Hanging around with some friends at last week’s Dallas Cup, Jared Jeffrey appeared to be just one of the boys.

In terms of soccer opportunity, nothing could be further from the truth.

While his friends and former Dallas Texans teammates may be looking for summer jobs or preparing to enter university in the fall, Jeffrey will begin his professional adventure with famous Belgian outfit Club Brugge.

Having signed a 3-year contract (with an additional 2-year option) with the perennial Belgian title contenders, Jeffrey will join the club’s first team for its preseason training on June 18, just 4 days following his 18th birthday. Financial terms of the contract have not been disclosed, but minimum requirements for non-European Union players such as Jeffrey dictate that pay will be in the 6-figure category.

It’s been almost a year since the attacking midfielder first visited German club Stuttgart with a pair of his teammates from the U17 Men’s National Team residency program in Bradenton. That trial didn’t result in an offered contract, and after a disappointing performance by the U17s at the FIFA World Cup in Korea last summer, Jeffrey was left to finish his remaining semester of school in Bradenton.

It was following a trip with the U20 MNT to France that Jeffrey visited Club Brugge for a trial. Things went much better this time around, he told Top Drawer Soccer.

“I stayed over for 2 weeks in November. It was kind of similar to what we did in Stuttgart but with Brugge I played with the first team guys more,” he said. “But the kind of training was the same and so was the daily schedule. I got to play in 2 practice games and 1 of them for sure I was with a lot of 1st-team players. I also got to play center midfield.

“I was able to set up a few chances in that game and I thought I played pretty well,” he continued. “I guess they thought so too because at the end of that trip we kind of had an agreement. They wanted me to go with them to Turkey (for winter training in January) and play more with the first team. I guess it was mainly to decide if I would start with the reserves or the first team.”

A Belgian professional side will typically have approximately 26 players in the 1st team squad including 3 goalkeepers. The reserve team will largely consist of players aged 17-21, looking to play their way into the 1st team squad. Jeffrey had no pretense about starting out with the first team at his age.

“When I went to Turkey I got an assist in one of the games and I guess did pretty well. It kind of came as a shock when I first heard (that he would begin with the 1st team), but I think it’s kind of cool,” he admitted. “They play the ball a lot on the ground and that kind of suits me because I’m not the most physical guy. It’s easy for me to fit in with that style. They play a 4-3-3 with a lot of short passing in the middle.”

The call to accept the pro contract, despite the attractive terms, was not necessarily an easy one, however it doesn’t appear Major League Soccer was of much interest to the player.

“It was a big decision, especially since I was committed to go to Duke,” he said. “I talked to my family about it a lot. In the end we decided it was a perfect situation for me to go to Europe. When I started thinking about turning pro, Europe was always my number one option. When we found Brugge it kind of all worked out.”

While adjusting to culture and language can be one of the more daunting challenges an American soccer player faces when going overseas, Jeffrey noted most of the players he met spoke English. While he’ll look to pick up some Flemish as he gets started, family support will also be a big help to him in the adjustment. 

“My mom will go over with me for the first 2 months. My whole family will be coming over at some point while I get everything set up,” he said. “I’ve already looked at places and narrowed it down, so when I get there I’ll have a place to live.

For parents Jim and Betty, supporting their children in soccer pursuits is nothing new. Along with Jared, they are frequently transporting daughters Juliann (Texans U16), Jana (Texans U15) and 1997 birth year player Jamie to games and practices around the Metroplex. 

Jeffrey said adapting to the life of a soccer professional may not be as hard as one would think, given the 2 years he spent in Bradenton.

“The routine we had at residency is similar to what we’ll have there,” he said. The training is in morning and Coach Hackworth switched us to that for our last year. The way we look after our bodies and diet is the same and I think my fitness also helped me get the contract. There’s no doubt without residency there’s no way I’d be going over there.”

Before residency Jared played several years on Dallas Texans club teams. His team and skills coach was Brazilian-born Marcio Leite.

“Marcio was my coach from age 9 to 15 and he had a huge impact on me,” Jeffrey said. “He really stressed keeping the ball on the ground and attacking, playing with a Brazilian style. He really helped me a lot with technique and when I went to residency they kind of refined it.”

Leite, recently returned to the coaching setup at Texans following a 2-year stint with the IMG Academy. He says a number of factors led to Jeffrey progressing this far in his soccer pursuits.

“He’s a very athletic kid, and that comes from his mom and dad being good athletes in track and field. But from 9 years old he went to skills training, and he would come 4 times a week religiously,” Leite recalls. “We would work on the technique of dribbling, crossing, passing, putting spin on a ball, how to shield the ball from defenders, basically all the things any professional would have to do. At 11 he would be taking 2-3 players on.

“Then there came a time at age 13 when a lot of people grew and he didn’t grow so much, so he had to learn to play smarter, with one touch and two touch,” Leite continued. “He couldn’t just dribble by everybody anymore, so he learned to find a way to do the right thing for his situation and how to read the game well.”

Leite, who noted 3 players from his skills sessions -  Jeffrey, Omar Gonzalez and Ian Kalis – all made the U17 MNT, said Jeffrey’s mindset was another big reason for his success.

“Not too many people at that age are working on those skills. His commitment to be good and understanding what it takes to be good, makes it easy on whoever coaches him. He was always there and always focused. At a young age he reminded me of older players who knew where they wanted to be. When he went to the national team he was always doing extra training. He is technically very strong and knows when to knock the ball around and when to take players on. I have no doubt he can be very successful in Belgium.”

Jeffrey is hopeful of a callup for a U20 Men’s National Team camp in April, and otherwise is trying to work out on his own and train a bit with older Texans’ teams. It won’t be long however, before he enters a brave new world of soccer adventure and experience.

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