Professional – Authentically Ady

What a Professional Soccer Player Does in their Free Time

I don’t mean to brag, but I have the best job in the world. It’s obviously not like your typical 9-5 job because there are only so many hours in the day that you can physically train. So a typical “work day” of training for me takes about 5-6 hours of my day, leaving the rest of my time to rest and recover. I’m very fortunate that I am not in school anymore or working a second job, so when I am not training, I can fully relax and do activities that I really enjoy.

It was definitely a change of pace from the grind of being a student-athlete in college, where having free time throughout the week was nearly impossible with all the school work, practices, and other jobs/priorities. It didn’t take me too long to adjust to this type of living (I know, tough transition!), but I did have to create new hobbies and interests so I wasn’t wasting all my free time by scrolling on my phone or binge-watching Netflix all day. Don’t get me wrong, I still love my Netflix shows, and my roomies and I will typically watch a show together every night, but I do try and be somewhat productive during the day. So, here are some of the hobbies and activities that have become a big part of my life and have kept me busy since playing abroad:

Hanging with teammates! The best part about being on a team is forming tight friendships that can last a lifetime. You spend so much time together, that teammates you just met feel like friends you have known your entire life. On Xolos, my teammates and I love exploring Mexico and San Diego – going to the beaches, eating at new restaurants and cafes, exploring new towns, and going on little trips when we have days off are some of our favorite activities!

Writing. Growing up, writing in school was something I did not enjoy and I never in a million years imagined that I would start writing for fun. But here I am, journaling almost every day, and writing this blog because I truly enjoy it! Writing has become a part of my daily routine. I started journaling when I lived in Spain because the experience was so incredible that I didn’t want to forget anything about that experience. I then decided to create this blog while living in Serbia because I thought it would be interesting to share a bit of my life and the things I’ve learned through my experiences abroad. Now I’ve somehow accumulated 3 different journals (one for personal use, soccer, and my health), this blog, and a Spanish notebook that keep me busy writing all day lol. Typically after practice, my roommates and I make a coffee or matcha, then sit on our balcony and journal. It’s quite a lovely post-practice ritual.

Coffee Shops. Coffee culture is so popular in Europe and in Mexico! There are cute cafes on almost every street, so there are endless places to choose from. Trying new spots around town and chilling at cafes with teammates and friends is a bi-weekly activity. My teammates and I try a new cafe every week and there are still thousands of cafes in Tijuana that we haven’t yet discovered!

Watching Soccer. I try and watch as much soccer on tv as possible, not only because I love it, but I also learn so much from it! From watching and analyzing the teams in my league to watching the Premier League, Laliga, Laliga MX, and all the major tournaments going on around the world, there’s always a game going on! When you love this sport as much as I do, you really can’t get enough of it. There’s nothing like chilling and watching the best in the world play. Here’s what a typical afternoon looks like for me – recovery boots and some futbol!

Painting. I’ve always been creative and love having an artistic outlet. Painting has been a hobby I’ve enjoyed since I was a little girl. I love playing music and just letting the paintbrush flow. It’s like a type of meditation for me and helps take my mind off soccer or other stresses. Now that I have more free time, I’ve picked up my paintbrushes again and have been painting up a storm! Here are some of my latest works of art lol! Side note: If anyone wants to pay for an “Ady original”, let me know because ya girl needs a little extra side income.

Reading. I’m proud to say that I now love to read. Like writing, reading was another one of those things that I felt forced to do while in school and you could hardly ever catch me doing it in my free time. Now, I have a long list of books on my notes page of must-reads, so the second I finish a book, I pick up a new one the next day. Lately, I’ve been super into “self-help” books about mindset, sports psychology, and entertaining fiction reads. There is so much that I’ve learned through these books which have helped me on and off the field. Here are some of my favorite books I’ve just finished and highly recommend:

Listening to Podcasts and Audiobooks. Listening to different podcasts and audiobooks while doing chores around the house has been a game-changerrrrr! It really makes the not so fun parts of my day actually enjoyable. You can always find me listening to my favorite podcasters Jay Shetty and Mel Robbinson if I need a little motivation or inspiration. If I need a laugh, I’ll be listening to my favorite comedians and actors on the podcasts: Whisky Ginger, Smartless, Bad Friends, and King and the Sting.

