Soccer Star Fighting to Keep Professional Dreams Alive

The decision to go to college or play professional sports isn't one many athletes get to make. After deciding to go pro before high school graduation, Andre Fonseca is hoping his choice pays off.

Fonseca left Harrison, as well as several interested colleges, to play professional soccer in the Columbian Soccer League this February. Fonseca hopes the league will serve as passage into the Brazilian or Argentinean professional leagues.

After making the jump to the professional ranks, Fonseca said he is still trying to adjust to life outside of the United States.

"The only thing that changes is adapting to the city you play in, when I was in Colombia perfecting my Spanish was very hard, and I didn't know anyone besides my agent. To make things worse, games are a lot more intense," Fonseca said. "Practices are also a lot more hectic, there are more than 40 players on a senior squad, a first team and a reserves squad. So for you to get a word in with the coach seems like the hardest thing in the world."

At Harrison Fonseca and teammate Bryan Merlos teamed up to make school history as they led the Huskies past the section quarterfinals for the first time ever. Fonseca credits Merlos for a lot of the team's accomplishments while the two shared the field.

"The kid made my job at Harrison easy and he's also one of my best friends," said Fonseca. "He was like Ronaldo and I was Rivaldo for Brazil in the 2002 World Cup during the 2008 high school season."

Hard work and dedication was a staple during his high school years, and Fonseca said his days at Harrison have helped prepare him for professional athletics.

"Playing sports at Harrison helped prepare me for pro athletics because it was the first time I really got to make history," Fonseca said. "Harrison had never made it past section quarters, for you to be able to ignore the hype and excitement along with the pressure on game day is something that can be really difficult, especially in the pros."

But the training necessary to compete has taken some adjusting. Practices are extremely position specific in South America, so the team unity that is a staple of high school sports has become a thing of the past.

"There are players you rarely even speak too. And then to put it all together and (playing) together is also incredibly challenging, especially when you're the only Brazilian in Colombia," said Fonseca. "Socially, besides the obvious fact that there is no school, there are a lot of bad influences and girls that can easily put you in a bad spot."

This season Fonseca served as the team's starting second striker on the reserves team, scoring a goal and adding three assists in his time with his new team. But Fonseca's season was cut short in late April when he needed life-saving laparoscopic surgery to fix an intestinal infection from a surgery in 2005.

"It was a great experience but ended in an unfortunate manner," said Fonseca, adding that scouts from three clubs in Argentina had intended to scout him in May.

Fonseca is now an unsigned free agent looking to sign with a Brazilian club before the end of September.