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For as long as I can remember, I’ve had just one goal in mind – to play professional football in Europe. Immediately following my high school graduation, almost four years ago, I traveled to Scotland to pursue that dream. Over the past couple of years, I’ve had many amazing opportunities and been lucky enough to play for professional clubs in Scotland, England and Norway. My time over here has included many ups and downs, but I wouldn’t trade my experiences for anything. My name is Robbie Tice and I’m a 21-year-old Canadian soccer player.
In this first column for RedNation Online, I’ll introduce myself and give readers an idea of what my background in the game is. In the future, I’ll write about the current experiences I’m having as well as talk about current issues in the game; and also add tips for other young Canadian Soccer players hoping to play professionally in Europe one day.
It all began for me in the same way as it does for many young Canadians, playing recreationally for my local club, Peace Arch Soccer Club, as a five-year-old. Little did I know back then, what football would bring to my life. Over the years, my passion for the game continued to grow. Even at the age of seven, I had decided playing football was what I wanted to do as a career. Life as a Canadian football player is not an easy path. You have to have a lot of self-belief in your ability as well as good fundamental skills. It’s just as important to keep the faith and continue to work hard – even though it’s tough, and attempt to do the impossible, even when most people say it can’t be done.
I started to attract interest from some top teams in England as a teenager, and began making the trip overseas every summer to spend time training with clubs and continued gaining experience. I was fortunate to get scouted by League One club, Crewe Alexandra FC on one of my trips overseas and was able to develop my game by training with the club almost every summer during high school. Crewe is renowned for having one of the top youth academies in England and I learned so much during the time I spent with the club. These annual summer trips, along with my continued success on the field at home, allowed me to seriously believe I could play in Europe one day. I was told by my coaches there to play at the highest level possible in Canada and to return after I finished school. They advised me to start playing at the men’s level to gain better experience. So I did just that and after playing two seasons of senior football for Peace Arch Soccer Club in the Fraser Valley and the Pacific Coast Soccer Leagues, in grades 11 and 12 with guys twice my age, I was convinced it was time for me to follow my dreams.
A few days after high school graduation, I was on my way to Scotland on a one-way ticket. I signed for Scottish Second Division side, Ayr United, almost as soon as I arrived. I was so excited for the opportunity to sign with a European club and couldn’t wait to get started. But life certainly wasn’t easy. In my first year in Europe, I had to overcome many obstacles and learning curves on and off the field. It was my first year away from home, in a foreign country, where I knew nobody. I knew from the start that it was a solid place to begin and that if I worked hard, I would be able to move onto bigger and better things soon.
After my season with Ayr, I moved to England and played for Nantwich Town FC in the Northern Premier League. In addition to playing for Nantwich, I spent time training with Crewe Alexandra FC every week, the club I spent a lot of time training with growing up. This year is probably the one that I would say has had the most influence on me as a player. It was my first year as a “senior” player in Europe and I was competing to play first team football week in and week out. It was very hard competing against guys that were much more experienced and older than me. I was still only nineteen at this point and competing against some players that had played at the highest levels. I put in the work every single day at training and I improved my game so much that season. Again, I knew that I wanted to move up to a higher level and I continued to believe in my ability to do so.
At the end of the UK winter season, I hopped on a plane to Norway and set up some trials with clubs there to see what the Norwegian summer playing season might be like. I ended up signing with Norwegian First Division club FK Bodø/Glimt, in the North of Norway. I played for the club’s reserve team and received some of the best coaching I’ve ever experienced. Every day, I was training and competing with many talented players. I had a great experience with the club and to this day it’s still my favorite place I’ve played. Unfortunately for me, the club was going through its worst times ever financially, so at the end of the season it was time for me to find a new club again. I decided to return to Norway in 2011 and I signed for Second Division club Kjelsås IL in Oslo. I was able to get some good first-team playing experience there and continued to develop my game at a solid level.
As I’m writing this article, it is late March of 2012 and I’m still in Norway currently on trial with a new club. I’m very happy with the experiences I’ve had over the past couple of years in Europe and always looking for my next opportunity. Each year, I’ve managed to make a step up in terms of playing levels and training environments and I’ve been able to improve my game a lot along the way. I’m still pretty young in the soccer world at 21-years-old and I hope to have a long and bright future in the game. I have many ambitions for the future and I hope to one day play in a top-flight league in Europe, as well as play internationally for my country.
As I continue my journey through Europe as a young Canadian football player, I hope you will be able to follow me through this column. I’ll do my best to keep you all up to date on how things are progressing over here. I hope to sign for my new club very soon as the 2012 season quickly approaches. I’m excited to give you an inside view on what it’s like to live and play soccer abroad.
Robbie Tice can be found writing about his career, life home and abroad at Robbie Tice - Canadian Footballer, and can be followed on Twitter at @robbietice90.
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