Why 80% of Players Give Up After Their First Trip Overseas

By Alan Deriard
Football Agent | Elite Football

Short Summary

Most players do not quit after their first trip overseas because they lack talent. They quit because the first trip shows them how far away they really are from the level required. For most Australian players, trip one is not where offers happen. It is where reality hits, standards rise, and the real pathway begins.

The Truth About the First Overseas Trip

Here’s the truth.

Around 80% of players give up after their first trip overseas.

Not because they were not talented.
Not because the door was closed.
And not because they had no chance.

They give up because the level they see shocks them.

For the first time, they realise just how far away they really are from where they need to be. That first trip is not just a football experience. It is a reality check. And for a lot of players, that reality check is too much to handle.

That is why most offers do not happen on trip one.

They happen on trip two or three.

Parents need to understand this, because too many families go into the first overseas trip with the wrong expectations. They think it is going to be the moment that changes everything. They think one trip will lead straight to an offer, a contract, or a breakthrough.

Most of the time, that is not how it works.

What Happens on Trip One

On the first trip, every player is hopeful.

They land overseas thinking, “This is my moment. This is where I show them what I can do.”

Then the games start.
The training starts.
The intensity starts.

And that is when the gap hits them.

They feel the speed.
They feel the physicality.
They see the consistency.
And they suddenly realise that many of these overseas players have been living and breathing football since they were kids.

A lot of Australian players, not all of them, look around and think the same thing:

“My level is nowhere near this.”

That is the crossroads moment.

Some players go home, reset, and make a decision to work ten times harder so they can get up to speed.

Others quietly check out.

They move on to plan B, plan C, or whatever else they want to do with their life. That is why after trip one, most players disappear from the process.

Not because they had no chance.
Because mentally, they could not handle what they saw.

Why Trip Two Is Different

Trip two is where things get interesting.

By that point, we know more than just the player’s technical level. We start to understand the player properly.

We learn things like:

• can they handle the environment
• can they live away from home
• can they deal with pressure
• do they stay composed when football gets uncomfortable
• or do they fall apart

We also get direct feedback from the clubs.

That first trip gives us proper evaluations on where the player is actually at. It stops the guessing. After trip one, we usually have far more clarity on the player’s true level and what kind of pathway makes sense next.

That means trip two is no longer random.

It is targeted.

We are not aiming blind anymore. We are building a much more precise plan based on actual exposure, actual feedback, and actual data from the first experience.

That is why offers so often happen on trip two or three instead of trip one.

Why We Do Not Always Start Low

A lot of parents ask the obvious question:

If most Australian players are behind the level overseas, why not just start lower straight away?

It is a fair question.

But the answer is not as simple as it sounds.

Contrary to what many people think, starting higher first is usually better, especially for younger players.

Why?

Because if a player’s first overseas experience is at a level that feels worse than what they are already used to at home, it can damage their confidence badly. Worse training. Worse teammates. Worse environment. That can kill motivation very quickly.

But if their first exposure is to top clubs, top standards, and top environments, even if they are not ready for it yet, they now have a benchmark.

They know what real quality looks like.

It is like sparring a world champion. You are probably not going to win, but at least now you know what world class feels like.

That matters.

Because once a player has seen the level, the work they need to do becomes real.

Why Bigger Clubs Often Help More Than Smaller Ones

Another thing people get wrong is assuming smaller clubs are always the easier or better starting point.

Not necessarily.

Bigger clubs are often much more structured. They have more money, better systems, clearer pathways, and more layers of development. Even if a player starts in the lowest group, there is usually a proper structure around them.

That can be much better than just being thrown into a chaotic lower-level setup with no pathway and no support.

So when we aim high early, it is not because we are being unrealistic.

It is because we want the player to experience the standard, the structure, and the benchmark they may never get access to again later in their career.

Especially when they are younger.

Because once players get older, those first-division and second-division opportunities start disappearing. That first taste of elite football is not available forever.

The Exception: One-Shot Scenarios

Of course, there are exceptions.

Sometimes the family can only afford one trip.

Sometimes school commitments make it difficult to go more than once.

Sometimes the player is older, and the pathway needs to be realistic immediately.

In those situations, we may build a more conservative, lower-entry pathway from the beginning to maximise the chance of an offer on that one attempt.

But that comes at a cost.

