- In Archive
- 2013-02-13 15:32:50
- 382 Views
Still complaining that you have a lot of studies, mean professors, tons of papers and no leisure time for yourselves? You should definitely be ashamed because,as it turns out, there are students who manage to combine their tedious studies with professional careers as soccer players.That’s right. Meet Sultan Eraliev and Gennady Solovey, two first-year students at AUBG from Kyrgyzstan and Russia, who decided to devote their time mainly to education and their biggest passion - soccer.
[caption id="attachment_11544" align="alignright" width="136" caption="Sultan Eraliev 's personal archive"]
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Having played soccer since early childhood, both Sultan and Gennady made the decision to focus on their studies and acquire a degree at AUBG. Nevertheless, this does not mean that soccer is out of the way as Sultan is currently playing for the Blagoevgrad youth team Pirin and Gennady is training with the team regularly until he officially becomes a part of it. “In my new team everybody tries to help me and respects me. I am doing well with my teammates and they already invited me to a party to have some fun together,” Sultan said. This means that both guys train for two hours every day except the weekends. “ It’s not difficult. I just show my schedule to my coach and it’s all fine,” Sultan said.
As Gennady explained, the team has a very flexible training schedule since they offer two training sessions a day - in the morning and in the afternoon. “It’s pretty flexible and you can choose which one is more comfortable for you,” Gennady said.
[caption id="attachment_11545" align="alignleft" width="168" caption="Gennady Solovey's Personal Archive"]
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These guys’ passionate devotion to the sport is only natural considering their background. Gennady’s father, who was a professional hockey player, is also very much interested in soccer. Encouraged by his parents, Gennady started playing at the age of seven. By the time he was eight he had already started playing mini soccer on a contract. When he decided to go on a big field he had been playing for six years. Later, he ended up playing for two years for Dynamo in Saint Petersburg - a professional league team.
For Sultan, on the other hand, soccer started with simply playing with his friends, some of whom are professional soccer players. Eventually, after having played for eight years in various teams, he was offered a contract by a professional Kyrgyz team. Despite Sultan’s love and devotion to the sport however, he decided that education is more important for him and declined the offer.
Now that they are already at AUBG, focusing on their studies and training at the same time, Sultan and Gennady have mixed feelings about their future. Sultan does not really plan to continue developing his sports career. He plans to play for Pirin for the next four years and then continue with whatever his acquired degree will offer. “I will continue to play with friends. I will not play professionally, but I will play,” Sultan said. Gennady, on the other hand, is not quite sure yet. In his younger years he was determined to concentrate mainly on his future as a soccer player. But his mother, who had always been advising him to study, managed to convince him that “it is better to play safe”. According to Gennady, soccer is a risky business because “players can injure themselves and not be able to play anymore, so it’s better to get a degree and be safe.” Nevertheless, Gennady has not given up the possibility of playing professional soccer completely: “There are different opportunities, people start playing at 22 -25," he said, "we also have a chance.”
[caption id="attachment_11546" align="alignright" width="279" caption="Gennady Solovey's personal archive"]
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After spending a semester at AUBG, both Sultan and Gena do not regret their decision to come and study here. They have even chosen their majors - Sultan is most probably going to go for Business Administration and Economics, and Gennady is into Political Science and History. Though their views about AUBG are slightly different - Gennady sees some problems at AUBG which need to be worked on, while Sultan feels perfectly happy about everything that the University has to offer - they both agree that soccer is their favorite occupation.
“I would say that it really helps me forget about all my problems. It makes me feel really relaxed and it’s like a totally different dimension,” Gennady said.
[/caption]
Having played soccer since early childhood, both Sultan and Gennady made the decision to focus on their studies and acquire a degree at AUBG. Nevertheless, this does not mean that soccer is out of the way as Sultan is currently playing for the Blagoevgrad youth team Pirin and Gennady is training with the team regularly until he officially becomes a part of it. “In my new team everybody tries to help me and respects me. I am doing well with my teammates and they already invited me to a party to have some fun together,” Sultan said. This means that both guys train for two hours every day except the weekends. “ It’s not difficult. I just show my schedule to my coach and it’s all fine,” Sultan said.
As Gennady explained, the team has a very flexible training schedule since they offer two training sessions a day - in the morning and in the afternoon. “It’s pretty flexible and you can choose which one is more comfortable for you,” Gennady said.
[caption id="attachment_11545" align="alignleft" width="168" caption="Gennady Solovey's Personal Archive"]
[/caption]
These guys’ passionate devotion to the sport is only natural considering their background. Gennady’s father, who was a professional hockey player, is also very much interested in soccer. Encouraged by his parents, Gennady started playing at the age of seven. By the time he was eight he had already started playing mini soccer on a contract. When he decided to go on a big field he had been playing for six years. Later, he ended up playing for two years for Dynamo in Saint Petersburg - a professional league team.
For Sultan, on the other hand, soccer started with simply playing with his friends, some of whom are professional soccer players. Eventually, after having played for eight years in various teams, he was offered a contract by a professional Kyrgyz team. Despite Sultan’s love and devotion to the sport however, he decided that education is more important for him and declined the offer.
Now that they are already at AUBG, focusing on their studies and training at the same time, Sultan and Gennady have mixed feelings about their future. Sultan does not really plan to continue developing his sports career. He plans to play for Pirin for the next four years and then continue with whatever his acquired degree will offer. “I will continue to play with friends. I will not play professionally, but I will play,” Sultan said. Gennady, on the other hand, is not quite sure yet. In his younger years he was determined to concentrate mainly on his future as a soccer player. But his mother, who had always been advising him to study, managed to convince him that “it is better to play safe”. According to Gennady, soccer is a risky business because “players can injure themselves and not be able to play anymore, so it’s better to get a degree and be safe.” Nevertheless, Gennady has not given up the possibility of playing professional soccer completely: “There are different opportunities, people start playing at 22 -25," he said, "we also have a chance.”
[caption id="attachment_11546" align="alignright" width="279" caption="Gennady Solovey's personal archive"]
[/caption]
After spending a semester at AUBG, both Sultan and Gena do not regret their decision to come and study here. They have even chosen their majors - Sultan is most probably going to go for Business Administration and Economics, and Gennady is into Political Science and History. Though their views about AUBG are slightly different - Gennady sees some problems at AUBG which need to be worked on, while Sultan feels perfectly happy about everything that the University has to offer - they both agree that soccer is their favorite occupation.
“I would say that it really helps me forget about all my problems. It makes me feel really relaxed and it’s like a totally different dimension,” Gennady said.