15 players are staying, the coaching team has also been extended: good news from an Essen district league club.

The hot phase of the current season hasn’t even started yet, but DJK Sportfreunde Katernberg are already busy working on the squad for the coming season. And those responsible at the Essen district league club have obviously already done a lot of the work.

As Sportfreunde announced on Thursday, 15 players from the current squad have already signed on for the coming season. In addition, the coaching team around head coach Sascha Fischer in Katernberg has extended their contracts.

Christoph Jügel, Jan Unger, Nils Unger, Timo Lindemann, Marcel Welscher, Julian Fischer, Daniel Jakubowski, Niklas Hunder, Luca Campe, Melih Bulut, Andreas Kewe, Baris Kaya, Dominik Hendricks, Luis Schneider and Christopher Löffler will all remain with the DJK.

The squad for the 2024/25 season is now in place, although one prominent name is missing from the list of contract renewals: Kevin Zamkiewicz. Katernberg’s top scorer has been the team’s life insurance in the past two seasons, scoring 33 goals and 32 assists in 20 appearances respectively. The 35-year-old is also hungry for goals this season: he has scored 18 times in 17 games. Zamkiewicz’s departure would weaken Fischer’s team

First, however, Katernberg will continue in the current round. With a 3-2 win over SC Velbert II and a 1-1 draw against leaders SV Genc Osman, the team from Essen have had a successful start to the new year. They are in sixth place – far away from the promotion and relegation battle and therefore have planning security for another year in the district league.

After finishing fifth in the final table of the previous season, Katernberg will try to top that position this year. Sportfreunde can take the next step in this direction next Sunday when they welcome SC Werden-Heidhausen to Meerbruchstraße (3.15 p.m.).