Mike Bodenstein moved in 1995 from SG Mußbach to Karlsruher SC , where he first played in youth and made his debut for the amateur team (Regionalliga Süd) on August 17, 1996. From then on, the offensive player had regular appearances with the KSC amateurs. On April 5, 1997, he also made his debut in the Bundesliga team coached by Winfried Schäfer . By the end of the season, he had three first division appearances. At the beginning of the 1997/98 season he was part of the professional squad. But Bodenstein only got one more appearance in the first division. In the regional league team, he often had to be content with the role of the "joker". In autumn 1998 he switched to VfR Mannheim. At VfR, which, like the KSC amateurs, competed in the Regionalliga Süd, Bodenstein was able to fight for a regular place and by the end of the season had 18 missions in which he scored six goals. Then he suffered a cruciate ligament rupture and could not play a league game in the following season. He made his comeback in 2000/01 and was soon back in the team. His record this season was eleven goals, making him second in the internal goalscorer list, behind his strike partner Michael Petry (12 goals). After this successful season for him, he suffered another bad luck with injuries: Mike Bodenstein had to end his high-class football career due to cartilage damage in his knee.
