Let us introduce ourselves; we are Peter and Deana Horvath, parents of Ethan Horvath, professional goalkeeper currently playing in Norway at Molde FK. Reusch has asked us to tell you our story, so this is our perspective of the process we went through in order to help our son realize his potential in the footballing world.
Step 1: Send your son, as the youngest player ever taken, on a European Select tour. See what he thinks of the experience; have him seen by professional scouts. Look at each other and say, “Let’s see what he can do”.
Step 2: Listen to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the head coach at Molde FK in Norway, and everyone who has told you since your son was 11 years old, about how good he is and the potential he has if he were to move to Europe for better training. Look at each other and say, “No way!”
Step 3: Make the decisions to sell your house, take a sabbatical next year from your teaching job, pull your son out of high school in the middle of his junior year, home school him the rest of the way, look at each other and say, “What the hell are we doing?”
Step 4: Put your son and wife on a plane destined for Manchester, England, for an undetermined amount of time, with the sole purpose of getting different, better training opportunities. Look at each other with tears in your eyes and say, “What the hell are we doing?”
Step 5: Skype at unusual hours when you can, keep the house spotless during the selling process, reassure yourselves that your son is still getting a proper education, skype some more. Sell the house, skype some more. Look at each other and say, “What the hell are we doing?”
Step 6: Pick your wife up at the airport, drive to Los Angeles for a US National Team camp so you can see your son in person for a few days for the first time in 3 months. Afterwards, put him on a plane destined for Germany, not really knowing what his ultimate destination is. Look at each other and say, “What the hell are we doing?”
Step 7: Take a call from our son’s agent while he is still en route to Germany and have him tell you that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wants your son back in Molde. Pack up everything you own and rent out a storage unit, sell your cars, move into a Marriott Townplace Suites for 3 months, and somehow finish off the current school year. Look at each other and say, “What the hell are we doing?”
Step 8: Skype some more with your son. Fly to Molde, Norway to meet with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Richard Hartis, the goalkeeping coach. Listen to them tell you in person how good your son is and how much potential he has. Look at each other and say, “No way!” and “Are we really going to do this?”
Step 9: Travel to Chicago with your son and wife to visit your brother because your son’s 90 day limit to be in Europe has passed and his passport is also about to expire. Head to downtown Chicago, spend a small fortune to have your son’s passport renewed in 1 day. Dilema, your son cannot go back to Europe for 90 days, per the Schengen Agreement. You are forced to drive to Syracuse University in upstate New York to drop your son off with people you haven’t even met, but are close friends of the goalkeeping coach at Molde. Meet the coach and assistant coach who will be responsible for housing and keeping your son training at a high level until his passport allows him to return to Europe. Again, tears. Say good bye to your son as you return to Chicago, look at each other and say, “Seriously, what the hell are we doing?”
Step 10: Fly back to Molde, Norway with your wife, knowing you don’t have a job and start the process of securing a work permit; learn more about immigration laws than seemingly anyone else who actually works in the Norwegian government. Thanks to your Master’s degree in Educational Administration and Supervision, get a job with a cleaning company as a custodian. Move into a 750 sqft 2 bedroom apartment that has a young player and his girlfriend living above you in an even smaller apartment. “Welcome to our mouse hole”.
Step 11: Welcome your son back to Norway after his summer spent at Syracuse University. Lay in bed, thinking of your 17 year old son in the next room as you listen to the loud and very frequent “activities” of the housemates in the apartment above you. All we can think of is how to incorporate it into his homeschooling! More well-known looks of “I love you, but what the hell are we doing!?”
Step 12: Get up at 4:30am at least 6 days a week, sometimes 7, for a year. Enjoy your time together as a family. Watch your son grow and develop into a professional footballer. Look at each other a lot and say, “I love you!”
Step 13: Make the decision to take another year sabbatical from your teaching job and hope your principal can keep your position for you until you return. Continue your lovely custodial duties and all that implies; enjoy the family time you have together. Tell your son that he has finally completed his home schooling and has officially graduated. There is no party, no fanfare, just “Good job, you’re done!” Watch your son sign his first professional contract. Be so proud of the fact that he does everything that is asked of him, realistic or not; it is all part of the learning experience. Watch him grow and develop as a person, not just a footballer. Look at each other and say, “We can’t stay here and do this job forever”.
Step 14: Say goodbye to your 19 year old son and leave him in Norway to pursue his dream. Facetime and iMessage like you never thought was possible, now thousands of miles away, all the time saying, “What the hell are we doing?”
Step 15: From half the world apart, watch a live stream of your son as he steps on the field for the first time as he replaces the #1 keeper who just got hurt. Look at each other with tears streaming down your face and say, “I wish we were there!”
Step 16: Sitting in your family room, watch a live stream of your son starting and playing in his first complete professional away match. More tears, look at each other and say, “We are so proud, but wish we were there!”
Step 17: Have your son tell you through a Facetime session that the #1 keeper has just been sold and he is now the new starting keeper! Again, now what seems a whole world apart, you watch a live stream as your son takes the field and starts in an away match as the team’s new starting goalkeeper. Again, tears as you look at each other and say, “Why the hell aren’t we there?”
Step 18: Travel back to Molde, Norway, and in front of over 9,500 fans, watch in person as your son’s face show up on the jumbo screen as the team’s starting lineup is introduced. With tears streaming down your face, see your son walk out holding a small child’s hand for the pre-game handshakes. Look at each other and say, “He can do this. This is why the hell we did what we did!”
So, in a nut shell, that is our story. We don’t recommend it for the faint of heart.
As Ethan would say, “Keep it clean”, P & D