Hejda Allihop

Hej Allihop,

My name is Greg Rosenthal or Rosie for short. I'm currently living in Uppsala Sweden, and have been playing football for Gamla Uppsala Sport Klub (GUSK) for almost a year now. My club is located in Gamlis (old) Uppsala along with Gamlis' famous Viking burial mounds. Gusk currently plays in Division II, and taking third place last season we aspire to move up to Division I.

My football career started in St. Paul Minnesota when I was about six or seven years old. My Mom and Dad had me play with a recreational team called GRC. It was a new sport to me, and I actually found it troublesome understanding the concept. At that age it seemed like both teams formed a blob that was kicking and running after a ball. After a while I started to really enjoy football and eventually became very passionate about the game.

It helped having two brothers to always play with. We would be in the backyard for hours playing world cup, wall, pig, or just juggling. There was no greater competitiveness than brother rivalry. My older brother AJ always pushed me, and I always pushed my little brother Brian. Playing in the backyard with my brothers was the most fun I had playing football.

I entered the competitive level when I was eight with the St.Paul Blackhawks. Then within a ten year span I played with many teams moving from club to club, switching from position to position, and searching for the most competitive leagues. At this point it became my personal goal to reach the professional level. Each team shared an important roll in my development towards becoming a professional. I had the opportunity to play with some great organization in my youth like Bangu, Eagan, Twin-stars, St. Paul Central High, ODP Region II and for college the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. Playing for all these teams throughout my youth also gave me the opportunity to make some great friends including my fellow MNfutbol bloggers Van Hong, the Gibbo's, and Sippola.

Signing with Gusk in 2011 as a left/center back was such a gratifying moment in my life. I was very proud to reach my goal after so many years of hard work, and it opened many door for my future in the game. I'm still very passionate about football, and look forward to proving myself at this level.

In the past year playing with Gusk I've been written about a couple times in the local UNT newspaper, and also was voted Division II top defender. I will put some links in for you below, although everything will be in Swedish. Google translator works, but is not the best, so there will be some amusing translation. I look forward to sharing my football experience with you all.

hejda,
Rosie