I was 15 and played in one Football Club in Berlin and was in the squad of the U16 –National-team of Ukraine when one of my Dads best friends, Anatoly Korobochka, called us. At the time he lived in Scotland and was the Sports director of the professional team Heart of Midlothian FC. He done a lot of good things for my parents and helped them move to Germany many years ago.
As already mentioned my Dad was also a professional football players and at the end of his career he got an offer from Germany: He had the honor to represent the military team of the USSR in Germany. It was such an honor as only the best players of the USSR received such an offer. The coach of Team was Anatoly Korobochka .
Back to me. Anatoly’s call was regarding me, he asked about my plans in the autumn holidays. I had nothing planed, so he invited me to visit him in Scotland. I fell in love with the city right away. The harsh weather, the funny people, the atmosphere, that beautiful Nature, everything amazed me. Moreover, I was allowed to train with the U19 of Heart of Midlothian. There was a training game and I got off to a convincing performance, so that the former coach Darren Murray was thrilled with me right away. He spoke to the U23 coach, who wanted me to train with the U23 the next day so he could make himself a picture about me.
I trained with them and had a very good day. Me as a 15 – year old could hold up with the 23 years old men. Of course this impressed the former u23 Coach Angel Chervenkov , ( it turned out that 7 years later he became my coach in Sevastopol, this just shows how small the world can be) . The next day I trained with the 1st team of Heart of Midlothian. Many people were impressed by the Denis Prychynenko from Germany. On the day of my departure Anatoly called me and said: „Denis, people love you here; in a few days you will get a call from the coaches and in a few weeks I will fly to your home and will offer you a contract.“ He kept to his words and it was the perfect timing. It was one of the points in my life where I asked myself: how everything should go on with my career in Germany. I had to take action and also risking a big step into the unknown .
My Motto: If you are unhappy with the place and rang you are, change it. It’s easy – you’re not a tree!
I finished the school year in Germany and flew alone to Scotland in the summer. It was a brave step that only a few would have done at my age. It wasn’t just a semester abroad, it was a completely new life without my family in a foreign country. I was only 16 and never been abroad alone for longer than a week or so. But you all know the saying: Nothing ventured, nothing gained. It turned out to be the right decision. In Scotland I signed my first professional contract, was elected the u19 player of the year, made my professional debut, extended my contract, won the Scottish Cup in front of 60,000 spectators and became a man in Edinburgh.
Of course I would have nothing and be nobody without the support of my parents and sister who visited me regularly in Scotland. Although they were not with me for long periods of time, we saw each other every day, thanks to a great technological progress. Skype was like a window between my parents’ home in Germany and my home in Scotland. The conclusion of this adventure turned into another of my rules, the fourth:
Understand that for big love and big success you need to take big risks.
denisprychynenko 