Fast forward one year, I was at the end of my time in Spain and had to go back to my home country, Indonesia. At that time, I knew that I needed to fulfil my dad’s promise to go to university continuing my education. Hence, becoming a student athlete is the only option for me to keep both parties happy and ensure that I keep my dream alive.
Towards the end of my time in Spain, I saw an advertisement of a company based in the UK where they would suggest the “best” university to go to if you’d want to continue your footballing career yet not neglecting your education. I felt like it was the perfect situation for me to find out more about the opportunity.
Weighing My Decision
Bear in mind, I actually had the idea of staying in Spain. I had the option to study at a university there whilst continue playing. However, I thought it would be harder for me as I need to study the language, juggling it with university course and football which I realise now it was just an excuse. That’s why I was leaning towards the UK more as it would be an English speaking country and it would be “easier” for me to juggle my commitments.
Once I came back home, my dad had asked me what’s next for my future? I had explained everything to him and he was a bit unsure. He was trying to give me options that I didn’t personally like such as going to Australia or Canada which I knew he got it through his friends’ recommendation. I didn’t know if he was trying to convince me to do something else other than football or what, but I just had the feeling that he was. In all honesty, I hated that.
Few months gone by and after several attempts, he had let me to continue my application with this university, called Cardiff Metropolitan based in the UK. Basically, the company that I had been in touch with recommended this university due to its first team football achievement playing in Europa League qualification stage.
For a team full of scholars, it’s an amazing achievement if I am being honest. That’s why in my mind, I believed that this university would have a good football program. I was still doing the same routine of training. I went to the gym to prepare for the upcoming season which I had not expected.
Cardiff In Bound
On September 12th, I left Bali and landed in Cardiff the next day. It was an unreal experience! The vibe the university gave me just unexpectedly different. From the people that I met to the place where I’m staying, it was completely different from what I had expected. It was two weeks before the football trial date. So in the meantime, I was preparing myself by training in one of the many pitches they have and went to the gym, which was free for students.
The trial date had arrived and I was pumped to play my game. I was registered as a right back and they put me in my preferred position. The whole game went well, I played my game. My name had been taken down by one of the staff at the end. I can’t lie I was stoked and expecting something big from them. They told me that which team I was going to be in will be announced through emails.
One week gone by. Didn’t receive anything back. Two weeks gone, still none. Three weeks had gone, still nothing. And surprisingly enough, they had announced it through twitter and my name was not there. Literally, I couldn’t believe how very unorganised it was and it didn’t make sense to me at that time as I could clearly see my name was written in the staff’s notepad.
Taking Responsibility
A few days after, I had decided to go to the Football Program Director’s office to discuss my situation. End of story, he let me to have another trial that apparently was meant for the players who made it to the second round. Next day comes and again I performed quite well despite making few mistakes here and there. At the end, the coaches told us to wait on the announcement that was going to be release through their social account.
The day finally came and I found out that I only managed to get to the 6th team! I was furious and shocked, can’t believe that had happened. I could ramble and made excuses about everything that had happened, but it was just a waste of time. If I’m being honest, I had the though of dropping out of this university. No disrespect but I thought that it would hinder my development if I stayed with the team I was in. Obviously, I didn’t come this far just to have social football where they emphasise the drinking culture more than the football itself.
I had two options. Sulking and feel sorry for myself or get up and put more hours in. I decided the latter, I took the opportunity with both hands. I committed to what was available to me and keep searching for better opportunities. Stay tuned for the next blogpost where I talk you through how I took the initiative to contact teams outside my university and building my network in football.
