\u201cI felt like a brick wall had just fallen on to my chest,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Kleinsmith\u2019s ambitions began early. After receiving a Zlatan Ibrahimovic jersey as a 6-year-old, he knew he wanted to become a professional footballer.<\/p>\n
\u201cA club that I feel made a big difference for me was playing for Tauranga City,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Throughout his youth, Kleinsmith spent four years at the club and played small-sided games at school every lunchtime. This allowed him to improve enough to earn a move to the Wellington Phoenix Academy at age 13.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt proved to me that I was good enough for a professional academy; they believed I had the potential to eventually be a pro,\u201d he said. \u201cI felt on top of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Football in Estonia was faster and more physical than what he was used to in New Zealand, Jacob Kleinsmith said. Photo \/ Kristjan Praks<\/p>\n
Kleinsmith spent four years in professional development in the capital. From there, he was chosen to attend a football showcase in Dallas, in the United States, and afterwards received the opportunity for a professional trial in Estonia.<\/p>\n
After impressing during the trial, he began his professional football journey abroad, signing with FC Elva.<\/p>\n
Kleinsmith admitted he had to do some quick research on his future destination.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first thing I did after this was look on Google Maps where Estonia was because I had no clue,\u201d he revealed.<\/p>\n
Moving from New Zealand football to Europe brought a new challenge for Kleinsmith, with the 18-year-old quickly discovering the intensity of the Estonian game.<\/p>\n
\u201cFootball there was faster and more physical than what I was used to in New Zealand,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Off the field, adapting to a new language, culture and surroundings also forced him to become more confident in his own decision-making.<\/p>\n
Despite the challenges, he created memories that will last a lifetime, with one moment standing above the rest.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy highlight was definitely scoring my first professional goal in front of the home crowd, which was a feeling and moment that I don\u2019t think I will forget for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carrying the Bay of Plenty with him overseas was incredibly meaningful for the Kiwi abroad.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough my pathway may not have been straightforward or how I wanted it to be, I am pleased that I can hopefully influence others that, if you continue to believe in yourself, even when others don\u2019t, you can take yourself a long way.\u201d<\/p>\n
With his only European connection in Ireland, Kleinsmith moved there following the visa decision.<\/p>\n
During his five months in Estonia, the memories built were enough to continue chasing professional football: \u201cPlaying in front of stands packed with people, scoring professional goals, and representing my family\u2019s name on the back of my shirt while playing has kept me motivated to dream of this happening again.\u201d<\/p>\n
For now, Kleinsmith\u2019s next destination is undecided. A move back to Estonia is on the cards, while Ireland\u2019s terrific culture is reason to consider beginning a new chapter there.<\/p>\n
For Jacob Kleinsmith, the dream is far from over.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI felt like a brick wall had just fallen on to my chest,\u201d he said. Kleinsmith\u2019s ambitions began…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":813362,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,388278,596,5587,39615,26050,388277,2877,33372,85,58877,319],"class_list":["post-813361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-estonias","tag-football","tag-from","tag-jacob","tag-journey","tag-kleinsmiths","tag-league","tag-professional","tag-sports","tag-tauranga","tag-to"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/813361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=813361"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/813361\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/813362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=813361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=813361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=813361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}