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Sam DeMello’s soccer year didn’t end with his hat trick and assist performance in FC Buffalo’s 5-1 win over the Michigan Stars to close the 2014 season.
Instead, the St. Lawrence graduate headed overseas to try his hand at an international career. After interest from several clubs including Paderborn Reserves, DeMello signed with Delbrücker SC of the Germany’s Westfalenliga 1.
Match-eligible for the first time as of January 1, DeMello looks to drag momentum over from his work in FC Buffalo’s 2014 home finale. We’re sure he’ll do great.
Q: How did you end up choosing Germany?
A: “I was brought over here by Ralf Huschen, who played D2 for the University of Tampa and is a FIFA registered agent.He has a business called Pro Soccer Career Management right now where he seeks to bring American players over and connect them with German teams. Proscm.org is their website. I got in contact with him through one of his former teammates who is now the head coach at University of New Haven and who worked in connection with my youth club. He became a good friend of my father’s when he was the head assistant at UMass. This offer came up after my senior year at SLU but after injuries I put everything on hold for a bit.”
Q: How’s everything going?
A: “I’m living in Paderborn which is a city of about 150,000 people. SC Paderborn 08 is newly-promoted to the Bundesliga this year and their reserve team is in our division as well. I trained with their reserve side at the beginning of my stay here in Germany but their budget was already allotted at the start of their season as I arrived in mid-August after finishing the season with you guys at FC Buffalo.
“Delbrück is about 15 min away. Ironically, Delbrück had an open spot in their budget for a player as one of their players just recently travelled to us for work so they were able to sign me. It’s a club with good history as one of its former coaches is now the coach of Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga.
“I am hoping that I can contribute. It’s a very long season after all. I’ve been training here and I’m getting used to the style of German football. Everyone naturally has good skill and knowledge of the sport which makes the games very tactical and competitive. As well the chance of promotion and relegation adds an exciting element to the season.”
Q: What did you take away from your couple months with FC Buffalo?
A: “I enjoyed my time in Buffalo, although it was short. It was always enjoyable playing in front of good home support. I wish I could have helped us win more games, but I was very thankful to both you and Murph for giving me the chance to play solid minutes as I was coming off an injury. Fc Buffalo was definitely a big part of helping me regain my fitness before I came over here to Germany. It really was just what I needed from a personal standpoint and I will always wish you guys the best in the future.”