Because if the player does not sign in that one-shot scenario, the disappointment can be brutal. I have seen players get offered something at a smaller club, turn it down because they did not want that lifestyle, and then end up quitting the game altogether.

That is why, where possible, we prefer to aim high early, protect the player’s overall experience, and then recalibrate after we have real information.

The First Trip Is Really a Mentality Test

This is the part that almost nobody prepares families for.

The first trip is not just about football.

It is a mentality test.

Overseas football is unforgiving.

Players have to deal with:

• living away from home
• training in a different language
• training every day, sometimes twice a day
• eating food they do not like
• competing against players who will do anything to keep their spot

Most Australian players fail here, not because they are bad footballers, but because mentally they are not ready for that environment.

They think they are ready until they are in it.

That is very different.

And that is exactly why the players who come back for second, third, and even fourth trips usually have a much bigger edge. They have already gone through that first filter. They have already survived the shock. They are tougher, clearer, and far more adaptable.

That makes a huge difference.

Why Adaptation Gets Faster After the First Trip

One of the biggest changes we see after trip one is adaptation speed.

The first time a player goes overseas, it can take them weeks to settle in. They are adjusting to everything at once. New country. New football. New pressure. New routine.

But after that first trip, something changes.

They know what to expect.
They understand the grind.
They understand how long a day overseas can feel.
They understand what the level looks like.

So when they go back out again, they hit the ground running much faster.

That is one of the main reasons second and third trips are often more productive. The player is not just better targeted. They are mentally sharper too.

Why We Usually Do Not Send Players Back to the Same Club

Another thing parents should know is this:

Most of the time, we do not send players back to the same club for trip two.

If a club did not pull the trigger the first time, they usually are not going to change their mind later. Clubs are like referees. Once they make a decision, even if they know they got it wrong, they are rarely going to reverse it.

So instead of wasting time and money repeating the same cycle, we take what we learned from trip one and use it properly.

We use:

the club feedback

• the evaluation
• the level they showed
• how they handled the environment
• how they adapted mentally

Then we match them to a better fit.

That is the whole point of the system.

Trip two is not about repeating trip one. It is about refining the pathway.

Why Offers Usually Happen on Trip Two or Three

This is where families need to reframe everything.

Offers on trip two or three do not happen because the player magically became elite overnight.

They happen because the process got sharper.

The player comes back with lower expectations and higher standards. They understand the work required. They have experienced the environment. And we have much more data to target the right clubs properly.

That combination changes everything.

It is not just the player learning.

It is also us learning more about the player and adjusting the targeting accordingly. Every player is different, and that is why every pathway has to be treated individually.

That is how real progress happens.

What Parents Need to Understand

If you are a parent reading this, the biggest mistake you can make is treating the first trip like a magic bullet.

It is not.

The first trip is not there to change your child’s life overnight. It is there to wake them up.

It shows them the level.
It tests their mentality.
It reveals how they handle discomfort.
It gives everyone real feedback.

That is why the second and third trips are usually where things get serious.

Once families understand that, the whole overseas process starts to make far more sense.

Final Thoughts

If your child is serious about chasing football overseas, do not build the whole dream around trip one.

Trip one is the wake-up call.

Trip two and beyond is where the real pathway begins.

That is when the targeting gets sharper.
That is when the player gets tougher.
That is when the process gets more serious.

And that is usually when real opportunities start to appear.

At Elite Football, we built a full system to help Australian players get into Europe with the right clubs at the right time. That means treating every player individually, using the first trip properly, and refining the pathway as we learn more.

That is how this should be done.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do most players quit after their first overseas football trip?

Most players quit because the first trip shows them how far away they are from the overseas level. It is often a mental shock more than a football issue.

Why do football offers usually happen on trip two or three?

Because by trip two or three, the player has already experienced the level, adapted mentally, and the pathway can be targeted much more precisely based on real feedback.

Why not just send players to lower clubs first?

Starting too low can hurt confidence and does not always give younger players the benchmark they need. Higher-level exposure early often creates a clearer long-term pathway.

What does the first overseas trip actually test?

It tests mentality, adaptability, resilience, and whether the player can handle the pressure and discomfort of the overseas football environment.

Do clubs usually change their minds after the first trial?

Not often. That is why most second trips are built around better-fitting clubs rather than repeating the same trial.

Author: Alan Deriard
Football Agent | Elite Football
Website: https://elitefootball.com.au