Through the offering of the Serie A Elite program, I was able to move to Rome, living my dream life in Europe as an aspiring and competitive soccer, as well as a scholar of sports and the Italian language, culture and everyday life. There was nothing more I wanted than to be in Europe, playing soccer and viewing the wide world as it is. I can’t say enough how thankful I am.

“For me this camp and program represented a path for my dreams in soccer. I want to live the sport and see where it takes me. The Serie A Elite camp was the perfect opportunity to showcase in front of experienced coaches and I am happy to have the opportunity to play in Rome. I expect ups and downs throughout the season. I know there will be times when I need to dig deep but I hope to grow as a player and learn as much as I can from the experience of the players and coaches around me. It’s exciting to be a part of this new project, I can’t think of many similar programs and it’s surreal to be in the middle of it all. There’s a lot of nervous energy and a lot of excitement, the emotions are high but full of hope.” Liam Ver Meer attended Serie A Elite ID camp, then Summer Experience where he received an offer to join our Gap Year program where he can focus on his soccer development while taking college credits.

Matthew attended Serie A Elite ID camp, then invited to Serie A Experience and now moved to Rome to join our Prep Academy where he combines education with soccer. Reason for choosing: After attending the Serie A Experience, I realized moving to Italy was the right choice to develop into the best I can be. Attending Rome City Prep Academy gives me an opportunity to play the sport that I love, in the country that I’ve always dreamed of playing in. Expectations: I expect from this new journey to develop as a player and person and get the European player experience as I’ve always played soccer in America. My goals and hopes for the future are to hopefully play pro in Italy if that’s a possibility for me. Thoughts and emotions: I thought it was great being a part of the project. I really enjoyed the opportunity to play in new places and to verse such high-level teams while also meeting new people.

Before joining Rome City, Emily played in NCAA Divison II at Colorado State of Mines, where she completed her undergraduate. While completing the Master in Sport Management and Coaching with Rome City Institute, Emily signed for Empoli, a professional club which competes in Serie B, second top division in the nation. With Empoli, Emily won the league and got promoted to Serie A. After playing another season with Empoli in Serie A,Emily then moved to DBK Fortuna in Denmark where she played in the Champions League. The year after she moved to Napoli in Serie A and now is playing with Australia in the A league.