Next summer I was hoping to go over to Europe and possibly train with some clubs in England and around the UK. I don't know where to start with all of this. How do I contact a coach or club abroad? Will they even give me the time of day to train with them on the offseason (the reserves or youth team not the first team, obviously)? If anyone can help me out with some tips and/or advice it would be most appreciated. If anyone out there has done this before or is over there now, let me know please. I went on a soccer tour around Europe when I was 14 and learned a great deal. I am 19 now and want to just train for a couple months in a different country so I can be that much improved when school starts. thanks everybody.
I know that in South America most teams have academies that you'd be able to train at for a price. I'd assume that the same is true in Europe. At the age of 19, however, I'm not sure if this is an option.
When I was 21, I went to Ireland and packed my studs. Truthfully, I went to party. But, I did mention my studs were packed at a few pubs and they introduced me to some people. I did get some good sessions in. Maybe my method is too informal for you; but, it might be worth a shot.
yeah i hope me being 19 isn't too old to train with some academies. i just want to test myself over there and see how much i can improve as a player. should i just email the coaches or directors, send them a letter in the mail, send in a video...? thanks for the replies so far though. appreciate it.
You can send a letter to clubs asking for a trial. If you are only wanting to train for a few months I dunno how this would work though. DUnno if clubs would want a player to come in just to train and the go back home. Most clubs from Conference down would give trials to people interested enough and who were fairly decent though so I would say you could get a chance somewhere although it probably would be of amateur persuasion or possibly semi-pro. Depends on the standard you have played in the past. If you have played for your state or region or something maybe a semi-pro team will let you train.
I'm a decent player, i play college soccer and have played at a pretty high level for a while. i am by no means a phenom or anything, just a guy looking to improve his overall game, and hopefully have an interesting and fun experience playing in a different country. I think I will do some research on a couple of clubs and see what they say. thanks for the advice. i greatly appreciate it.
very interesting. i like it a lot but i think that it will be a little too much money for my wallet. not that going overseas to england or something is going to be cheaper. i dunno. looks awesome though. running in the rivers!