2022-05-23, 08:40 AM - Word count:
Back when Sebastien Pelletier originally registered for the SSL entry draft, it wasn't even public knowledge that there would be a team in Paris - all that was known at the time was that two expansion teams would be joining the league. The idea of moving to a different country wasn’t completely foreign to him: as a child, every once in a while his family would move to Latvia for a couple of months - usually during the summer, when the school year was over - to visit relatives (Fun fact: his cousin, Teodors Skalbergs, is a professional hockey player in the SMJHL!). However, Seb had spent the past few years in France, and this would be the first time he’d be moving by himself. Though he didn’t know where he’d end up yet, he had already started preparing for the move - and then the new expansion teams were announced, and one of the two immediately caught his eye.
Association Sportive de Paris.
Paris was a city close to Sebastien’s heart (putting him in the minority of non-Parisian French people that don’t despise the city and everything to do with it). It was where he fell in love with football, it was where he learned to play football like the best. Several days per week, he would take the one and a half hour long train ride both ways between his hometown of Rouen and Paris just to go to practice. And when it was announced that the SSL would have a team in Paris, Seb realised that, though moving somewhere else would be a nice change of pace, staying home and playing for the team that represents his home country in the world’s only truly global football league would be just as incredible. Of course, the odds of him ending up at ASP weren’t that high - after all, there were 11 other teams in the draft who were also looking for their future stars.
In the weeks leading up to the draft, he was contacted by team managers from all over the world - teams like Sydney, Athens, Tokyo, Paris (of course) and a couple others. He felt that the conversations with the managers had gone pretty okay - but he wasn’t sure if any of them would actually take him - and that feeling of uncertainty came with him into the draft. The first round passed, and Seb hadn’t been picked yet. He was expecting this, though - from the conversations he had with the managers it didn’t seem like he would go particularly early in the draft. Every time it was Paris’s turn to pick, he would silently hope it would be his name that popped up on the screen - but that didn’t come in the second round either.
Paris had the first pick of the third round - 25th overall - which they had acquired from fellow expansion team Adowa Accra. Seb thought “Surely, this must be it. This must be the one. I know I’m good enough to be picked here, their manager seemed like a smart guy, I’m sure he knows I’m good enough as well.” And indeed, he knew.
And just like that, he was a Parisien. He hugged his parents, went up on stage, shook the manager’s hand, and put on the jersey with the Arc de Triomphe on his heart - the jersey that he would wear for, hopefully, years to come. The time to celebrate was short though - as just a couple days later, it was already time to start training with his new teammates. No one knows what the future holds, but whatever happens, might as well make the best of it.
Association Sportive de Paris.
Paris was a city close to Sebastien’s heart (putting him in the minority of non-Parisian French people that don’t despise the city and everything to do with it). It was where he fell in love with football, it was where he learned to play football like the best. Several days per week, he would take the one and a half hour long train ride both ways between his hometown of Rouen and Paris just to go to practice. And when it was announced that the SSL would have a team in Paris, Seb realised that, though moving somewhere else would be a nice change of pace, staying home and playing for the team that represents his home country in the world’s only truly global football league would be just as incredible. Of course, the odds of him ending up at ASP weren’t that high - after all, there were 11 other teams in the draft who were also looking for their future stars.
In the weeks leading up to the draft, he was contacted by team managers from all over the world - teams like Sydney, Athens, Tokyo, Paris (of course) and a couple others. He felt that the conversations with the managers had gone pretty okay - but he wasn’t sure if any of them would actually take him - and that feeling of uncertainty came with him into the draft. The first round passed, and Seb hadn’t been picked yet. He was expecting this, though - from the conversations he had with the managers it didn’t seem like he would go particularly early in the draft. Every time it was Paris’s turn to pick, he would silently hope it would be his name that popped up on the screen - but that didn’t come in the second round either.
Paris had the first pick of the third round - 25th overall - which they had acquired from fellow expansion team Adowa Accra. Seb thought “Surely, this must be it. This must be the one. I know I’m good enough to be picked here, their manager seemed like a smart guy, I’m sure he knows I’m good enough as well.” And indeed, he knew.
With the 25th overall pick in the Season 4 SSL Entry Draft, AS Paris selects Sebastien Pelletier, Midfielder.
And just like that, he was a Parisien. He hugged his parents, went up on stage, shook the manager’s hand, and put on the jersey with the Arc de Triomphe on his heart - the jersey that he would wear for, hopefully, years to come. The time to celebrate was short though - as just a couple days later, it was already time to start training with his new teammates. No one knows what the future holds, but whatever happens, might as well make the best of it.
