Professional football and business

Sport and education have always gone hand in hand in his life. Jan Hlavica is now a stable member of the A team of the first-league Zbrojovka Brno, but if his professional career were to end for any reason in the future, the native of Olomouc has a back door ready. He studied business at an American university and continues to educate himself in his free time. What did he learn in Florida and what captivated him in this environment?

What was your adolescence like before you went to university in America?

I studied at a sports gymnasium in Olomouc, played youth football for the local Sigma. There I also experienced the combination of education and sport for the first time, which I enjoyed. I was never purely oriented towards football, even though I played it at the highest possible level at that age. When I didn't make it straight to the A-league after moving to adult football, I didn't want to just play in the lower league, forget about school and rely on doing well and getting into the first league.

What did you study?

I learned about the possibility of studying in America, I started to find out more information about it and decided to go for it. However, the process was very demanding and took many months. I had finished high school, so in the meantime I first enrolled in a language course for half a year, and then for a year at the University of Mining, Technical University in Ostrava. I studied a similar field, which I wanted to study at an American university, so that they would then recognize some of my credits. However, before I got overseas, two years had passed since I graduated from high school.

You were 21 then?

Yes. The age made everything easier. (laugh)

How did you choose the university? What was important for you?

I was applying for a sports scholarship that would cover my tuition, so I was interested in schools that had a quality football program and offered that type of scholarship. Along with that, I was interested in a business focus in terms of academics. So those were the main criteria. In the end, three schools in different divisions failed my filter. In the end, Florida won, as they offered me the best conditions, they were good at football, and I was also interested in the field of study, so this university met all three criteria.

Did you get a full ride?

Yes, I only had to pay for textbooks for the first year, and even though they cost an order of magnitude more than regular books in the Czech Republic, it was a negligible item. Over the years, I had no problem defending my scholarship. I maintained my performance on the field and good grades in school.

What was the change for you, leaving home, family, and friends at the age of twenty-one and embarking on such an adventure to the other side of the world?

The change was huge. I understood everything in English, but the vocabulary was passive at first, so it took a while before you could speak. I heard hints about my accent, my teammates jokingly nicknamed me Ivan Drago. The biggest problem was at the level of everyday communication. In the first few months, I couldn't talk to people in a relaxed manner, respond the way I would in Czech, and actually even argue with anyone, because I probably lacked the vocabulary to support my arguments. Fortunately, after a few months, you get used to it, it improves, and things get much better.

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As a Czech, how did you perceive cultural differences and different mentality?

Connecting all kinds of cultures was a big topic at first. I lived with guys from England, France and China, it was a great experience and meeting a big world with different opinions and cultural differences. I understood that it is necessary to be open to everything and not come into ordinary debates or joint functioning with a firm conviction and opinion like I was used to for the previous twenty years.

What did you study?

My major was Business Administration. The basic idea of ​​the entire study was entrepreneurship. We learned about how to build a business, how to build a successful company, how to properly lead people, set up a corporate culture, and so on. I enjoyed it immensely and it was very beneficial to my life. During my studies, I started an internship at a Venture Capital firm and was able to immediately apply or at least immediately understand a lot of the knowledge I had learned from school. During my studies and years in America, I was able to at least partially absorb the American entrepreneurial mindset. In this respect, the school gave me a perfect foundation for life. The additional subjects I chose were also interesting, I studied psychology, sex education, or religion for half a year. These subjects enriched me as a person.

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And how did you do in soccer?

I didn't have high expectations at first, but surprisingly it was great. At that time, football was still developing in America, they had much more popular sports there. I was lucky with the coaches, we had an English management team and it is well known that for the English, football is literally a religion, which was also noticeable. The level was high, which actually pleasantly surprised me. I had to train hard the whole time and took it as a big challenge. I also had a lot of teammates from Europe and it was very close to what I experienced in the Czech Republic in terms of the concept of football. There were also similar stories of those players, for example, a teammate played in Germany for Mainz, another in England, but like me, they didn't make it to the A-teams from the youth categories, so they chose this path. We didn't want to grind our way through the sport and wait for a chance that might not even come, but we wanted to continue playing at a high level. The opportunity to study football, get a quality education, and only after graduation decide whether to pursue sports or a career or business was very advantageous for me.

Did you make it into the starting lineup?

Basically, I was a solid part of the team from the beginning and practically didn't leave the field during those almost three years, so I was doing well.

You studied 3 years?

The soccer season is played in the fall, and the first spring I found out that soccer was almost not played and the team was just going to the gym. So after the second fall semester I went back to the Czech Republic, where I played in the third league and studied online, while doing an internship. So in total I studied for five semesters and managed to complete the entire four-year degree during this time, because they recognized some of my courses from a Czech university.

What were your next steps?

I returned to the Czech Republic. I originally thought about pursuing an MBA and continuing to play football in America, since I was eligible for one more college season. But in the end, I wanted to come back and try my luck in football here, and I also got an interesting offer for a part-time job at the company where I had previously interned. It was about investing in startups, which interested me.

Where did you end up playing?

I played in the third league for Líšeň. In the first full season we managed to advance to the second league, I became the captain and after the season I received an offer to go to the first league. I was twenty-five years old at the time and I felt ready to move into fully professional sport. So for the last three years I have been playing for Zbrojovka Brno.

Considering what you studied and your background, what are your plans for your football career, or after it ends?

I am now primarily focused on my football career. Sport and education have always coexisted in my life, and at certain stages one category has always prevailed. I am sure that this will continue to be the case. I am now playing in the highest Czech football league, so my focus is mainly in this direction and it would probably not be possible otherwise. However, in my free time I do not spend time playing video games, but I am interested in investments, I try to develop and draw information from the world of business so that I do not miss the train. In case something suddenly goes wrong with my career, I would be able to switch to the world of business. I currently see a university degree and some work experience as a possible path after my career as a professional athlete ends.

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Can you look beyond the horizon to see what such a business life might look like? What would you like to do and what would you do for a living if you stopped playing football?

I haven't decided yet what field I'll go into after my active career ends. I can imagine combining my business knowledge with the world of sports and staying in this bubble. But I also enjoyed the venture capital field during my internship. As soon as I feel that my career is coming to an end, I will of course start exploring those options much more, but for now it's completely open.

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Would you recommend studying at an American university to other Czech athletes?

Certainly yes, that path worked for me. I see it this way, that even if a sports career doesn't work out, a person has other options to apply themselves in life and succeed, perhaps even much more than they could succeed in a given sport. Leaving their family for a few years and going into such a different environment is of course not easy. But if a person can handle it, they will return as a strong personality. If they then take it to the right end and apply what they have learned here, they should succeed.