A soccer player shares how he was rejected five times from MLS NEXT tryouts before landing a spot on New York Cosmos West, which led to a Division I scholarship. He compares his path to Kevin De Bruyne's early setbacks and tells aspiring players that rejections from coaches and unanswered emails are part of the process.
You are on the journey to play college soccer. You need to hear this. Kevin De Bruyne, definitely the best player in the Premier League, who I also got to watch yesterday against Arsenal, was rejected by Chelsea twice before becoming the best player in the Premier League. If you're doing this college soccer journey correctly, you're going to get rejected over and over and over again. I myself tried out for the MLS NEXT version of my day every single year starting in 7th grade until my senior year. I was told no 5 times. My senior year, I finally made the team that was then called the New York Cosmos West. My coach at that time is now the assistant coach at the Galaxy. He told me no 5 times before finally saying, you know what, I think you can play at the highest levels of youth soccer in America. That moment changed everything because then I was starting to get recruited not just by college soccer teams, but by Division I college soccer teams. The lesson I want you to take away from Kevin De Bruyne and myself— I can't believe I just put myself in the same category as Kevin De Bruyne— is that getting rejected is important. Coaches telling you no, coaches not responding to your emails, coaches not picking up your phone calls. This is the journey. If you would like help on that journey so that way you know what to do when those things happen, just as I did as a player, and eventually went to play Division 1 college soccer on a full scholarship despite playing JV soccer as a junior. Give me a call, apply in the link in bio, and I'll talk to you soon. I'm in England!
