28,000 people watched the 2014 European Football Championship final in Vienna. One of them was Florian Jobst. Today, eight years later, he is part of the Austrian national team. The 23-year-old from Kirchheim has had a number of successes in recent years that have not gone unnoticed. But calls from other clubs went unheeded. Until now. With the Vienna Vikings, the young Innviertler has an opportunity that he wants and “must” seize.
There he will not only play in the European League of Football (ELF), which was newly founded in 2021, but also meet old acquaintances. Among other things, his friend and former Wildcats colleague Leo Gerner from Altheim. “Sometimes we joked that I could come to them. Now it has become serious,” says Florian Jobst, who will not only change clubs. At the beginning of April he will also give up his job, move to Vienna and take the entrance test for medical studies there. “I was planning a major change anyway. The change of club was a great fit,” Jobst explains his decision.
The Kirchheimer is aware that the next few months will not be easy. But he knows what it means to work hard (on yourself). After a cruciate ligament rupture in the fall of 2017, he played a football game again just five and a half months after the operation. “I even surprised my doctors with that. I’m a biter and when I set my mind to something, I do everything I can to make it work. I also want to be good at what I do. It doesn’t matter what,” says Florian Jobst. Therefore, despite changing clubs and leagues, he has set himself high goals for 2022. “I hope the Vikings hit the new league and that I get a lot of playing time, but the competition for my position (cornerback, editor’s note) is tough. There are definitely more crazy people like me, so I’m going to fuck my ass open up,” says the 23-year-old.
The title in sight
The Innviertler also intends to do the same with the national team. This year games against France and Hungary are on the program for Austria. In 2023 it’s all about the European Championship title. And that’s exactly what the Austrian national team is aiming for. “It won’t be easy, but we can do it,” Florian Jobst is convinced. But first he wants to prove himself with the Vienna Vikings in the semi-professional European League of Football. The Innviertler and his new team will play the first game on June 5th away against the Swarco Raiders Tirol. “We want to show who is number one in Austria,” says Jobst.
A week later, at the home game in the Generali Arena (against Frankfurt), the Innviertler gets support from home. “My current boss and colleagues will go on a departmental trip to Vienna and watch me play. It’s a really nice feeling that they can understand my decision and understand that I have to seize this opportunity.”
In order to be perfectly prepared for this day and the upcoming season, Florian Jobst is currently still training at home. If he needs a partner, brother Fabian, who plays for the Wildcats himself but is currently injured, steps in. Football is just one of many things that connect the brothers. “We played football together in Riegerting, were in the fire department and are in the rescue service. We almost always work there together,” says the 23-year-old. That’s another reason why he will miss his brother and best friend. Just like the good food from mum and dad. Nevertheless, he is looking forward to everything new. “I know that you grow with your challenges. The sport made me from a skinny and shy guy to who I am today. And now comes the next level where I want to prove myself.”
The biggest successes
Florian Jobst has been a player in the European League of Football (ELF) with the Vienna Vikings since 2022; In 2021 he became a coach with the Ried Gladiators Challenge Bowl winner; In 2018, Kirchheimer won the Intercontinental Bowl with the European Warriors in Mexico (Chihuahua); In 2017 he became champion of the GFL2 with the Kirchdorf Wildcats and managed to get promoted to the GFL1; In 2017 he became European Champion in France (Paris) with the U19 national team; In 2016 and 2018 he was Bavarian U19 champion; Florian Jobst has been called up to the national team continuously since 2017.
Source: Nachrichten
