Lakewood Ranch grad earns pro soccer opportunity in Germany

Lakewood Ranch High grad Diego Freyre is betting on himself. 

Instead of starting his post-high school soccer career at a college, Freyre has joined the Pro Sportz Alliance program, which brings recently graduated soccer players from the United States to Germany. There they have approximately two months to play games for PSA against German soccer clubs at various professional levels of the sport.

At the end of the two months, players who impress the clubs they play against can be offered full-time contracts. 

"I just hope I'm able to say at the end of this that I made it," Freyre said. 

Freyre said he had never heard of the program until he received an email from the organization that asked him to participate. Freyre said he was interested from the jump despite his lack of German language knowledge and the fact that the two-month tryout is unpaid, meaning he has to spend his own money to be there. Freyre would do anything to move closer to his dream of playing professional soccer, he said. 

Photo by Ryan Kohn

Freyre said the organization held an initial tryout for the program at Braden River Soccer Club in May to see if any local players were good fits. Freyre performed well enough to earn the invite. Freyre, who didn't know anyone else in PSA before joining, arrived in Meppen, Germany, on June 10.

It's a small town, Freyre said, and it looks like something out of a "Harry Potter" book, complete with tall, brick buildings and streets paved with Belgian blocks instead of concrete. Freyre said he has been taking German language lessons with the Duolingo app in order to make conversation with the locals, though younger people in the area know a bit of English. 

"My first though was, 'I'm actually here,'" Freyre said. "'I have a chance to do this.' This is all I have wanted to do for a while now. As long as I can get in, I'll do whatever it takes to make it happen."

On the field, it's up to each individual to show off his ability — and it gets intense, which is exactly what Freyre wants. 

"We're a team, but we're also playing for ourselves," Freyre said. "It feels like everyone here played in MLS Next, which is the highest level a junior player can play in the U.S. Everyone is good, and we're trying to get a contract. The competition is great, and I know I have to be at my best to stand out." 

Freyre spent his freshman season at Braden River High before playing his final three seasons with Lakewood Ranch. With the Mustangs, a program with perennial state championship aspirations, Freyre earned more playing time as he aged. As a junior, Freyre recorded 18 points (six goals) in 21 games, the third-most on a team that went 18-2-1. As a senior in 2023, the Mustangs' record fell to 11-7-3, but Freyre led the team with 35 points (15 goals). 

For Freyre, the chance to continue his career is worth spending his own money and overcoming a language barrier. Freyre was born in Lima, Peru, and leaned the game from his father, Willy Freyre, when he was 3, and played often with his friends and his family. He moved to Lakewood Ranch in 2014, but his affinity for the game never left. 

"This is my passion," Freyre said. "To be honest, I can't always put it into words. It is something that, when I do it, it makes me calm. It takes me away from my problems. I can just be me and go play and win."