Marco Teen Fulfilling Lifelong Goal

When we last checked in with Sydney Koszo, she was a 14-year-old balancing the rigors of studying online while playing soccer for IMG Academy and the Hungary National Under-17 Soccer Team. Fast forward a little over two years, and she’s now a 17-year-old playing professional soccer in Hungary while continuing her online studies. And she’s loving it.

"I was just starting to think about playing professional at that time,” Koszo recalls. “Over the past year, I decided this is what I want to do with the rest of my life. Last year, at the end of January, I tried out for a couple teams, and I signed my first professional contract.”

Koszo started playing professional soccer as a 16-year-old.

"I have been a professional for a year now,” Koszo said with a beaming smile. "I got invited back to the national team, and I got invited to play for the Under-19 team. This is my job. I'm doing what I love to do, and now I know that I am a very good player and that I can continue to get better and even go to higher levels."

Koszo has her sights set on playing soccer in England.

"For women’s soccer,” she said, “England's top three leagues are where the biggest, well-known, best soccer is."

Playing professional soccer in your teens is a pretty big deal.

"I am the youngest on my team,” Koszo said. “My team ranges in age from me being the youngest at 17 to the oldest being almost 30. So I'm playing with grown adults, and everyone in the league is in their late 20s to 30 years old."

Pretty daunting stuff for a teenager.

“You know,” she said, "it's tough playing with older people that are more experienced. But I'm learning a lot from them. And they’ve welcomed me with open arms. It's a big learning experience.”

Sometimes, learning isn’t fun. In fact, the learning process can be pretty frustrating. But that doesn’t seem to be the case with Koszo.

"I step on the field and I'm excited,” she said. "I'm nervous. I have all these feelings going on. Pretty much every time. I breathe and I do my pre-game techniques and once I step on the pitch, it's just me. And I'm focused on everything that I need to be. Making the Under-19 team was a really big deal for me. And I scored my first international goal in my first match with the Under-19 team. I also scored my first goal in my professional career, and I'm looking forward to continuing that."

Koszo is a center midfielder, a position that is divided equally between attacking and defensive duties. A center midfielder must be confident, creative, and possess strong ball control skills.

“Playing defense and attacking,” Koszo said of her position, "so I assist a lot of the goals and I score when I can."

Koszo is philosophical about her experience in the pressure cooker that is IMG Academy, the sports training destination in Bradenton, established in 1978 by tennis icon Nick Bollettieri. IMG trains thousands of youth, high school, collegiate and professional athletes annually.

“My IMG experience was definitely different from other people’s,” she said. "I did not have as great an experience as I would have liked to. It helped me develop mentally to be the player I am. And it really made me realize that I'm a much better player than they made me out to be. It's a fit for some people, but for me it just wasn’t.”

Adam Koszo can see where his daughter benefited from her experience at IMG.

"IMG taught her mental toughness,” he said. “Because they were putting her down to build her up. She can use what she experienced over there, negative or positive. They taught her how to be tough and not to worry about what others think. And that's how she does things." 

Koszo briefly attended Marco Island Academy.

"I did go to MIA for the first half of my sophomore year,” she said. “And then in the second half of my sophomore year, I decided to move to Hungary.”

While attending MIA, Koszo played for Florida United in Miami before her international travel schedule became too demanding. She now lives in Hungary but continues to attend American school online.

While it may seem like a lot for a teenager to take on, Koszo and her parents seem to be taking things in stride.

"I do live by myself over there,” Koszo said. “It was hard at first. You know, it's different. I'm not relying on my parents so much. I’ve learned how to adult, and I've learned how to keep my things in order and make sure I'm studying, getting to training on time and all those things. I'm in a very safe environment. There’s very little crime. And my teammates and my coaches are close by.

Does she have any regrets? Far from it.

"This is what I want to do with the rest of my life,” Koszo said energetically. 

One may wonder what drives a teenager to reach for such lofty goals.

"I just feel it in my heart,” she said, "that I love to be on the pitch. I just love to play and feel free. The one word to describe it is just love. It is beyond an extreme feeling. It's just something that I always want to do. It's just something that makes me happy."

"It was funny,” Adam Koszo said, "she was just cleaning her room, and she found an old yearbook."

