Andy Stadler finally got his second chance.
“My friend used to play out here in Sweden and he had some contacts with some people,” Stadler said. “He called me one day and asked me if I was ready to head out and I said of course.”
With that, Stadler headed to Europe, where he started off play with an amateur team, taking the pitch for three games while scouts from professional clubs watched from the stands. He trained with some of those clubs before signing a professional contract with Sandvikens IF of the Swedish Football Association’s Division 2.
It’s the first professional contract for Stadler, who saw his dreams of a soccer career flash before his eyes twice.
He was first sidelined by injury at the beginning of his senior season as a Colonial, then duped by an agent who promised representation and failed to bring those pledges to fruition. It created a sequence of events that Stadler called “one of the worst years of my life.”
Undeterred, Stadler returned to GW, completing his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and then working as a concierge, saving his pennies, waiting for the phone to ring.
“It’s a really good feeling,” Stadler said. “Because a year ago, when things weren’t looking too great, I continued working, even though chances never arrived. But now that one has, I was very prepared and ready to play, and it has worked out wonderfully.”
Stadler’s drive and work ethic are no surprise to those who followed his career as a Colonial. He’s the only GW player to ever be named to the NSCAA Middle Atlantic Region First-Team, and made an Atlantic 10 All-Conference Team every year he played at GW. He’s tied for eighth in GW history in single-season point leaders, after he tallied 31 points in 2008. Stadler is also fifth overall in career points, with 83, and fourth in career goals, with 35, at GW.
It’s a record of success that gives him the confidence he needs as he begins to play professionally. Stadler won’t take the field until August when his work permits – which will allow him to play in Sweden – arrive, but as he ponders his return to the field, he has clear goals – including moving his new club up a rung to Division 1.
“Helping the team get promoted to [the] first division would be incredible, it would be a great achievement,” Stadler said, adding, “but we need to continue winning and hopefully I can score some goals and help them get promoted.”
Sandviken, the home of Stadler’s new club, is close to Stockholm, a city that plays host to a few of the bigger soccer teams in Sweden. It’s possible, he says, that stellar play with Sandvikens IF could propel him to larger programs, but for now, Stadler is focused on his current team. So far he’s been impressed with the coaches, players and staff, he says, and is relieved to finally be rewarded for his own unrelenting drive.
“I sacrificed a lot and it’s definitely worth it,” Stadler said. “And it feels good to start getting paid to play.”
