"The Road Back to the Game"
By Dmytro Strelkovskiy
I was born in the small, beautiful town of Ukraine — Lubny, a place where the football pitches weren’t always flat, but the dreams were real. Like many kids there, I started playing football before I really understood what the game meant. Back then, it was just fun. I was seven. But by eight, it had already become something more.
That’s when I was selected — along with a few others — to join a team in Poltava, about 200 kilometers from home. It felt like a big opportunity, and it was. But at that age, I didn’t realize how hard it would be to live in a boarding school, away from family, surrounded by boys — some of whom had no one. Their sadness wasn’t something I fully understood at the time. I do now.
While I was living in Poltava, my mother moved to Cyprus. In 2004, she brought me there too, hoping for a better life. New country, new culture, new language — but one thing stayed the same: my love for football. I joined Aris Limassol and gave everything I had until I turned 17.
Then the system hit me.
Just two months before my 18th birthday, I found out that, as a non-European, I wasn’t allowed to play without a professional contract. And since Ukraine wasn’t in the EU at the time, and the club already had its quota of foreign players, I was left out. They chose to give the contract to someone older, more experienced. I was 18. I didn’t stand a chance.
Nobody asked, “Should we try another country?” or “What’s the best option for Dmytro?” So I stayed. I trained with the first team but couldn’t play. Eventually, they released me — quietly, with no explanation.
But I didn’t quit.
For more than three years, I trained 4–5 times a week. No matches. No fans. Sometimes not even legally. I studied Business Administration. I worked hotel shifts — early mornings, late nights. My sleep was broken, my nutrition poor, and my confidence fading. But deep down, I still believed there was a way forward.
At 22, I signed a six-month contract in the Cyprus First Division. That changed everything. It officially gave me European player status, which meant I could now play in the second and third divisions as well. I was finally back in the game — maybe not where I dreamed, but I was playing.
But the reality was tough. Long work hours. Tired training sessions. No rest, no balance. My body showed up, but my mind wasn’t always there. That’s when I started searching for answers — answers the football world had never given me.
I studied obsessively. I researched performance. I experimented on myself. I started to understand the game on a deeper level — physically, mentally, and emotionally. I earned certifications in Strength & Conditioning (ISSA), UEFA B License, Workload Management, EXOS, and Functional Training. I transformed the setbacks of my career into a system of growth.
At 27, I made one of the hardest decisions of my life: I stopped playing professionally.
It wasn’t easy. The transition hurt. I questioned myself. I had sleepless nights. But slowly, something new began to take shape — my method. My philosophy. A complete system built on everything I had lived, learned, and overcome.
I call it SMS-N-PSP:
- Stability – Stay injury-free and balanced.
- Movement Technique – Learn to move efficiently.
- Speed – Train explosiveness in every step.
- Nutrition – Fuel your body with purpose.
- Psychology – Master the mind, not just the moment.
- Stamina – Build the engine to last 90+ minutes.
- Physicality – Get stronger. Move smarter.
Today, I am more than just a former player.
I am a builder. A coach. A lifelong student of the game — not just the tactics, but the struggle, the silence, the human side of it. I know what it feels like to be left out, overlooked, doubted. But I also know what it takes to rise — quietly, persistently, with everything you’ve got.
And somewhere, in a small town like where I began, a kid picks up a ball.
And the journey starts all over again.