Barca Residency Academy 2017-18 U-17 team huddle

Player Insider: Returning to the Player I was

Player Insider: Returning to the Player I was

By: Alexsi Morel

September 6, 2018


My name is Alexsi Morel and I am writing this essay to thank you immensely for allowing me to join the Barca Academy family. The following will consist of my family’s history, my journey to Barca Residency Academy, and my present and future goals.

I am 17 years old coming from a small island off of New York called, Long Island. I was originally born in Queens, one of the five boroughs of New York. My mother and father both come from South America. My father is from Mar Del Plata, Argentina and my mother is from Asuncion, Paraguay. They both grew up in harsh conditions which has motivated me as a young adult and soccer player. They both came to the States in the year 2000, within a year I was born and my brother two years later.

My brother and I both grew up being engulfed in soccer because my parents, especially my father, are fanatics when it comes to the game. His life in Argentina just revolved around family, working at the age of 14 to support his family and playing soccer. He was unable to continue his soccer career due to the fact that he had to work at such a young age. When my dad told me this even at a young kid, it was tough to grasp. What my parents dealt with growing up has motivated me to strive to be the best soccer player I can be and the best person I can be in life. They did not have a childhood everyone should have. Neither did my brother and I but the issues along with the conflicts we both had to deal with growing up has not slowed us down one bit. If anything, it is shaping us into the young men we are becoming. One getaway for me has always been soccer, it provides me peace.

Soccer has been and continues to be a huge part of my life since I was 4 years old learning how to kick a soccer ball to now being 17 years old playing with Barcelona Residency Academy here in Arizona to possibly achieve my dream career and job of becoming a professional soccer player in Europe.

My journey here to has been a very interesting and exciting adventure. I started off by playing with NYCFC Academy for almost 3 years but left due to the fact that I felt like I was not improving as a player. I left to join Barca Academy – New York in Long Island, New York.

I pushed myself within the field of training and the game as well as off the field training by myself or with my brother and father.  My ultimate goal I set out when I joined Barca Academy was to tryout and make the Barca Residency Academy team in Arizona because the team has quality in the players which stood out to me when I found out they placed 3rd place in the USSDA playoffs last season. This showed me that the team has quality with passion because originally at the beginning of the year, I saw how the team was doing and they were in the lower half of the table. To see that the team was able to turn it around and almost win the national championship to me is incredible.

The team I am currently on truly shows their passion and the type of players they are off and on the field which I have been seeking for a long time. The type of environment I am in now is the type I have always wanted to be in. I truly think if I were to grow and improve as a player, I would need to be around soccer every single day evidently and live in the environment as a professional soccer player does. Being in the environment I am currently living in and playing on such a team motivates me because all the players all seek one major goal. To become the best player on the team and on the field. This increases the level of competition in training, pushing one another, holding each other accountable for not working their hardest while others are, and most importantly, working as a unit within the team.

What my present and future goals individual and team goals are, I want to be a leader even considering being one of the new players, to motivate and help my teammates out as they do with me which made me feel very comfortable playing on the team. Ultimately, my goal for the team is to win the national championship while being undefeated the whole year. This goal may seem farfetched but not impossible which is why I believe we can win the National Championship this year as a team.

My personal goals as a player is to get back to where I was two years ago when I was at my highest point in my career with the U-16 U.S. National Team and being one of the best players and a leader like I was on my old team. This is important to me because this is what motivates me to aim for my goal to be where I was but better than before. As I continue to improve on the field as a player, this will allow me to grow physically and mentally stronger with adversity.

Lastly, my true goal is one day to become a professional soccer player in Europe playing in one of the best leagues. These goals are my future and I will do everything in my power to make sure I achieve them, one way or another.

To conclude, I personally want to say thank you to Barca Academy in New York and thank you to Barca Residency Academy here in Arizona. I am very grateful to be a part of the club, team, and family. I will make sure to not have the coaching staff doubt their decision of giving me this opportunity. I intend to work enormously in training, by myself, in the games and academically in school, as well as representing the team back home and here in Arizona with much pride. I know what is at stake and I know that I can majorly benefit from all that is provided to me here. I certainly know what I have to work on to continue becoming better in every training session and game. I am honored and privileged to be here and it for certain will not be for a waste.


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