"It was my fifth-grade year at Tommie Barfield Elementary,” she said, "and we were supposed to write down what we want to be when we grow up. I said that I wanted to be a professional soccer player. It's crazy to look back five years ago. I knew what I wanted to do and now I'm doing it.”

Sounds like a dream come true. And while the money is not big right now, that could change.

"I make a living,” the 17-year-old said. “Eventually, I can make a lot of money. Right now, I'm on a lower scale compared to everyone else. I do have some anonymous sponsorships. And, of course, I'm looking for more sponsorships just to help me out."

After her article appeared in the Coastal Breeze News (Local Teen on Hungarian National Soccer team, November 18, 2021), an anonymous donor came forward.

“This guy actually said he heard about Sydney from the first article and since then he's actually following her,” Adam Koszo said. “Then he said, ‘Well, I really want to help. What do you need?'”

Koszo’s experience is definitely outside of the norm.

“It's pretty unusual,” Adam Koszo said. "There are some Americans in the league but they are older, 24-25 years old. They go there after college. Nobody really gives up everything here just to go there because they want to be a professional. It's a little bit different. It's really unusual being this young and being able to say that she has her first professional contract, which sounds awesome. But there's still a lot of work ahead of her. You always have to develop to be better and better and better.”

As loving parents, Adam and Lyndsi Koszo are supporting their daughter’s dream.

"We trust the club,” Adam Koszo said. "Of course we trust her. We talk to each other every day. So we always check in. We try to go visit as many times as we can. Of course, it's not always easy, but we take turns. It's full trust over there.” 

He said Sydney could have chosen to play in England or Germany but chose to go to her father’s homeland instead.

“We picked Hungary first of all because of me,” said Adam Koszo. “It’s okay for her to learn the culture, learn how to be alone. I trust the Hungarian system over there. I trust how safe the country is versus the other ones. She's proven herself. Now we're going to go back and revisit to see if anybody, maybe England, wants to pick her up. The other really good league is France. But I'm not sure about France. You know, in England they speak English. It's easier. Hopefully, they will find a club for her and if not then she'll stay in Hungary. I think maybe she's too young for it. Maybe she should spend one more year in an easier division. But it's not my call. We never influence what she wants to do. We asked her if she wanted to go pro. We gave her everything she needed. We work hard to provide what we can. But she has to work for it on her own. We're never going to tell her which club she should go to.”

As her skill level rises, the improvement increments become more challenging.

"It's pretty much an up-down game,” she said. “One day you're on top of everything, the other day it's like you've never touched a ball. You see improvement with time. You can see it within months. You can see it within years. I live by thirds. You feel best at one third. You feel the worst at another third. And you feel in between the other third."

"I also think it comes down to the mental part of it,” Adam Koszo said, "and they don't teach you that here. The development is different in Hungary. It's built up much better. All the first-class teams have a development program. And it comes all the way from U7, all the way up to the professional level."

Sydney has a strong support group on the island. One could almost describe it as an extended family. The “family" is an international group of soccer players that has been playing every Sunday morning and Monday evening at Mackle Park for the past 25 years. Her dad plays with the group.

“She was ten years old playing with us,” Adam Koszo said proudly. "She started playing Sundays because it's an easier game. Monday nights are the serious games. All the guys are so proud. Everybody asks how she's doing when she’s gone. These guys are so happy for her. They love it. She’s basically like a community kid."

Adam Koszo said her support group is there for her when things aren't going so well, too.

“It makes them feel good when I can tell them that she just scored or she had a good game. They say, ‘Well, that's part of us, you know.’ Sometimes, if she had a bad game, they’ll say, ‘Tell her it's gonna be okay.'  Of course, I say, 'Guys, she's not worried.’”

Adam Koszo said he and Lyndsi work hard to help their daughter realize her dreams. 

"We work our butts off to be able to go back and forth to Hungary,” Adam Koszo said. "We're happy to do it, you know because at the end of the day, my legacy is her. When she was seven, the first time we came out, I was the one who taught her all the basics of soccer.”

Koszo recently achieved a milestone when she signed her second contract.

“You have to prove that you're good enough,” Adam Koszo said. “We renewed it half a year ago. But you know for her it's not about money. For her, it’s about love for the game."

"I'm telling you,” Sydney Koszo interjects, "it's just pure happiness.”