“You will believe a man can fly!!” Go ahead, ask him. I’m sure Sebastian Wurzrainer knows what film that’s from.
Sebastian Wurzrainer
Sebastian Wurzrainer is the glue that holds the Coupeville High School boys’ soccer team together.
The freshman team manager, an avid film fan with an astonishing grasp of movie history, is like an assistant director for Wolf coach Paul Mendes. If he does his job well, you never notice him at all, but he’s indispensable.
Keeping track of jerseys, balls and rosters, recording stats and working the PA microphone at home games — he got so excited by Coupeville’s comeback win on Senior Night, he almost lost his voice — Wurzrainer does a bit of everything.
Not bad for a job he stumbled into almost by accident.
“Senor Mendes came up to me in the hallway one day and asked if I was interested in soccer. Because I was terrified of playing soccer, and still am, I told him I sadly didn’t want to be a player,” Wurzrainer said. “He then informed me that he was thinking that I would be better suited for a position like manager.
“I started to listen and realized it might be a fun opportunity and a good learning experience, so I decided to take him up on the offer.”
Wurzrainer’s own time on the pitch lasted two days when he was seven (“Because I had no idea how to play, I was awful”), but he has always enjoyed the game from a distance.
“I decided playing soccer might not be for me, but I have always enjoyed watching the game,” he said.
Away from the sports world, where he briefly dabbled in track as a middle schooler (“For me, it was all about beating my own time and not everyone else”), his primary interests are books, drama and movies.
“I joined drama and it has become my secondary life source (after blood),” Wurzrainer said. “I absolutely love it. The people are great, Ms. Peg (Tennant) is great and the plays are great.”
An avid student who picks Spanish and English as his favorite classes, he hails his teachers for inspiring him.
“There are, of course, teachers whose sheer greatness as a teacher impacted me. Mrs. Rosenkrance, Mr. Nelson and Mr. Stange come to mind,” Wurzrainer said. “And you’d be surprised how many life lessons you can learn from an awesome drama counselor like Ms. Peg.”
“And when it comes to soccer there’s no one’s opinion that I value more than that of Senor Mendes,” he added. “When it comes to being a manager he’s the only person whose advice I take to heart 100% of the time.”
Away from school, his parents, Andreas and Lisa, play a major role in his life.
“But, of course, I am the way I am today, for better or worse, because of my wonderful parents,” Wurzrainer said. “Together they’ve all shaped me into the person I am, and the result has been far from perfect, but then again nothing is perfect. It can’t be.”
If you want to be astonished, ask him a movie question, and then prepare to be floored.
A huge cinema buff who picks “Schindler’s List” as the best film he has seen, but “Blade Runner” as his favorite, he can reel off film facts and opinions with ease. Not many guys his age can compare film critic Richard Roeper’s career, both before and after he was paired up with Roger Ebert, but Wurzrainer is your man.
“I’m not sure when my love really started, but it’s been around for a while and I feel like my love of film only seems to grow,” Wurzrainer said. “I think I love movies above all art forms because it can completely transport us to a different time and place in a truly astonishing way.”
And, while soccer may never capture his love quite as much as movies do, he has come to enjoy his time with the beautiful game.
“I think for the most part it has gone decently well. I have made mistakes which I regret but I sincerely hope that it’s just all part of the learning process,” he said “If Senor and everyone else is willing, I would be very happy to do this for another three years.”
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