The Opportunity To Become A Pro In Europe
Every dream of becoming a professional soccer player? So many youth players dream every night of becoming a professional soccer player and few ever have the chance to have it happen. For a selected group of fortunate youth soccer players, International Soccer Dream provides the opportunity to bring this dream to life.
International Soccer Dream offers exclusive training camps and ID programs for aspiring talented youth soccer players – these programs are in Spain and the experience is once-in-a-lifetime amazing.
SoccerToday spoke with President and Founder, Oscar Albuquerque on how he can help youth players reach for the stars and train like the professionals.
Diane Scavuzzo: International Soccer Dream offers camps in Spain and helps players find agents abroad. How do you do this?
Oscar Albuquerque: We work with primary two FIFA agents – one is an attorney who specializes working with the smaller professional soccer clubs as well as being a FIFA agent and the other FIFA agent works with bigger professional soccer clubs. We know that not all our players are ready for the really well known clubs, so we want to make sure we can help players get a start on the pro circuit, even if it is at a lower level.
Diane Scavuzzo: There is always confusion as to how old players should be before they try out in Europe. What do you think is the best age to participate in your program?
Oscar Albuquerque: For our camps programs, we recommend youth soccer players ages 9-16 and for our Elite Training program — players should be ages 13-19. If players are interested in trying out for our Pro Tryout program, they have to be 17 years old or older. Our players love the program – check out the pictures here.
Diane Scavuzzo: What opportunities does Europe offer an elite player?
Oscar Albuquerque: The opportunities in Europe are much greater because there are more number of teams in each pro division.
For instance, in La Liga’s 1st division in Spain there are 20 teams. In Liga Adelante, Spain’s 2nd division, there are 22 teams and in 2B, there are another 20 teams.
Unlike in America in the MLS where the number of professional teams is very low, in Spain’s Tercera division, there are 18 brackets – each with 20 teams. All in all, we are talking about 360 teams that players can get an opportunity to play for.
Diane Scavuzzo: That is a staggering difference between America and Spain. What do the words ‘Player Development’ mean in to you? What type of environment is best for developing players?
Oscar Albuquerque: The development of youth soccer players in Spain is awesome because teams play in the youth level to become better players and learn the fundamentals of the game at a higher pace with a lot of intensity every single training session. Coaches are always talking to the players to push them to maximize their efforts and to always compete.
Diane Scavuzzo: The DREAM STARTS WITH YOU…. How does your program benefit the players?
Oscar Albuquerque: The benefits are enormous because soccer is king in Spain, so American players experience at first hand not only the high-quality training but the passion, the discipline, and the respect that exist for the beautiful game of soccer. Everywhere you go people are playing, reading and talking about soccer. It is important for youth players who dream of becoming professional soccer players to be immersed in a culture where soccer is the #1 sport.
Diane Scavuzzo: How specifically is the training at your camps different?
Oscar Albuquerque: The main difference is that the training sessions are very intense and the coaches treat every player like a young professional. The other big difference is that the importance of training is based on the technical part of the game and not so much on the physical part. Discipline is at its max, and we are very safety cautious. If a player is injured, he/she will be taking care of by the Fisio, our Physical Trainer.
Diane Scavuzzo: What advantages does this training provide to youth players?
Oscar Albuquerque: The training in Spain will enhance and polish the players abilities and will make them become a better all around player. Our methodology and training concepts are based on the idea to improve every player in the areas that they specifically needed. This is a highly customized training program to help each player improve.
Diane Scavuzzo: How are these camps also ID programs?
Oscar Albuquerque: What we do is unique and also serves as an ID program because we work with several scouts from the different area pro clubs.
Diane Scavuzzo: What is your anticipated coach to player ratio?
Oscar Albuquerque: 12-1.
Diane Scavuzzo: Is it all soccer training? Do players become immersed in the lifestyle and culture of the country? What are the extra tourist type activities?
Oscar Albuquerque: Yes, while everyone loves soccer, it is important to see a bit of Spain as well. Our training sessions are in the morning from 9 AM to 1 PM then lunch and a rest period. From 3 PM to 7 PM different activities are available such as excursions, enjoying the area beaches, visit stadiums. Another bonus of our program is that our players learn to speak a little bit of Spanish. We use conversational Spanish every day.
Diane Scavuzzo: Why do you think America has not been more successful so far at developing a homegrown Messi?
Oscar Albuquerque: In America, we have a very physical oriented mentality and unfortunately choose the bigger and strongest kids to play the games so we can have the advantages to win by our athleticism, which is totally wrong. We should select the best players regardless of size. A typical example is that our soccer colleges are full of big guys and a few little guys. Don’t get me wrong, things are slowly changing, but not fast enough.
Diane Scavuzzo: When did you become involved with soccer? Why?
Oscar Albuquerque: I started to played soccer when I was 5 years old back home in Lima-Peru, I moved to Toronto, Canada and then to the US. I played in the US professionally for 15 years, a few years in the old NASL and the rest in the MISL.
Diane Scavuzzo: Why do you do what you do? What inspires you?
Oscar Albuquerque: I started this venture because of the lack of opportunities that existed and exist in the US leagues for young players in High School and College. There are too many players available for the US leagues so I felt that in Spain there were leagues with more teams available. In the USA, we are probably lucky to consider soccer to be in 5th place as a most important sport in the country.
Diane Scavuzzo: If you look back, when did you passion for soccer start?
Oscar Albuquerque: When I was very young my older brother Hugo played professional so I wanted to follow his steps and I did.
Diane Scavuzzo: What is your favorite soccer team?
Oscar Albuquerque: FC Barcelona.
Diane Scavuzzo: Who do you root for behind closed doors?
Oscar Albuquerque: PSG.
Diane Scavuzzo: Where did you play pro?
Oscar Albuquerque: I started out in Toronto in the NASL, then played most of my career with indoor soccer teams in the U.S. From Toronto, I moved to Denver to play for the Avalanche in the MISL. After Denver, I went to Phoenix, Las Vegas, LA and then New York before moving to Memphis in AISA. I finished my career in Chicago first with the Sting and then with the Power. I also played for the Canadian National Team as a midfielder.
Diane Scavuzzo: If you look back at your career, what is the one thing you would change, if you could?
Oscar Albuquerque: I wouldn’t change anything, my dream was to become a pro soccer player and I did. “I want to tell the aspiring young soccer player that if his/her dream is to become a professional soccer player, to believe that anything is possible in the journey of life”
