McGlynn Watch – Signing A Pro Contract

Notes from Bryan: For those of you who have been following our McGlynn Watch, the news is finally breaking that he has signed to play this season with San Jose Earthquakes – in other words he is now a professional soccer player! Do yourself a favor, make sure to follow Peter on Twitter for all his latest updates and then tweet him a quick message to congratulate him. We are going to work to keep him on staff so that those of you aspiring to become professional players in the US can have some first hand info and updates on what it is all about.

Signing a Professional Contract – what was the process like?

It was a fairly straightforward process. During a practice before we left for Ventura, the general manager came over to me (I was on the sidelines watching as I was still injured) and basically told me that they were impressed with what they have seen, and they wanted to sign me. My situation was a little different as my visa to stay in the country was running out, so the deal had to be rushed through, which I was very happy about. There was some discussions with immigration lawyers over the next few days, but I officially signed on the 10th of Feb, at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Ventura. I immediately put it on Twitter, pretty excited at the time, unaware that I wasn’t supposed to as the MLS and Earthquakes like to do an official announcement, but it was not a big deal. It took a week for my work visa to get approved, which was a bit nerve wracking.

Peter McGlynn – Professional Player

To be honest, I don’t think it has quite hit me yet. There has been some moments where I will be sitting in the locker room or working out in the gym, and just realize that this is my job, it is no longer just something that I love to do, but something that I depend on. I am sure I will fully understand what it truly is to be a pro in the next few months.

Rehab and Getting Match Fit

Rehab is going very well. I have actually been fully participating in the training sessions in the last few days, and although my fitness is not 100%,I think I am playing well. The training has definitely stepped up a notch since I got injured, which is to be expected with our season opener at the end of the week. You can tell around the locker room that this is really where the hard work starts, and I am just excited to be involved with it.

Adjusting to Pro Life

I’ve learned a lot about being a pro over the past few weeks. Unfortunately, I did not get to travel to Portland with the team, as all the injured guys were to stay behind and do rehab with a private clinic. This meant that for 9 days I was stuck in a hotel by myself for the most part. It can be incredibly boring not knowing anybody in the city, and the highlight of my day was showing up to work with the physical therapists. I think I went through the hotels entire collection of movies in the first few days. At the end of the trip I was buzzing to get back on the field and start training again.

Another thing I found out was how much fan related work the players do. This week, to promote our opening game, we held a function at a bowling complex that was exclusively for all of our season ticket holders, which included interacting with the fans, playing air hockey and pool against them, and sign autographs. I was really happy that a lot of the people knew my name, asked how I liked the area, and how I was settling in. The day before, I did a surprise appearance along with Steven Beitashour at a local YMCA youth club, answering questions and just interacting with the kids. So it is really interesting that it is not just showing up to training and games and kicking a ball around, there are a lot of other aspects to the lifestyle.

Switching Boots

A side note that I should discuss is that I have switched my cleats. In the MLS, unless you are signed to a specific company like Nike or Puma, you must wear Adidas equipment. I was not aware of this, so I just recently started wearing the Adidas F50 adiZero FG synthetic cleats. They are a bit different to the Nike Mercurial Vapors, and I had to get a half-a-size smaller for them to fit me.