This was no vacation, but he knew that.

It didn't take long for Kovi Konowiecki, then a 14-year old from Long Beach, CA, to realize the course he was taking would be inherently difficult.

Kovi had decided to accept an invitation from German professional club 1860 Munich to play with their youth side. Of course he knew that the soccer was going to be a greater challenge than anything he had faced on the field for his club team, Irvine Strikers.

Konowiecki training in Germany this past winter.

A former U14 Boys National Team player, he also knew there would be a challenge to adjust to living away from home at such a young age and to being in a new culture. Added to that mix was the fact that Kovi had suffered a broken foot in a club match in November of 2005, just 6 weeks before he was scheduled to leave for Germany, so his entry onto such a demanding scene was hampered by the need to recover from the injury.

One key difference for players on the youth side of a major European club is that there is always an understanding that they are preparing to assume a spot on the first team. That means jobs, livelihood….money. The youth players themselves are strictly amateur but they all know it's what is coming down the road. So when the diminutive curly-haired midfielder with great vision and skill arrived on the scene, he knew he would need to earn respect.

Over the past 18 months, that's exactly what he's done.

Kovi just completed the season with the U16 age group, where he held a regular starting position as a right-sided midfielder. A soft-spoken but thoughtful young man, with a maturity of thought process well beyond his age, he describes the move from newcomer to established team member matter-of-factly.

"Last year was tough. I came in with an injury I had to catch up. But after I came back in the summer (of 2007), I was one of the best at training camp and I turned the corner from there. They've used me at right outside mid and it calls for quickness, speed and vision. I was used to being a central midfielder, but in our system it calls for me to cut in more instead of just being a typical up-and-down winger. You also have to play defense a lot more and there are no soft tackles. I‘m glad I've learned a 2nd position. That's only going to help me in the end."

Kovi admits he has eaten up the atmosphere and lifestyle of playing for the club, and he has nothing but good things to say about the development the time in Germany has afforded him.

"First of all, the way training is taken care of here, every time you step on the field you're being evaluated. Your actions on the ball, off the ball, you're communication with teammates and coaches – it all matters. The intensity level is far greater here than at home," he said. "The speed of play is incredibly quicker. If you watch a game you might not see how superior it is, but if you look inside training with all the little drills and how repetitious it is to develop little muscles and your memory and how they just tie it all together. It has been an incredible help to me."

All of which may make it surprising to learn that Kovi has decided to decline the club's invitation to stay in Germany for the U17 year, and return to home in Southern California for his final 2 years of high school and then college.

As most families of elite player are well aware, decisions can't be made entirely in a soccer vacuum, and the value of family life and environment also has to be considered in these matters. Kovi feels he will still be able to build on his experience in Germany, and plans to pursue his development with even more gusto than he did before.

Kovi expects to be back in Europe someday, but is looking forward to competing with Strikers in the USSF Developmental Academy League.

"It's a cool environment with the traveling and the intensity of every game. It's mostly an elite level from what I've heard," he said of the Academy. "I do plan to come back to Europe when I'm older. but this is sort of a regrouping.

His coach at Strikers will again be Don Ebert, also U.S.F.C. Technical Director. Ebert is enthusiastic about what the time in Germany has meant for Kovi.

"The benefits are two-fold. For Kovi the person, by living on his own and having to take responsibility, he's been able to grow up faster. He gets all those characteristics that one gets by doing what he's doing and becoming a young man sooner than others his age. That is invaluable," Ebert said. "It's maybe easier to understand the soccer benefit. He's in a year-round professional environment and from a soccer perspective we can't replicate that environment in this country yet. He's going to Italy this week. He's taken other trips to other countries and played against other systems, and other styles. He's expanding  a base of soccer that he will never lose, and the earlier you get it the better.

 Ebert pays tribute to Kovi for what he's accomplished in Germany as an unknown American.

"When I saw him when I went over, his speed of play was very, very good. His decision-making is sharp. His touch is very tight.  He's just playing very fast, and that's what you have to have in that environment," he said. "Everybody ‘s on edge there. There are no guarantees, and for the last 18 months he's fought and kicked and clawed his way to earn a spot in this team. His overall speed of game was much better than what I saw there. There was no idle dribbling around like you see sometimes here. He was making decisions and then making the play, just like that."

Kovi, who also declined an invitation to join the youth setup at Israeli club Beitar Jerusalem after a spring tryout, recommends the European experience to any American player who is ready for it.

"I've had a lot of support from my family. I've been lucky to have (Strikers and 1860 teammate) Bobby (Wood) here with me and now Nick Theslof (Kovi's former trainer and now an assistant coach at Bayern Munich under Juergen Klinsmann) is here," he said. "That has helped me a lot, but you have to have the right attitude about living away from home and what you're here for. If your ultimate dream is to become a professional, even if maybe it's not going to be in Europe but in MLS, you still give yourself the best chance of improving your game here, and you're getting much more attention from scouts and coaches."

Kovi informed his coaches after the season-ending June 8 match (in which his team wrapped up a league title) that he wouldn't be returning. He was invited to training the next day to say goodbye to his teammates, where he was presented with signed jerseys and encouraged to come back to Munich if he changes his mind. It was a rare display of emotion from the business-like squad.

Now as Kovi returns home to finish his schooling, he knows in some ways there is no looking back.

"I've gotten my experience here and make the best of it," he continued. "I thought I would use it to develop and be ready for a pro career, but not necessarily with 1860. I could stay another year. It's a tough decision, but I don't think that year will make too much a difference because this way of life and soccer, it's become a part of me."

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