can compete for promotion to the Bundesliga again. The gap is already quite large to be able to get back into the promotion race this season. The team from Castroper Straße is already 16 points behind leaders FC Schalke 04. They are still 12 points behind third-placed SV Darmstadt 98.

The VfL Bochum coach will have to do without a contact person for at least a few hours on two days. On January 4, Simon Zoller, Director of Performance Licensed Soccer, wants to participate in the NRW Traditionsmasters with the traditional VfL Bochum team at the Westenergie Sports Hall in Mülheim.

In the hall, which is already sold out with 2,500 spectators, VfL will play in a group with S04, Mülheim ALLSTARS, and 1. FC Köln for a place in the semifinals. “VfL Bochum has been involved in this great tournament since the very beginning. Identity and fan proximity are lived here. At VfL, these values and the heart for Bochum are clearly the focus. The NRW Traditionsmasters has always played a major role in this. It is the traditional tournament in the region,” said the former professional ahead of the tournament.

Zoller is particularly looking forward to the game against his former club 1. FC Köln. “Of course, I’m also looking forward to seeing my former teammates at 1. FC Köln, where I played for several years. I still live in Cologne. But my club is, of course, VfL Bochum,” explained Zoller.

VfL Bochum will field a strong team in Mülheim. Among others, former pros Marcel Maltritz, Michael Bemben, and Peter Peschel have also confirmed their participation. The sporting director of Wuppertaler SV, Gaetano Manno, will also be on the ball, as will Marco Terrazzino.