Turning a hobby into a career – colleges in America want to make this possible. They offer young athletes the opportunity to pursue their sport professionally for little money, possibly make the leap to the professional ranks and complete a degree at the same time. More and more footballers from Lower Bavaria are also following this call.
Ideally, things will work like Julian Gressel. The native of Middle Franconia never played higher than the Bayernliga before his time in the USA, but today he is on the pitch week after week for Inter Miami in the MLS alongside world footballer Lionel Messi. The 30-year-old benefited from the American draft system, in which US professional clubs from all sports select up-and-coming talent from colleges and can then sign them.
The PNP spoke to young footballers from the region who have also made the leap to North America. They talk about their experiences in three parts. In the first part: Felix Passberger.
Spontaneously seized the opportunity
Felix Paßberger (25) had already ticked off the topic of a semester abroad: During his bachelor’s degree at the University of Passau, he received an offer from a scouting agency asking whether he could imagine going to the USA and playing football there in parallel to his studies. However, Paßberger refused, not feeling mature enough. Instead, he put on a master’s degree in Passau and was in the middle of it when another request came in autumn 2022.
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“I didn’t expect that,” admits Paßberger. But he really liked the idea of doing something completely different before starting his daily work routine. He quickly applied and auditioned for various scouts from US colleges at a trial training session in Frankfurt. Afterwards we had to wait – for offers from interested parties. The decisive factor for Paßberger: “I wanted to go to a city where you can experience a lot.” For this reason, he initially held back on making commitments and “gambled for a long time” that a suitable college would come forward. The tactic worked: he received an offer from Florida Memorial University in Miami.
“Getting to know other cultures” took priority
However, his stay there had little to do with professional football: his college was part of the third and weakest division. Receiving an invitation to the draft that many are longing for is more than unlikely. But he was already too old for a college in Division 1, reports Paßberger. “From the beginning, I was more interested in getting to know other cultures.”
Accordingly, he is grateful for the doors that football has opened for him: in addition to numerous experiences and new friendships, within a year he also received an additional master’s degree. “The academic level is of course not comparable to that in Germany,” he admits, “but I was still able to learn a lot.” He was able to complete the second semester from Passau again – also because the college season mainly takes place in the fall . Since then, Paßberger has been playing football in Perlesreut (Freyung-Grafenau district), where he is also an assistant coach.
You can read the other parts of the series below www.heimatsport.de.
