Physically Strong;Mentally Weak(but this can improve)

It is an interesting time in the athletic world right now. We see athletes playing at levels never before seen and training in situations that are both physically and psychologically more demanding when compared to years past. Players and parents are spending thousands of hours and thousands of dollars traveling to and from practice, to and from games (this includes locally and out of state) and to and from private training sessions all to be "the best". But what are we doing to ensure our athletes are taking as serious an approach to their mental health and ability to persevere? What are we doing to help with their ability to problem solve and deal with not only success, but failure? We are doing to promote dedication and drive?

In the coming paragraphs, I am sharing a story written by an athlete of mine that is one of the most dedicated, driven, motivated and nicest dudes you will meet. He had his struggles and was told no over and over again. He was told to work harder and maybe "next year". He fought and trained harder than most would when given the amount of "no thanks" he received over the years. He held true to his beliefs and trusted the process, that I and many of the other confidants he trusted, told he to do and he worked. Physically and mentally he did the work.

Here is his story.

Since I was a little kid, my biggest passion was soccer and one day playing professional soccer. I grew up playing club soccer on the CCV 97 boys team and was one of the captains of the team. From our club team, five of us ended up playing professional soccer. Safe to say, our team was very talented. After playing in the Real Salt Lake academy, living away from home at 16 years old, and joining the USA U18 Men’s National Team, I committed to playing soccer at Creighton University in Nebraska.

To many this is the beginning of what should be considered as success. Read on.

For those who don’t know, the Creighton Men’s soccer team at the time was one of the best soccer programs in NCAA Division I soccer. We would get about 5,000 fans a game just to watch us play. My goal was to play four years at Creighton, get drafted to an MLS team and begin my pro career at 22. Safe to say, God had other plans. My first two years at Creighton, I only started two games. I always came off the bench and had to accept that I was not a starter. My freshman year I failed fitness tests and that set me back a bit. I heard a rumor that if I didn’t pass the next fitness test, I would be kicked off the team. Whether it was true or not, I focused on my sleep and diet more than ever during this time. I passed the fitness test and ended up playing about  20-30 minutes a game. I had to accept my role as a Freshman and understand that the Seniors in my soccer position are older and more favored. Even though I believed I was just as good, if not better than the starters in my position, I had to prove myself everyday on the field and in the gym.

Not the first of many challenges Evan faced. How did he approach it? Keep reading.

A month into the college season, I got a call to join the USA Men’s National Team for a tournament in Germany. I left college for two weeks while I competed against the U20 Germany, Scotland and Mexico National Teams. Each game I was a starter and played between 65-70 minutes against professional players that play on the best teams in the world. After this experience, I came back to Creighton to finish out the season and remained a bench player. I thought to myself, “How can I be a starter for my country and one of the best 11 players in the U.S. for my age, but I can’t be a starter on my college team in Nebraska?”. At the time it was very frustrating, but I continued to prove the coach wrong and worked as hard as I could. I went from possibly getting kicked off my college team to playing in Germany with the US National Team all within a month. I knew that I can’t give up no matter how hard it got, and that’s where mental toughness kicks in. After two years at Creighton, I made the decision to transfer to Grand Canyon University in hopes of a lot of playing time and to become a professional soccer player. Those two years at Creighton taught me many things such as perseverance, always being fit for fitness tests and a work ethic I had to improve on to reach my goals. In the end, the two senior midfielders that I was competing against never made it to the professional level while I did a year later, respectively.

Evan attacked. He put his mind, body and spirit to the test.

I joined the GCU Men’s soccer team and waited nine months for the season to start. Our first two games were in Nebraska, and our second game was against my old college, Creighton University. All year I was looking forward to this match and to beat my old team, but unfortunately first game of the season I broke a bone in my foot and had to get surgery. I was devastated. I couldn’t play against my old team, and I couldn’t play soccer for two months. I was a junior in college and I truly believed that this was going to be my year to shine. The college soccer season is only 2-3 months, so I only played about four games that season. During this time, I prayed and had to trust that this was part of God’s plan for whatever reason. Right before the season started , I was training with a professional soccer team, Phoenix Rising. After one week of training, the coaches wanted me to leave college early and start my pro career. In three years of playing college soccer, I was a starter only 4 times.

A step forward and a step back, but how did Evan deal with adversity? Read on.

At the time, my goal was to play my senior year and try to play in MLS. After much thought, I knew I might not ever get this opportunity again and I didn’t want to wait 9 more months for the college season to start again. I decided to sign my first professional contract with Phoenix Rising when I was 20 years old and became the hometown kid representing my city and playing with Didier Drogba, Champions League winner.  I finished my senior year of college online while I began my first professional season. In my opinion, the injury on my foot at GCU was one of the best things to happen to me, I just didn’t know it at the time.

