Trialing in Portugal: Believing in Yourself First
When I first came to Portugal, I knew the level of football here—especially around Lisbon—was going to be intense. It’s one of the most competitive regions in the country, if not all of Europe. But to make it on a team, you have to go to trials. There is no other way.
Most clubs start their trials in June or July. Come clubs even earlier at the top levels. For me, I was just coming back from my injury and trials were starting so it was a tricky time. Trials are about more than showing talent. Everyone has some level of talent. What coaches look for is attitude—do you work hard off the ball, do you push through fatigue, do you make your teammates better and can you connect easily with other players?
Through the help of my advisors and the connections we’ve built since moving here, I was set-up with 3 different clubs to trail with. The first was called Oerias and I was invited to come to their evening training sessions in late June. Walking in, I could tell this wasn’t going to be the club for me. I didn’t feel a connection with the players and coaches. After 2 sessions, they told me that they wouldn’t be offering me a place on their team. My next trial was with a team where I knew the coach and had some some private training sessions with. He’s a great coach and I really liked him. But the team was mostly older boys 18 & 19 and although they asked me to come back and that I might get a spot on the team, I didn’t feel like it was the best team for me.
The third club, I already had a good feeling about…Sintrense FC. This week I’ve stepped into a new environment: new coaches, new players, a new club—and two sessions a day to show I can make an impact.
Starting at the Bottom
Being new to the system in Portugal means starting at the bottom and proving yourself. Just like I had to do in Vancouver over the years. But what’s made this even harder is that I don’t speak the language yet. The drills are explained in Portuguese, the jokes are shared in Portuguese, and the little moments that build chemistry happen in Portuguese. I’ve had to rely on watching, adapting, and proving myself through effort and focus. I make sure that I never go first in a new drill so that I can watch the other players and make sure I know what’s happening before I go.
But I have been lucky that most of the players speak pretty good English. And there’s always someone there to translate quickly for me and make sure I know what to do. It’s tough, but it’s also what I signed up for.
The Next Steps
This trial with Sintrense is a huge opportunity. Whether I earn the signing or not, it’s another step in building my football story. I”ve been training 2 times a day for the last two weeks. I’ve seen other players come & be let go by the coach. Every night at the end of our session the Coach talks to the boys who are trialing. So far I’ve been asked to come back every day which is great. But all the other boys who have been coming, haven’t been invited back.
The coach has asked me to play in an exhibition game this weekend and hopefully I get asked to join the team for the upcoming season. It’s another chance to prove myself and I look forward to showing them what I can do in an actual game.