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age. I spent two years on
travel and developed my ball
skills on my own by spending
nights juggling and dribbling,
shoveling off the backyard in
the winter to be able to prac-
tice ball skills. Those were the
years I changed the most as
a player. About 3 years ago I
met some players that are ref-
ugees from Africa and they
asked me to play for their
refugee team. We compete
against other refugee teams
throughout Buffalo. We play
in the World Refugee Day
of Buffalo tournament(2018
champs) and have friendlies
throughout the summer. The
refugee league is a different
kind of game. Every player
is a natural born athlete. The
game is much faster, physi-
cal, and individualized. There
is less passing and more tak-
ing on opponents, and there
are more fouls. Every player
on the field has outstanding
ball control. Playing with the
refugees has taught me to
make decisions faster, to not
be scared of taking players
on, and to be more physical.
Another takeaway is that you
may think you beat an op-
ponent but they are able to
recover right away. Not only
have I played with refugees
in Buffalo, but I have had the
opportunity to play with play-
ers from all over the world in
a premier camp I participat-
ed in over the 2017 summer.
There were players from the
Netherlands, South Africa,
Italy, Spain, Russia, Australia
and I was the only American
and the only one who didn’t
speak Dutch. The ProCamp
in the Netherlands was one
of the best experiences of my
life. I had the chance to get a
closer look at European style
football, meet players from
all over the world, and to
showcase my skill to foreign
coaches,” explained Eagan.
“My roommates were from
Australia, Ethiopia, Belgium
and the Netherlands. I have
to admit I didn’t know what
they were saying most of the
time. The language barrier
didn’t stop me from learning,
though. I learned European
players focus more on ball
work and technical skills. Ev-
ery single player in the camp
NOVEMBER 2, 2018 | SportsUnion
had great ball skills which
is only found with maybe 4
players on each team. The
preaching of ball skills and
game knowledge is how it
should be done. Playing on
the football courts in the
streets of Tiel, Netherlands
was amazing. My two broth-
ers and I had the chance to
play against some local play-
ers. Each of them had amaz-
ing feet. What they could do
with the ball at their feet is un-
heard of in this country. You
could instantly tell they have
focused on ball work since
the day they started playing. I
have always dreamed of play-
ing in Europe, but this expe-
rience opened my eyes and
was screaming at me to leave
America and play in Europe.
America has it backwards,
if you want to know how to
play football, go to Europe.
After the camp I was offered
to tryout for an amateur team
in the area but I had to make
the mature decision to turn
it down to finish school in
America. I may have turned
down that offer but that
doesn’t mean I am giving
up on my dream. Europe is
27
where my heart is and I will
be following my dreams.”
He also considers himself
a student of the game. Most
who play the sport just go out
there and use their athletic
ability to make plays all over
the pitch. Eagan just doesn’t
pay the game, but watches it
as well.
There isn’t a Saturday that
goes by that Eagan doesn’t
watch the Premier League on
television. There is a day goes
by that he isn’t studying oth-
ers players to see how he can
improve his own game.
Eagan wants to make sure
he is the best player possible,
and will go to great thanks to
do so.
“I am absolutely a student
of the game. I wake up every
Saturday and Sunday morn-
ing to catch the early English
Premier League games start-
ing at 7:30 a.m. Watching
games has given me most of
the knowledge I have of the
game. I am able to notice the
gaps on the field, the runs
forwards are making, the de-
fensive formation as a team
when they drop back to their
end, and the passes the cen-
ter midfielders are making,”
stated Eagan. “I don’t watch
any specific position, because
there are 11 different posi-
tions and at the end of the day,
you need to know how to play
each one. I also watch most
games that are on throughout
the day. With down time in
school, I watch tactical break-
downs of Pep Guardiola and
Manchester City (Hate Man
City, but love Pep’s coaching).
Bouncing around teams year
to year and playing for mul-
tiple teams at the same time
gives me exposure to differ-
ent coaching styles and dif-
ferent formations. It is tough
for me to learn from a coach
for more than a year because
of my high football IQ. I have
knowledge of the game that
is hard to find and tough to
teach something new to me. I
will be a student of the game
until I retire, but once I am
done learning, I will teach
the game. I would like to be a
coach at the highest level. My
knowledge of football can’t
be wasted, and it must be giv-
en back to players. Anytime
I am on the sidelines, I am
picking out things that can
be done differently and I love
viewing the game from a dif-
ferent perspective.”