Have you heard of Lacrosse? - interview with Moritz Wüller, student at the UP

Why have you decided to study in Pécs?

My neighbour was studying here, I have seen the city and I found it beautiful. Since my first days in Pécs do I love to be here. Especially the international students and the beautiful life are what make the city unique for me.

What would you recommend for a foreigner to visit and do in Pécs?

I have visited the Tettye Ruins, Orfű and Downtown Pécs quite often. I actually find everything worth seeing here: the Cathedral, Király Street. It’s also rewarding to go to the PécsZoo. Yeah, and the Pécsi Est Café…

What do you think is worth seeing in Leipzig?

A whole lot. The downtown area, everything related to Bach and the musicians. Also St. Thomas Church and the Monument to the Battle of the Nations, where Napoleon got defeated. The view is great both from there and from the Uniriese, which is a skyscraper that looks like a tooth. Leipzig is very green and has a lot of parks. Almost all of the bars are on the same street, the Karli (Karl-Liebknecht-Straße), where you can find some techno and electro clubs, too. The city is like a small Berlin, there are many hipsters, young people and young families with little kids. You can reach everything by bike and it has a charm like Pécs - if you go through the city or along the Karli, you definitely meet someone you know. You can go to a lot of different shops and bars, everything is available here. You hear diverse languages and see diverse people studying or living in Leipzig. Something’s always going on, let them be either illegal techno parties in a park or street musicians playing.

What is the international atmosphere at UP like?

The German and the English courses were often together. A lot of people stay within the fellow countrymen like the Germans, the Spaniards, the Iranians and the Hungarians, but I have many friends regardless whether they are Norwegians, Hungarians or Spaniards or, of course, Germans. I think there is a lot of potential in bringing all the students together, especially from different faculties.

You play lacrosse. How did you find the lacrosse team at the UP?

I’ve played lacrosse for several years in Germany. My neighbour from Leipzig introduced me and my brother to this sport. He was the one to establish the team in Pécs and when I started my studies, he was almost ready with his education. That’s how I continued to train the team. We played at some tournaments together, thereby I have known some people from Pécs, even before I came here.

Lacrosse is a team sport played between two teams using a long-handled stick called a crosse and a lacrosse ball. Players use the head of the lacrosse stick to carry (called cradling), pass, and catch the ball in order to score by shooting the ball into the opponent’s goal. Protective gear is essential, since collisions are an organic part of the sport.

What is there to know about Lacrosse?

I’ve tried to make it a university sport, and we are officially a team of the UP Medical School in cooperation with the guys from Budapest and the national team from Hungary. Lacrosse is quite new in Hungary, not generally known yet. Since I speak only a little Hungarian (rather only everyday language and medical), I depend on all the others speaking German or English. Nobody in Pécs has played this sport before, so I have to teach them everything.

I have the starting equipment for about 10 players. One needs a helmet, gloves, elbow and chest protection, plus the suspension for those. Lacrosse is the fastest team sport, which is played on two feet. The net, the racket and the other parts of the equipment are like the ones in ice hockey and handball. One tackles like in rugby and hits with the racket like in ice hockey. However, severe injuries are rare! Clearly you can hurt your hand and bruises are more common.

Do you have any plans for the future?

Working. I don’t yet know where. In Germany or elsewhere. We’ll see.

UnivPécs International Magazin 2017 Autumn