When I’m not at the field or in the gym, these activities are typically what I am up to! It’s a pretty sweet life and I can truly say that my life off the field brings me just as much happiness as being on the field. If you guys are interested in me filming “a day in the life” video to actually see what a typical day is like, then let me know in the comments! Until then, I hope you guys enjoyed this little blog, and as always, thanks for reading!

How to Get Over a Bad Game

I’ve had my fair share of really tough losses and horrible games. Losses where we have gotten destroyed and it’s absolutely embarrassing. And I’ve made terrible mistakes that have resulted in goals. Especially as a defender, you feel 100% to blame for it all. It’s the hardest part of the position. One mistake can result in a goal that gives up your lead or causes a loss.

As a professional, this is my livelihood. So, it’s hard not to get stressed out over a bad game. But obviously stressing can do more damage that leads you to lose your confidence and more bad games. So how do you flip a switch after a bad game? How do you not lose your confidence? How do you emotionally overcome the embarrassment of mistakes and the feeling of letting down your teammates and fans?

Let me tell ya, it’s not easy. This season has been a hugeeeee challenge for me. I have made some major errors, and have learned the hard way how to not these mistakes affect me. Unfortunately, I’ve let these mistakes get to my head and have suffered from lots of negative self-talk which destroyed my confidence. It’s been difficult digging myself out of this hole, but here are some things I now implement into my post-game routine and daily life that help build my confidence, even after a shitty game:

Do not look at social media! After a bad match, DO NOT read the comments on Instagram or Twitter. I repeat, DO NOT read the comments. I’ve made this mistake before and it truly will destroy your confidence in .5 seconds. After a big loss, I will delete my social media apps to bite the curiosity of reading people’s reviews and hate comments about my playing. I usually keep them deleted for a few days until posts have died down and I know I won’t be seeing anything about the game anymore, or am emotionally ready if I do see a mean DM or comment.
Game Analysis and Journaling. Right after the game or the next day after, I analyze my own game film and journal about it. I will write down every error I made, and how I could have made a better decision. This turns my mistakes into learning lessons. These mistakes will only make me a better player if I learn from them. I also write about how I felt mentally during the game. How was I feeling? How was my confidence? How did my confidence shift throughout the game if I made a mistake or had an excellent play? How were my energy levels? How was my pregame routine?… All these questions help me asses my mental game and how it contributed to my playing. After watching game film and journaling, I am able to stop replaying my errors over in my head which helps me move on faster.
Positive Self-Talk. You are talking to yourself constantly throughout the day and unknowingly, all these thoughts have an impact on your play and life in general. Having positive self-talk is something that I really struggle with. This season, my negative self-talk took over my game. In my head, I thought that I didn’t deserve to be a starter because my mistakes made me a bad player. I also told myself that the new center defenders were automatically better than me because of their previous stats and records, even though I was considered one of the top defenders in the league last season. And guess what…? My level of play decreased immensely, and I stopped being in the starting lineup. I literally self-sabotaged myself with negative self-talk. So how am I changing these negative thoughts? Being aware of your thoughts is the first step. I have been taking note of what I’m saying to myself on and off the field. Being aware when my thoughts are negative allows me to flip them to something positive faster and understand why I’m thinking that way. I’ve also realized that I need to hype myself up constantly, especially when I am playing. For example, I am constantly saying things like: “I am confident”, “I am a beast”, “I am going to kill it at practice today”, and “I am going to give everything I got when I go in”. When I am continuously feeding myself these positive affirmations, there is little time for the negativity to creep in!
Meditation. Meditation has become a part of my daily routine I started to help understand myself on a deeper level. I have found that meditation especially helps me get into the present moment, let go of the past, worry less about the future, and heighten my feelings of gratefulness. This has helped with the mental aspect of soccer because, through this, I’m able to shift my mindset quicker from dwelling over a bad game to focusing on the present moment. There’s nothing I can change about the past, but I can change how I feel in the present moment about a specific situation.
Love the game. Win or lose, good game or bad game, I absolutely love this sport and playing brings me so much joy. It’s one of my favorite things to do in this life. So, even after tough games, I can truly say I loved playing out there every time. I may feel pain, embarrassment, and even heartbreak at times, but no matter what, playing will always be fun for me. Remembering at the end of the day that– this is just a sport that I love doing– helps relieve any pressure that I am feeling.
Go into the next week of practices with fire. I use the loss or my mistakes as motivation to go into training ready to give it my all. 100% concentrated on the next opponent. Going in with no fear of making mistakes. Because mistakes are how you learn, and confidence is the willingness to try, even if you failed before.

