Players overseas (Europe/SA) are exposed to adult professional level competition starting at around age 15-16 years old if the player is big and strong enough. They give them little/by little exposure so that when they are 18/19/20 they can step into their 1st team professional lineups and star or at least contribute to the 1st team.
Some of these 18-year-olds who either do not make it to the next level but received professional level training until age 18 or who just decided to want to go to college instead or before turning pro might come to the USA and be at least a few steps ahead of the typical American ODP player who has been training 2x per week against other U-19 boys and being coached by a coach who is really not as experienced or knowledgeable as he tells everyone he is.
Learn more about how American's can get real professional training in Europe, South America (Brazil), and in German Bundesliga teams at
http://venturacountyfc.com.Nick Ledesma is born and raised in southern California and is now playing in the U-19 German Bundesliga for Alemannia Aachen. He started and played 75 minutes against Borussia Dortmund's U-19 last week.
