Related Posts
Community Builder
Fishes, pls help with likes to enable DM. TIA.
Those in FDD, why do you like it?
Does anyone knows about TEK Analytics company
Rising Star
Additional Posts in Compensation in Consulting
Has anyone ever had their salary reduced?
What is the Deloitte MSP Team? Is it consulting?
New to Fishbowl?
Download the Fishbowl app to
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
My older brother went to Europe to play soccer after college and stayed until he was 30. Over the 7 years he was probably getting paid $150k per year on average. Because he also received housing and a car each season he was able to save most of that money. Was home in the US during the off-season and has a bunch of stories to tell. Ended up going to law school after. I don’t think he regrets it one bit.
Definitely skip MLS unless you’re a top player. I was a D1 athlete and had friends who tried going pro in various sports. Most got hurt or are depressed (bc their career was short lived due to age), and they are now struggling to assimilate in a career that puts food on the table. The only ones that did well were the two who were drafted to the NFL on multi-million dollar contracts.
Former pro athlete here,cycling, but didn’t make enough in my sport to make anything crazy, but it was still a great time. Yeah, your friend is too old to “make it”, I was on the national team at 15 years old and in the pipeline, and if you’re not on that track, you’ve missed it, but I think he should experience it for a couple years, cause he will NEVER have this opportunity again. Consulting will be there in 2 years and he’ll have still chased a dream. You can always come back to work, but you can’t just go back to chasing athletics. Tell him to go for it, have fun, enjoy it, work hard everyday and give everything, and expect nothing. Maybe something crazy happens and maybe not, but atleast he’ll be able to look back and say he did it, and I think that’s more important than starting your career a few years earlier.
As someone who played growing up with pros, like MLS and one US National Cap player, unless you’re recruited to academies by the age of 18 (and even then I would say to the bigger leagues in Europe), I wouldn’t pursue this solely for a career/monetary motivator. If you utilize it to get into a good school or love of the game, by all means and get a free education, but your career as a pro is at best 10 years, it’s not easy, only the top .1% make enough to last them beyond that timeframe.
Rereading masters = ~22-24 years old, no way you’re not a prospect anymore
IMO, the experience of trying to go after that dream is something that they can ONLY do now.
Consulting will still be around in 2, 5, 10 yrs... but that sporting option will likely be gone instantly if they don't do it NOW.
They can always soccer as a hobby once they are working, but they will never get the professional option later if they pass it now.
Even with it being a low percent success option. It's likely to be an unrepeatable, irreplaceable life experience that they would likely never regret.
regardless, having been a pro athlete are great resume builders later on and a unique experience. I've known a couple of ex pro athletes or olympic ahtletes that went on to thrive im consulting or sales later on. At worst you end up with great stories that every client wants to hear.
I had an outside shot at going pro as a swimmer back in the day (early 00s). The economics are very slightly better today, but outside of the major brand names like Phelps and Ledecky, most swimming pros in the US make mid-5 figures unless they scrape together multiple endorsement deals, clinic income streams, etc. Much of that didn't exist when I had my shot, so I passed on it without a second thought and went straight to white collar work after college.
I can't speak to soccer at all.