Every player goes through lows in their career. It is almost impossible to be at the peak of your game at all times. Learning how to push through the lows and keep a positive mindset is not easy. I hope some of my tips help any player that is also being challenged mentally in their sport. Feel free to message me if you have any questions or would like to share any other tips you may have! Thanks all for reading once again<3.

From Serbia to Mexico

A lot of changes have happened in the past 6 months! It’s been a crazy rollercoaster of traveling, adventures, and of course… fútbol! My season in Serbia ended in early June 2022. We finished 3rd in the Serbian Superliga and made it to the semi-finals of the Serbian Cup. Overall, I had an incredible time in Serbia, but I knew I would not return for another season. I believed I needed to move to a different country with a more competitive league to grow as a player. So I left Serbia, not knowing what country I would play in next, but very confident that something would work out!

Before I returned to the United States, my brother and I decided to meet in Greece for a little vacation. Serbia is so close to Greece and Dan was heading to his study abroad program in Italy, so we could not think of a better meeting place to reunite! Because Dan and I are both broke, we knew we couldn’t afford a real vacation in Greece. So we signed up with this program called WWOOF (WorldWide Opportunities on Farms) that connected us with a family in Kiato, Greece who needed help tending to their farm. Basically, we worked on their property and in return got free accommodations and food during our stay! We worked about 5 hours a day, de-rusting and painting a big fence that gated their property and tending to their garden. The rest of the day we had free to adventure around the beautiful little beach city of Kiato and spend some quality time laying by the sea. We also made a trip to Athens on our last day there and toured the Acropolis and other incredible sites. It was such a fun trip! I highly recommend doing WWOOF if you’re looking for a unique and more personal experience while traveling or want to save some money and don’t mind getting your hands dirty!

After our Greece trip, I returned home to Santa Barbara where I began training and working hard to get recruited to a new team. I was invited to play in a game for a WPSL semi-pro team from Los Angeles called Elite. They were scrimmaging a team called Xolos from Tijuana, Mexico. It turned out that the team from Mexico was looking to recruit center defenders (my position)! So when I confirmed playing in this scrimmage, the Xolos coaches and staff were notified so they could pay close attention to my playing. For some reason, I knew that I would play really well in this scrimmage and that I would end up playing for this team in Mexico. I had offers from other professional teams, but I had a different feeling about this team that I couldn’t explain– even before the scrimmage ever happened.

Turns out my gut instinct was correct! I played well during the scrimmage and impressed the Xolos team enough to offer me a paid contract for a year. So two weeks later in early July, I moved to Tijuana, Mexico where I have been playing since! It was very difficult trying to explain to my family why I was choosing to move to Tijuana, Mexico to play. After all, it is one of the most dangerous cities in the world… but I had to trust my intuition that this was going to be the best decision for my soccer career. And so far it has been! It has been so incredibly fun playing on this team and in the LaLiga MX. The fan base is incredible, the stadiums are insane, and the media coverage is worldwide. I feel like I have finally made it as a professional athlete.

We finished our 2022 season in November, placing 5th in the league (out of 18 teams) and making it to the quarterfinals of playoffs. I had a really great season and played every game in its entirety! I’m bummed we didn’t make it farther in playoffs but I am already looking forward to the 2023 season starting at the beginning of January.

Currently, my team is in pre-season gearing up for our 2023 season. Playing in the Mexican league is quite a whirlwind being year-round, and only having 3 weeks off in between seasons. There’s not much time to rest or switch off, but I’m loving the grind.

