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The development in Europe (overseas) has clearly proven to be better than in the United States or in your home country (depending on where you’re reading from).
Take examples such as Christian Pulisic, Gio Reyna, Weston McKennie and look what they’ve done on the domestic and international stage.
It would be too much for this article to go into why the development in Europe is better than the United States.
I wouldn’t say this is a “straight fact,” and is mostly opinion-based but there are tons of arguments why the development is better overseas.
Here are a couple reasons why you may want to make the jump overseas:
Football is the Main Sport:
From my personal experience (especially in countries like Germany and Sweden), football is the main sport. You can turn on 5 different TV channels and find games from various countries internationally and various leagues domestically.
It’s getting better, but in the United States, it’s definitely much harder to find games, but you can definitely find some American Football (which may interest you), which doesn’t interest me to the slightest.
Integration of School & Football:
These countries also find a way to integrate school and football in a very efficient manner.
A lot of these players train double days multiple times per week, combining technical, physical and tactical sessions.
Promotion & Relegation:
Based on your “point total,” which combines your wins (3 points for a win), ties (1 point) and losses (0 points), you can either go up a league, go down a league, and even play in international competition based on how you do in the league.
This is very important to Europeans and gives them that “extra motivation” to show up every single day and work hard.
Depending on city and country, this is also very important to the city and the wealth and attraction of the city.
Promotion or relegation can be the difference of making millions or losing millions, so it makes a big difference to the owners and players of the club.
This doesn’t exist in the United States. If you lose every game in the MLS or the USL, you have no chance to go down.
Of course, no player or owner wants to have a losing record, but it doesn’t “mean as much.”
This also gives European players’ “mobility” throughout the leagues. You could be playing in the second league of a club one year, and the next year, you’re playing in the Europa or Champions league. The jump up can be very quick.
For example, my good friend, Nicolas Olsak, won the second league with Maccabi Netanya in Israel.
He did well enough to earn himself a contract for the next season, and he was playing in the first league the next year against some very big clubs.
In other words, in Europe, you have a chance to make a name and make big jumps year after year.
Made a jump from NCAA Division III to the 2nd Bundesliga
If you’re interesting in the Podcast I did with Ryan, please check it out here:
He went from playing NCAA Division III to a top 20 league (2nd Bundesliga) in the world in 6 years.
The saying “you never know who’s watching” means much more in Europe, because you can literally be seen by anyone.
Without going too deep into this, you are probably reading this article because you have the dream of playing football at a high level.
Personally, if I was to do it all over again, I would’ve done whatever it took to get out to Europe at 15 years old.
Though, at that time, I didn’t have the right mentor and I didn’t know how to do it:
There are now many companies’ out there that can help you organize trials and clubs, but sometimes they may be “overpriced,” and might just be in it to make a quick buck off of you.
Also, you can definitely do a lot of this yourself and definitely build up a really good network for yourself by doing that.
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1.Work in Your Country & Save Up Money!
First for all, to be safe, I would save up at least $5,000 to go overseas.
This is very important and cannot be under looked. As I will talk about later in the article, the less you put the club under pressure and in a “financial situation,” the better it will be for your future.
Also, you will need money for your visa, food, housing, language school (which I recommend, etc.)
2. Be Real With Yourself:
Do you really want this badly or do you just want it to show off to your friends in your country that you’re playing overseas?
If it’s second one, you will find out really quickly that it’s not worth the grind just to “show off” to people.
The most important thing is to be honest with yourself…
Chasing your dream in another country is NOT EASY.
You will have to sacrifice a lot and miss a lot of things that your friends back home may be doing.
But you are the only one to ask yourself if “it’s truly worth it.”
I can’t answer that for you and neither can your parents.
Be aware, you will miss:
-Birthdays
-Holidays
-Family Trips/Vacations
-Weddings
-Funerals
If you are truly okay with that (and you won’t actually know until you go overseas and you see your family enjoying this stuff- that you will actually know).
Credit Ryan Malone
3.You Have to Be Good Enough:
This goes without saying…
You have to accurately self-analyze yourself and your abilities.
If you don’t know if you’re good enough, ask coaches what they think.
I’m far from saying that you have to be fully developed to go over to Europe but you need to have some level of ability.
There is no point in going over to Europe to waste your money, because the dream can definitely get expensive.
Ryan Malone
4.European Passport
-Do your research. If you can get a European Passport, this is GOLD! This will allow you to stay in Europe without trouble for yourself or the club.
