Have you ever woken up from the bed and felt good about yourself just because you completed an enormous task that even you could not imagine could be done?
That was precisely how I felt on the morning of April 29, when I achieved one of the biggest goals that I have been working on since 2012.
I successfully published my book titled Road Map to a Successful Football Career on Amazon and ordered the first 20 copies for myself.
You may want to ask, why is the book necessary, and why did it take so long?
I wrote the book due to 20 years plus experience as a broadcast journalist covering football and as a football academy administrator who has had the chance to take players to trials and international tournaments in Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Tunisia, and South Africa to mention a few.
I have also had the privilege of working in one of the most organised football associations in the world, the US Soccer Federation as a referee and youth coach.
I get tons of emails from young footballers in Africa, South America, and Europe asking if I was an agent and if I could help them to get a trial opportunity overseas.
They were hungry for information about how to fulfil their dreams. Many of them told me about the misfortunes that had befallen them in the hands of scammers.
I thought to myself, if I didn’t do something about it, many more players would be misled, conned, and many careers will be cut short. So I decided to start work on gathering data and specific information that would work if well executed.
I had to make sure every information in the book is practicable and can be achieved by anyone who truly desires to achieve success in the game. I also sought the opinions of football leaders that I had the opportunity of knowing.
Have you been wondering how to go from playing in the streets to playing at the biggest stadium overseas?
Don’t know what academy you need to join to get scouted?
How to contact scouts and football clubs directly?
Or you want to know how to get a football (soccer) scholarship into colleges and universities in the United States and Canada?
All this information and more are what has taken me eight years to put together for you, and it is available in this book.
My book details the What-To-Do and How-To-Do that will make your dream of becoming a professional soccer player a reality.
It also provides information on how to find a college or university scholarship to study and play the game in countries that offer such opportunities. More importantly, the book makes you know the difference between a football academy and a football club in detail.
For example, I get this question from players every time they enquire about joining my academy. Am I going to get paid? The answer to this question is always no. As an academy player, no one will pay to teach you how to become a better player than you are; it is the other way around. It is the price you have to pay for your ultimate goal.
If you have kids between ages 7 to 16, my book will help you to guide them into a safe career path.
Young footballers will also find in the book the red lights to look out for when they are approached by anyone who claims to be a scout or an agent to a football club who promises to take them abroad after paying money.
It also provides information on how to identify a genuine football agent who has your interest at heart. It X-rays how a football contract works, what you need to do to brand yourself, how to attract a scout, agents, or coach to show interest in you and many more.
The biggest offer for buying the book is the contacts, phone numbers, email addresses, and websites of over 2000 college and club coaches in the United States and other countries that I am offering for free.
As one of my mentors always says, “your dream is possible,” but you have to work the talk. You can tell this affirmation one million times a day, but your actions must match your words.
Keep training hard, give your best always, and make sure you get self-knowledge, which is what this book is offering you. Nothing more powerful than a person with knowledge.
Is your dream to become the next Messi or Ronaldo? Or you want to play in the Scandinavian leagues and make a decent living? Or you have a good school grade, and you want to go to school overseas and still play the game you love? Your dreams are possible.
Bayonle Arashi’s Road Map to a Successful Football Career is now available on Amazon
