This piece was written by Jamal Clay, a frequent contributor of Globally Ballin and the founder of "The Athletes Forum"
Post playing career, to be honest not much has changed. These days vary a little, on a practice day, I'm usually up by 7, to get a lift in before our 10am coaches meeting. After that I'm heading home for a few hours to handle stuff with business, either handling inventory or shipping out football equipment to players. After that I try to either break down film on our opponents or create some type of YouTube video before heading to practice in the evening. Usually after practice it’s a little more film and back to sleep. That's a typical day with practice, but like I mentioned every day is different and usually never the same.
One word to describe the city of Wroclaw, "Lively", one of the things I love about this city is there is always something to do, no matter the day. To be honest I never even thought I'd make it to Wroclaw. My original plan was to come to Europe/Finland for one season in 2009 and go back home and get a job. 11 years later somehow, I am still here in Europe. Once my company started growing out here, I was starting to feel like maybe it was an option. (Btw I'm selling American football gear here in Europe so go check out my site www.sportstakeoff.com). Excuse the shameless plug, but then once my daughter was born almost two years ago, I knew that I would be here a lot longer.
Describing the culture here is kind of difficult for me to explain because there is such a big difference in the generations, for example people born in the 80's grew up in communism, after 89 there was a change, but the change is slow. So, I personally notice a huge difference in people depending on the age, from 40 to 30 to 20 are all kind of different but not because of the age but more because of the change from communism to democracy. With all that being said Poland is known for being a very religious and catholic country with a lot of cultural events and holidays. One bit of advice, if you get an opportunity to go to a Polish wedding, definitely do it, it's a 2-day event unlike any other wedding I've attended.
Having the opportunity to play overseas open a lot of doors for me. The biggest thing has been being able to travel the world and teach the game of football. I never in my life while growing up imagined living outside of the USA and now I have lived in Europe, Asia and South America just because of the game of football. The most I could have imagined back in the day is just visiting some of the places for a few days
If you are ever in Wroclaw, hit me up! But on a serious note, it's an awesome city, I definitely suggest it as a place to visit. The rest of the world is missing out on this city, it's definitely a hidden gem in Europe.
First let me say for those of you who don't know me, I'm involved in football almost every way possible so if you need something don't hesitate to message me (@dnb22nu). I'm the strength and conditioning coach here for the Panthers Wroclaw, so if you need some type of training plan let me know. I also have an American Football equipment business so if you need anything, check out sportstakeoff.com or message me and I can help you find something. I am also creating football YouTube tutorials and equipment reviews so check out my YouTube channel (youtube.com/sportstakeoff). Now that I got all that out of the way, I'd like to thank "Athletes Forum" for having me, and just know, I am always here to help out when it comes to football in Europe, I want to see this sport grow here so no matter the question feel free to ask. Peace out and stay blessed!!
Watch Deante Battle go house hunting in Wrocław
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