-Do any of your close relatives come from Europe? Ask around and find out. I promise that it will help you a lot.
5.Plan the country you’re going to go to:
-If you have a European Passport, it might be useful to go to the country that you can get the passport from and seeing how the football is there.
-Maybe your relatives have family in that country and you can stay with them to save some money on housing?
-Ask around. Network.
-If you have no family in Europe (which I unfortunately had none of), you need to plan on a country that you can stay in for a long period of time (at least 3-5 years)
-I would compare this journey to a business. You need to give yourself at least 5 years to fully develop and flourish. That means staying in one country for as long as you can and trying every single avenue.
-I believe that Germany, Sweden, Finland and Denmark (based off of friends’ recommendations, and seeing the “landscape” for the past 8 years) are the best countries to start with. These countries are very friendly to Americans and some of the “easiest” to acquire a visa if you don’t have a passport. They also seem to be countries’ that are more willing to give foreign players a chance to start your career.
6.Learn some of the language:
Spend at least 3 months learning some of the language of the country you’re going to.
It will be much easier to “fit in” and people will definitely respect you much more.
You will also be much more respected my coaches and teammates.
7.Set yourself out a plan:
Without a plan, you’ve got nothing.
Ask Yourself these Questions once you figure out your country:
1.What region has the most clubs?
-For example, if you go to Germany, the West has tons of options. This way you can travel places’ easier and you don’t have to spend as much money for transportation, etc.
2.Where will I stay? (I would recommend Air BNB as it’s much cheaper than hotels)
8.Make the barrier for entry for the club minimal:
-This goes for what I was talking about in the beginning. This is why it’s very important to save a lot of money for yourself. If you can do it, I would even recommend offering a club to play for free for the first year. It may sound stupid, but look at it as an internship opportunity.
-From there, all you need is a chance and the right opportunity, and you never know what can happen!
-If you find tour own housing, transportation, etc. and don’t ask the club for anything; they’ll be much more likely to sign you.
-Don’t ask for much in the beginning. Show them how true of a professional you are.
- When you’re finally there; contact as many clubs as possible in your area!
-Facebook, LinkedIn.
-You can go to this website below, and find any club in the world in any country.
Search the country, search the division, get the email and start sending emails.
- Buy a Phone Card:
-Emails are okay but it’s probably even better to buy a phone card and start calling and texting clubs on (WhatsApp).
-They are more likely to answer a phone call than an email.
- Ask to Train!!
-This is very important. Instead of asking to “trial or tryout” for the team. Just tell them you’re in the country visiting and you would like to train.
-Once you show them, you’re good enough, they will ask you to stay.
12.Do Your Research on Visas:
This is very very important.
A visa will allow you to stay in the country without getting into any legal trouble. Please make sure you do your research on these as they can effect whether you are allowed to stay and play the season or not.
Most countries’ will allow Americans to stay in the country for at least 3-6 months on a “tourist”/visa-free travel, but like I said it is very dependent on each and every country.
Countries like: Germany, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have seemed to be easier based on personal experience and talking with friends’ who have played all over.
I don’t have a European Passport, so I have taken many “different routes and paths” in order to stay without trouble, but it took a look of work, a lot of research, a lot of networking and definitely some sleepless nights, LOL.
13.Network with Other Professionals Playing in the Country of Choice:
This is exactly what I did.
There’s a great website called “Yanks Abroad,” that has a list of all the Americans playing abroad.
Find the country you’re going to, find the players on Facebook and/or Instagram, and reach out. I’m sure a lot of the players’ will be more than willing to help.
They also wrote a really nice article on me last year which I’m thankful for:
14. Be Persistent:
-You will deal with a lot of “no’s” and a lot of adversity, but all it takes is one “yes” to change your life and career path.
-Persistence is the key to achieving any goal in life. You have to keep going no matter what stands in your way.
-I told someone the other day in a coffee shop, “there’s always been walls in front of me standing in front of my goals and dreams, and I’m willing to break through that wall, hop over that wall or get around that wall. No matter what, I will find a way.” If you take this attitude upon yourself, I guarantee you success. It won’t be easy, but you can do it.
Conclusion:
I hope this article helped you. I know it would have really helped me and guided me in the right direction if I first saw it before going to Europe.
The most important thing is to get yourself on the ground. Once you’re on ground, clubs take you much more seriously and you will definitely make more contacts and find many more opportunities.
Though, if this is something you would be interested, make sure to let me know and I will try to “fast-track” the process.
But until then, if you have any questions, free to send me an email:
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