Around the World with Adit: Yusuf Cueceoglu
When he was jumping around the neighborhood walls and hiding in his neighbor's backyard in his hometown of Cologne, Germany, eight-year-old Yusuf Cueceoglu never thought he would be playing soccer in the United States.
Yusuf said if we were to come and look for him in 2007 to 2008, expect to find him running or biking around his neighborhood with one or all three of his siblings.
Born to parents of two different nationalities, the first interesting fact about Yusuf is that none of his parents are German.
His mother, Sarah, an American citizen, raised him, while his father, Aslan, is Turkish.
But when it comes to soccer, his upbringing is all German.
As a kid growing up in Germany, soccer is a standard game to play in the streets or backyard, but despite that, to truly succeed in the sport, one needs to be more than just playing for fun.
"None of my other siblings get into soccer, or sports in general, even though my father was a high-level wrestler back in the day," Yusuf said.
According to Yusuf, Aslan was one of the top Turkish wrestlers in his age group, and at one point, he made his children try out the sport.
"I tried it and enjoyed wrestling for fun, but it's not really my thing, plus I found out that I have an aptitude in kicking the ball," Yusuf said.
Yusuf described his childhood learning stages "as learning everything with a ball on my feet."
If that is not clear enough, he basically says that he played soccer for as long as he can remember.
His soccer career started at the age of 6 when he joined a small club for a year before moving to the academy team of the current eighth-ranked team in the Bundesliga, F.C. Koln, where he practiced and played for around 10 years.
Being in a big team, Yusuf learned competitiveness at a very young age, and he was grateful for it as he got excellent soccer development training, learned life lessons and built lasting friendships.
"I was with my academy teammates all day, every day for years. I even had classes with some of them," Yusuf said. "We grew together and built bonds that are hard to break. We are family."
If you are not familiar with soccer academies in Germany, Yusuf said F.C. Koln's development program partnered with a local school to provide an efficient system to help their soccer players succeed in academics while chasing their athletic dream.
During that time, Yusuf spent most if not all of his days at and with the academy.
He leaves the house for the first train at 7 a.m. and would arrive at school at 8 a.m. and have classes until 2 p.m.
Then, a bus provided by F.C. Koln would take him to the soccer academy, where he would have an hour of lunch and free time.
Once the clock hits 3 p.m., the players are mandated to finish their homework with the help of tutors provided by the academy. At 5 p.m., soccer practice starts and ends at 7 p.m.
The academy provided rides home by the end of the day.
"(I) was out of the house from 7 a.m. to 8:30, so I was just home for dinner and would go to bed early because I was exhausted," Yusuf said.
It is a structured system that is beneficial for the players, especially since the academy provides meals, commutes and tutors.
But it was not until last his four years in the academy that Yusuf enrolled in the partner school and believe it or not, his busy schedule is, and I'm quoting Yusuf, "easier" than when he enrolled in a non-partner school.
"The teachers (in non-partner schools) don't care and wouldn't work with me," Yusuf said. "They prioritize education, which is understandable, but it is to the point that it's hard for me to take leaves for soccer."
When Yusuf first got called for the under-15 Turkish national team, he was still in a non-partner school, and rather than words of encouragement, some of the teachers were giving unpleasant comments about how he will be missing a lot of classes.
"They were very annoyed by the fact that I will be missing a week of school," he said. "We had to have someone from the team to convince them so I could leave, and even then, when I got back, I was given quite a hard time."
After that incident, Yusuf and his family decided that it would be better to enroll in F.C. Koln's partner school.
Still, the unpleasant experience was eclipsed by Yusuf's pride in having the opportunity to bear the Turkish flag, which he claimed to be the greatest pride an athlete can get.
"You're representing your country doing the sport you love, so I was super happy," Yusuf said.
Yusuf played in multiple friendly games in the national team and almost played in the under-17 FIFA World Cup if not for an injury.
Unfortunately, the under-19 national team did not call him.
At that point, Yusuf had to take a step back move forward.
He realized that it would be hard to get into F.C. Koln's first team, so he decided to go to the smaller local team, Victoria Koln, where he played with their U-19 team.
The plan was to get minutes on the field and establish himself in the lower division before going into the big leagues.
A plan that he said, "almost worked out."
He stayed in Victoria Koln for two years before an agency contacted him bringing up the possibility of going to the U.S.
"It happened very randomly! I've never even thought about going to America," he said.
At the time, Yusuf was on track to play for Victoria Koln's first team, where he could minutes on the field of the fourth-division German league.
He discussed the options with his parents, and to his luck, he has a senior from F.C. Koln academy who went to the U.S.
Yusuf learned of the benefits of playing at the U.S. collegiate level, which convinced him to leave.
In a one-month timeframe since the opportunity presented itself, Yusuf left for Villanova, a decision that Yusuf assumed his parents were grateful for.
"(I think) they never expected me to get a bachelor's degree," he said. "Neither did I!"
As he set foot in the U.S., Yusuf experienced a whole new set of stuff.
In particular, it was the first time he played with older players, and, on top of that, he was amazed at how professional things are done even at the collegiate level.
"It's amazing how much money the institutions put into sports, and since there's only one team for each sport, the coaches can put all their focus on you," he said.
In F.C. Koln academy, there are multiple teams, first-team, under-19, under-17, and development programs.
Another thing that Yusuf appreciates is the genuineness in support of the community.
"Here, when someone gets the player of the week award, the team would be genuinely happy about you, while back home, most of the team would be jealous," he said.
Although he appreciates the positive energy, Yusuf thinks it's a cultural difference as the very nature of the German community is more individualistic on top of having the urgency to be at the top.
He admits that while having a genuinely supportive environment motivates him to contribute as a team member, being away from the individualistic nature of his home team takes away a bit of the competitiveness.
"Having that jealousy pushes us too," he said.
Yusuf should know what he is talking about as he went out of his way to have a taste of playing in three different U.S. college institutions.
After two years in Villanova, he transferred to Portland, which he said he enjoyed playing for.
"Soccer is the main school sport, so they put a lot of attention into us," he said.
Unfortunately, he was injured for his first year at Portland, and COVID hit the second, so he never experienced a full season with the team where he earned his bachelor's degree in economics.
Although he could have stayed, he would not finish his master's due to COVID year.
When he worked with Portland's head coach, Nick Carlin-Voigt, to find a school where he could transfer get his master's degree, they connected with coach Bryheem Hancock from UTRGV.
Yusuf decided that his best move was to be a Vaquero.
He said experiencing three different schools is interesting in that he was able to experience the different ways schools treat their athletes depending on what sport they focus on, and he is glad he now plays and is working on his master's in MBA at UTRGV.
Throughout his years in the U.S., Yusuf said he became better at building relationships.
"I am still really close with the teammates from Villanova, with who I was only a year with," he said.
He realized that he had become a more open person and recognized that it made him a better person.
His current task at hand is fighting for a spot in the WAC Championship tournament with UTRGV but after graduating he is looking is to break into a professional league.
He has his eyes set on Major League Soccer but said he doesn't care where he ends up if he can play soccer professionally.
