News

To get to know me I think it is important to understand my biggest failure, yet biggest achievement – and how this has shaped my life and bought me to where I am now.

As a child, teenager, young adult, I strived to be a professional soccer player. I had a ball at my feet wherever I went (I luckily had supportive parents who didn’t mind a broken window or two along the track). I loved all sport and would play all kinds of games for hours in the backyard before and after school; but soccer held a special place in my heart. Whether this was because of the love and passion my father had towards it (and in turn instilled upon me) or an internal passion, it is difficult to tell.  In 1994, I was lucky enough to go watch the World Cup in the USA, this experience ignited the passion even further. I remember staying in a resort in Florida and playing football with some Brazilian boys I had met, they thought I was really good (when a person from Brazil thinks you're good at soccer, that should be the ultimate compliment) but I wasn’t driven by other’s perception of me: I just loved the game.

With a birthday late in December and being a bit of a late bloomer, I was always the smallest kid in my team, but this didn’t faze me. At 15, I moved to England, alone, to pursue my professional career (my father had critical health complications at the time and my mother had to care for him and my younger siblings, 1 and 8 at the time). The club I went to was Barnsley Football Club, which is a small club in South Yorkshire in the North of England. It was a complete eye-opener in all facets of life. When I arrived at the football club I remember thinking everyone is being really nice and welcoming. Then as soon as we stepped out onto the field it was like someone had flicked a switch and the monster within was unleashed, a boy who was being friendly and chatty with me in the change room was soon flying into tackles against me, elbowing me, telling me he was going to hurt me, pulling my shirt anything in his power to get the ball, and this was just a training session.  Welcome to the world of professional football. This was serious business / life and death for English kids. It is every boy/man for himself and you either stand up and hold your ground or you are chewed up and sent packing. I managed to earn my stripes over the next few months and earn a schoolboy contract to play a season with Barnsley Football Club.

Barnsley, at the time, was in the English Premier League (EPL), so I played against other U/17 EPL teams such as Liverpool, Newcastle United, Leeds United, Middlesbrough, Sunderland just to name a few. It was an experience of a lifetime and I remember playing Leeds and meeting Harry Kewell at their training ground which was a real highlight. But as I was to find out, football can be a brutal game.

As an introvert, the new environment without my family was detrimental to my confidence and I struggled to perform at the most important times – whilst I was identified as a very promising young player, I was unable to cope with the pressure during pivotal trials or scouting opportunities and as a result I narrowly missed out on a continued professional career in England (meanwhile my housemate and close friend, Rory Fallon, went on to a successful international career, playing in World Cups and captaining his country).

Despite some hard times in England, I managed to impress a college scout from America and I won a full scholarship to the University of Kentucky in USA, where some of my fondest memories were made. University sport in America is huge with games being televised live on TV and huge endorsement deals with some of the biggest brands in the world. Kentucky Basketball is an institution and I regularly attended games with around 25 thousand fans. The soccer team was on the improve and were looking to qualify for the NCAA tournament. I had a very successful time in the USA earning lots of honours and I was acclaimed as one of the top collegiate players in USA. After university in America I was scouted and trialled with Chicago Fire, a professional MLS club. The trial was highly successful and I managed to secure a professional contract to play. Unfortunately, homesickness, and a feeling of “second best” (having not been successful in England) led me to turn up on my parents door one day, having turned down a professional USA Soccer career.

Returning to Australia, I played in the NSW and SA Premier Leagues, where I was awarded the Sergio Melta medal (best player in the league in SA). In 2010 I started my junior coaching career, which included running my own soccer academy, technical director for a Premier League club with 250+ juniors, running a school-based soccer program and FFSA talent identification and elite coaching. 

Throughout my years as a footballer I have been told by many I should have made it: and I know, in myself, that the only person holding me back was myself. Whilst I sometimes think “…what if?”, I live life without regrets as had I not taken the life path I have, I would not have ended up here in such a supportive community, with a wonderful wife and two young boys who bring more joy to my life than anything (particularly when they have a ball at their feet!).

I think my experiences of failure, success and the demands of aspiring towards professional sportsmanship have shaped me into the teacher I am today. My passion towards teaching grew from soccer coaching over the years and a want to do more for youth, to be more influential in their life; and what better way than in the classroom. As a PE and Psychology Teacher, I am able to impart on students what I wish I had known in school and hopefully assist them in becoming resilient, goal-oriented individuals capable of reaching their own aspirations in life, without barriers. In the school ethos, to “let their light shine”.

Nathan Fleetwood

CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO NEWSLETTER