FROM COLLEGE PLAYER TO COLLEGE COACH

So this edition of the SOCCERSKILLZ blog is just to show you how life comes in full circle. As an 18 year old high school student I was presented with an opportunity to follow my dreams. Architecture and soccer. I was approached by a number of colleges to play for their soccer team with an athletic scholarship. In the early 80"s, oops now you know how old I am... LOL, getting recruited for a college athletic scholarship was much different than nowadays. If you are interested in how to get recruited for an athletic scholarship please fill form below the video to get invited to one of the webinars that we discuss this. Yes yours truly, Niko Alexopoulos, got the opportunity to be announced and walk on a soccer field as a collegiate soccer player. At that point that was the highlight of my soccer career.  What an amazing feeling to represent one's college and knowing that one was selected from many other players to represent that University. All the hard work put forth during pre season had finally paid off when I walked on that field. Well, after many years later, in fact over 30 years filled with many soccer experiences both as a player and a coach, last night September 1st 2017 I was introduced and walked on the field of the Widener University's Stadium as a collegiate coach. Somehow this moment was just as special as me playing in Europe as a professional. In fact more special because I had never embarked on a journey of a coaching career. My life changed when I became a coach after a successful mortgage banker career. Maybe because I had a hand in training and getting ready players that experienced for the first time that feeling that I had experienced long time ago when I became a collegiate player. Maybe because this team, mostly made up from freshmen, had worked so hard to prepare for the season home opener, maybe because young players are looking to the coaching staff for new ways and knowledge to widen their soccer experience as well as pick up new life lessons. Either way I am excited and humbled to be a collegiate coach.