I hope to give ya’ll more updates and posts about my experiences in Mexico. I have been really lagging on writing lately and I apologize for that! Thanks for reading my little life update and I’ll be back with more content soon <3.

How I Started Playing Overseas

So how the heck did I end up playing abroad? Well… this is how it started!

I graduated from California State University, Los Angeles in December 2019 where I played NCAA Division II soccer. I had a really successful last two seasons and was not ready to end my career there. I knew I had not reached my full potential and wanted to continue playing.

I had always dreamed of living in a foreign country. I have many friends who studied abroad in college and many friends from around the world who have come to America to study. Everyone who’s experienced this has told me how incredible it was. Unfortunately, because I was playing college soccer I was never able to do a study abroad program because we trained year-round.

I had traveled to different countries before for vacations and really fell in love with traveling and exploring new places. This was only a taste of what it was like to live in a different country, and I always craved more!

Because of my love for travel and desire to continue my soccer career, my goal was to combine the two and play abroad! The only problem was… I had no idea how.

After my college senior year season ended, I talked to my coach about wanting to play overseas. He helped send out my highlight tape to one or two international teams (I don’t even remember where or who they were), but they didn’t reach back out.

I moved back to my parent’s home in Santa Barbara after I graduated in December 2019, and started working as a caregiver at Valle Verde Retirement Community and as a soccer coach for Santa Barbara Soccer Shots. I was applying to nursing schools and even got accepted into Western University’s Accelerated Masters Program. I also joined a new WPSL (adult women’s league) soccer team that had just started in Santa Barbara called Alta Sol. I was overall really happy, but I was still thinking about playing abroad 24/7.

When COVID-19 hit, the WPSL team had to terminate the season and my main focus was working at the retirement community, trying to keep my clients safe and healthy. Playing soccer was put in the back of my mind at this time.

Until… In May 2020 I got a random direct message on Instagram from the FC Malaga City Instagram page saying they were an international soccer academy in Spain starting a new women’s program and looking for talented players to recruit.

It seemed way too good to be true. This dream opportunity just slid into my DMs! I thought it was a scam. Although I had no real expectations of something coming of this, I decided I had nothing to lose and planned a phone call with the recruiter who contacted me.

He definitely sold me. The pictures he sent of Almuñe´car, Spain (the city I would be living in), the fields and facilities, “La Casa Roja” (the villa I would be living in)… it all looked like something out of a movie. Actual heaven. But of course, there was a catch…

… I had to PAY to play there. I of course was hoping I would be the one GETTING paid. But, because this was an academy team with its focus on exposure and development to get its players recruited to Spanish professional teams, it was not considered a professional team.

The money was a hard pill to swallow, but I decided I would commit to playing for 3-months which was all I could afford. I couldn’t pass by on this opportunity and this was the exact adventure I was looking for.

So on August 17th, 2020 I hopped on a plane to Spain during the heart of COVID, to a brand new team and crazy adventure…

Fast forward to July 2021… I had just gotten home from Spain when I received a text from my old college teammate, Leslie. She recently got in contact with a recruiter to play overseas and was wondering if I wanted to also send him over my highlight tape. I said “of course” but I didn’t think anything would come of it since I have not had the best luck in the past. But within a couple of days of me sending him my highlights, the recruiter found a team in Serbia called ŽFK Mašina´c Trace in the 1st Division SuperLiga that wanted to sign us immediately.

I was torn between going back to Spain and going to Serbia. I absolutely loved Spain and had my mind set on going back. However, this Serbia opportunity offered me monthly payments, food, housing, and plane flight reimbursements. In addition, ŽFK Mašina´c Trace is one of the top teams in Serbia, finishing first or second in their league for many years in a row!

After a couple of days of thinking I decided I had nothing to lose by going to Serbia! It would be a crazy new adventure, I would definitely improve my level of play, and I would be doing it with my 3 old college teammates! And if worse came to worse, I could always rejoin my team in Spain.

So, two weeks later I reunited with my old college teammates, Leslie, Kim, and Jazz in the LAX airport and we started our Serbian adventure!