Raising an International Soccer Star (Part 1)

Alina is the mother of Watford FC Academy star and U14 Romanian national team invitee Mark Baldovinescu who we previously interviewed. We have gotten to know Mark and his family quite well ever since Mark showed up to our open call event in London last May and stapled himself as one of Skillmasters’s all-time top performers. For 10 years, Alina has remained committed to doing everything necessary to help provide her son the best opportunity to succeed in soccer. We wanted her to share her experiences and wisdom to provide insight into the world of parenting a star youth soccer athlete.

When did Mark start playing soccer and who made him fall in love with it?

Mark has always been in love with the ball, like any other baby or toddler. One day, at around 18 months old, I caught him in our living room on his tiptoes tapping constantly preparing and thinking how to kick the ball from our living room out into the hallway through the door space. He looked like he was calculating angles, the spot he should hit the ball in and the power to put into it. He was very carefully going forward and backwards a few times before he was kicking the ball. I also noticed that he only used his left foot, which immediately made me think there’s something special there. I Googled football for 18 months olds and “Little kickers” came up and there we went soon after that. 

What was the trial experience like as a parent watching your child try out for such a historic academy like Arsenal’s?

We kept him playing soccer in local private set ups like “Supers skills” or “Excel Sports”, local kids soccer teams. We never thought of proper established clubs. We were just enjoying watching him playing and dribbling with other children of his age.  

At 5 years old, we booked Mark in a local soccer camp for a full week. In that camp, his skills and physical aptitudes were noticed by the organizer who happened to be an Arsenal scout. Soon after that, Mark started training at the Arsenal development center.  After only 4 months, he was moved to the Arsenal Pre-Academy with the U7 age group, although he was only 5 and half years old. 

Arsenal or any other well-known established club was something we couldn’t have imagined happening. It never crossed our heads that things could become so exciting and serious. 

What role have you taken on in Mark's life as he goes through the ebbs and flows of a grueling soccer season year in and year out?

Beside being his parents, we have become his drivers, his supporters, his home coaches, his psychologists, mentors, nutritionists, personal physical trainers in the gym, swimming and athletics.

What's your communication with Mark like relating to his soccer career?  Do you prefer to be involved as much as possible, or do you trust Mark's coaches/trainers will manage all soccer related activities with Mark's best interest in mind?

Our football communication with Mark is a constant. After almost 9 years, Mark’s football gradually has become the center of our daily life, which is not ideal, and we shouldn’t have allowed that to happen, but you don’t know it until it has happened and you feel already caught up in it and unable to get out of it. 

Our discussions can be all sorts from encouraging, to motivating, to unpleasant, to firm, to relaxed, etc. It depends on the reason for discussion, reasons like wins or loss after games, his performance impacting the results of the games, his focus, his commitment, his effort put into different aspects and at different stages of his soccer journey.

Our involvement is 100% and any decisions we need to take, we take them together with Mark. He is still very much attached to us in everything he does.  So, Mark’s soccer is our family’s main subject and priority.

How do you think it differs to be the parent of a star youth player compared to being a parent of a casual youth player?

Well, Mark has never been a casual player, he never played for a recreational team, as he was scouted at a very early age. I wish he would have had some grassroots experience, as I am sure there are benefits to grassroot clubs in helping form and motivate players so that they never go back once they make it into a formal youth club.

It’s a very good feeling obviously to be a parent of a formal youth academy player, but there are times when it hurts because as a parent you need to not show your sorrow to your child and act positively like this is the normality and should not affect us more than it should. Being in this journey is amazing but at the same time very hard all around mentally, physically and emotionally. 

You must be receiving a lot of constant outside input from others who think they know what will be best for Mark and his career.  How do you manage the noise?  How do you understand when someone is true in their intentions and not potentially hiding ulterior motives? 

We have been warned by Mark’s academy about that, and until now we knew not to listen to others or take any actions based on outside advice. But, the time to listen and take action is now approaching and it is kind of scary. We have heard all sorts of stories about going in the wrong direction, and of course you don’t want to fall in those same traps. The madness starts at U15s for those keeping it up at the top performance levels.  We are not there yet, but not long until we get there. 

The 2nd part will be posted on Tuesday, July 17th