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Milan Lebe as a young soccer player.

I fell in love with soccer at the age of four all because I watched “Captain Tsubasa,” a famous Japanese cartoon, comic, and video game series about soccer. It follows a young boy named Tsubasa Oozora, who loves soccer and dreams of becoming a great player.

Tsubasa loved soccer and worked hard. The games were exciting, and the players helped each other. Watching it made me want to play soccer and try my best to become a pro soccer player. 

Growing up, I moved a lot, and not just from one house to another in the same city, but from one country to another, one continent to another. 

I lived in Kuwait first. Then, I moved to Germany, then the Philippines, back to Kuwait, and finally landed here, in the United States, in the small city of Bristol, Tennessee.

Every time I moved, soccer gave me something similar to keep me grounded. The rules were the same, the ball was the same, and I could play anywhere. 

Being a good player made me proud. Even when I didn’t speak the language, scoring a goal showed others what I could do. 

Scoring goals made me many friends. I didn’t need the words, just the game, and this connected me with other kids from different cultures.

I played as a right and left winger because this is the position where I can dribble the most, showing off my skills. And made me feel special in the field.

I was five years old when I started playing for my first soccer club, called Everton, in Kuwait, and played there until I was nine years old. However, I quit playing for a while because I got disenchanted with the game.  It was nothing like the glory I imagined watching Captain Tsubasa.

The players my age didn’t take soccer or our coach seriously, so we lost almost every match. It made me sad, and I lost motivation.

When my family moved to Germany, I joined a new soccer club called Blauwise 90, and it was there that I

began to regain my love for the sport. The coaches saw my talent and encouraged me to keep going.

In Germany, soccer is a very serious thing. Because of this, the teams are more organized. Practice involved playing full games, the competition increased, and the coaches took the game seriously.

I played there for two years, from about ages 10-12, and I got much better at soccer.

This enabled me to try out for a more elite club called Berliner Football Club, or BFC Preussen. It was harder, but I learned more and improved. 

The BFC Preussen players there took everything seriously. If we lost a match, the players were upset. We talked about the mistakes we made and how to improve for next time. We trained harder, and that is what I needed to thrive. I regained my motivation, putting 100% into every training and match. 

We relocated again after two years, moving this time to Manila, Philippines. I maintained my motivation and drive to improve, joining a club called G8. This meant shifting my approach towards soccer yet again, because in the Philippines, soccer is a fun social and teamwork sport. The players are friendly, and they enjoyed playing even though the weather was hot. 

After one year, I moved back to Kuwait and I joined Juventus Academy for the next two years. After a match, I got scouted from the Kuwait Club, Kuwait SC, which is a high pro club. Its culture was professional. 

They didn’t know where I was born, so when I told them I was born in Turkey, I wasn’t allowed to play for the team because they required their players to be born in Kuwait to play in their pro club. This disappointed me terribly, but I refused to give up on my dreams of playing soccer.

Recently, my family moved again, this time here to an American city, Bristol, TN. Soccer here is not the same as it is in Kuwait. In the U.S, American football and basketball are more popular than soccer, but the fields and the facilities are really good. 

I’m not currently playing for a soccer team because I want to focus on school. Eventually, when I get the opportunity, I will try out for a local league. In the meantime, I am studying hard for the ACT test and making my future bright. I would like to go to a good university and study dentistry. 

Soccer has taught me so much. It’s taught me how to work, how to be patient, and to never give up. I played in many countries and met many people, and I will always be thankful for that. I have already had the chance to live out my childhood soccer fantasies. Every time I play, I remember why I started: to be part of a team that plays with passion and stickers together.