My first few years of professional soccer were difficult, but I was staying positive and enjoying every second of it. I had to adjust to the change from college to pro level and realize that my body is what makes me money in this industry. After Phoenix, I played professionally in California to get more playing time and reach my life long goal of joining a team in Europe. Europe is known to be the best soccer continent in the world, and since I was 11 years old my goal was always to play professionally in Europe. Unfortunately, COVID happened and a week before it happened I tore my meniscus in practice. I had to wait about three months to get surgery since hospitals were only taking COVID patients out in California. As I recovered and finished the season, the next couple years I stayed in California and then joined a team in New York.

Measured success. What could go wrong now? Evan addresses the next challenges head-on..

By 2023 before I played in Australia , I was about six months without a team. Before 2022, I was about 8 months without a team. After Australia, I was 10 months without a team. During these times, I had to stay disciplined and continue to train on my own and stay strict with my diet. I had offers, but I chose to decline and stay faithful that God will make something even better occur. I knew I couldn’t give up and had to keep working to reach my goal of playing in Europe. I’ve always had a deep feeling that I would play and live in Europe, I just didn’t know when. During the first 6 years of my pro career, I went on a tryout with teams in Portugal, Bosnia and Finland in hopes of finally achieving my goal and playing in Europe. All the teams I went on trial said no to me, despite me playing extremely well. Since I didn’t have a European passport, there’s only so many non European spots a team has. Despite all the no’s from teams in Europe and in the U.S., I knew I was good enough and I believed in myself. My confidence in my soccer ability has never declined after all these years. I continued to train and kept reaching out to teams all over the world. My parents and now wife were always supportive of my goals, which helped me greatly.

In the professional soccer world, it’s all about your connections and who you know. I’ve had coaches from when I was in college end up being my coach in the professional world. I never burnt any bridges with coaches and always ended things on a positive note. In 2024, after reaching out to many contacts, I ended up joining a team in Andorra which is a small country in Europe. I finally achieved one of my biggest goals at the age of 27. I finally got a team and coach in Europe that believes in me. I’ve reached out to thousands of teams in Europe with no responses or simple declines, but all it takes is one person to believe in you and I am grateful I was given a chance and I connected with the right person. I am a regular starter and the team and coaches view me as one of the best players on the team, respectfully. I am writing this while I live in a small town in Spain that’s about 10 minutes from Andorra. We are about one win away from promotion to First Division and winning the league and possibly competing to play in Champions League and Europa League next year.

Trust the process. Put in the work. Believe in yourself and grow both physically and mentally.

Despite all the coaches that didn’t believe in me, the setbacks, the injuries and all that happened, I remained dedicated to reaching my goals and getting 1% better everyday. I believe I have always had the soccer talent, but I had to work harder than others and gain more athleticism and focus on my weaknesses. My hard work plus my talent helped me achieve many great things so far. I remember when I was about 11 years old I was training with Coach Chris and he was helping me improve my running form and athleticism. Great times with a great person that knows his stuff and helped me tremendously growing up.

For those of you who have big goals and are finding it difficult, continue to work hard and don’t give up. I could have given up years ago when things got difficult, but my passion and love for soccer was so big I couldn’t let myself quit. I had something to prove not just to others, but prove to myself that I can do it. My goal is to play professional soccer until I’m at least 35 years old, so I got at least 8 more years of working hard and achieving more goals, God willing!

Thanks for reading.

Evan Waldrep

I recently had the pleasure of catching up with Evan while he was in town (Phoenix, Arizona) as he joined our training sessions with the ECNL Boys team that I assist with. He was more than willing to share his story in the hopes it remind others that it takes more than just being good with the ball at your feet. It takes being able to be beaten down and keep going. It takes putting in the work to get stronger and faster. It takes making changes to your diet knowing that it will make the difference in your performance, no matter that you don't like your veggies. It takes humbling moments to remind that your goals are not yet reached and that you need to keep going. It takes keeping the people that you trust close and distractions far away. It takes both physical AND mental strength to be successful. There will be setbacks and injuries and you will hear more than your fair share of "no". Will you keep going? Will you be willing to do whatever it takes to reach your goals?

A huge thank you to Evan for taking the time to share your story and for including me/us in your journey. We watch from a far and cheer loudly for all your success and pray that God continues to keep you healthy and want you to know that as you have been part of this family in the past, you are always part of THE ELITELEVEL PT family.

Sincerely,

Chris O'Donnell, P.T, CAFS, Cert. DN, Cert. COWC, Cert. CSAC, Cert SPC,