April 29th, 2021 I made the decision to start a scouting project. I published one of my first posts on a profile I created to showcase my potential as a football scout. The player I wrote about was Adrian Justinussen, impressive stats for someone playing in the Faroe Islands. Today, he plays for the Danish second-division club Hillerød. Maybe not my biggest discovery, but still a player with solid numbers even in Denmark’s second tier.

But let’s not dwell on that, it was only the beginning. Back then, you could count on one hand the number of people who truly believed in my success. With a modest playing career, even fewer connections, and in a country where scouting is at its lowest level, where even today I find myself explaining what a scout actually is, I knew the road ahead wouldn’t be easy. But I believed in my ability.

I knew I needed time to prove what I was already certain of, time that, in those moments, was very hard to wait for. The focus wasn’t on collecting followers and likes. My only goal was to showcase quality. But in today’s world, those two things often don’t go hand in hand, instead of quality, other things tend to rise to the surface. We see it all the time. Still, I chose to believe.

Transfer windows came and went, great moves were made by players I discovered and posted about on the page. First contacts started appearing. I met people from all over the world. Sure, there were many dishonest ones too, but I was prepared, I knew the football world had plenty of people willing to do anything for personal gain. Even then, I kept believing that quality would prevail over quantity, good over bad.

It’s been three full years since I created the profile dedicated to scouting. It later grew into a broader page where I could explore this field further, both through writing and other forms of content. That’s when the more serious offers began to come in. At first, there were offers from various agencies and agents who wanted help with their work, but I didn’t see myself there, not in a context where everything was about making money. I was searching for something where my work would have deeper value beyond just financial reward. Money was never the main motivation in my life, and I never expected it to be in my dream job either.

Until the opportunity with NK Istra 1961 came along, I didn’t feel like I belonged, even in clubs offering decent conditions. Now, three months into my role as an official scout for a professional football club, from attending matches across the country, a memorable away win against Hajduk in Split, to traveling to Nigeria and scouting youth tournaments, watching raw diamonds, I’ve experienced strong professional, personal, and even family-like relationships within the club.

I can honestly say: what I’m doing now is the fulfillment of a dream — or as the Americans say, a dream job.
As posted on NK Istra’s official profile:
“The future belongs to those who believe in their dreams.”
And I believed in mine.

29. april 2021. godine, odlučujem se za projekat skautinga. Pravim jednu od prvih objava na profilu koji sam zamislio kao sredstvo da pokažem da imam dara za posao fudbalskog skauta. Adrian Justinussen je igrač kojeg objavljujem i o kojem pišem, sjajne statističke kolone za fudbalera koji igra na Farskim ostrvima. Danas je član danskog drugoligaša Hillerøda. Možda to i nije moje najveće otkriće, ali i dalje bilježi odlične brojke i u drugoj ligi Danske.

Ali nećemo se zadržavati previše na tome, to je samo početak. U tim trenucima, na prste jedne ruke mogli su se nabrojati oni koji su vjerovali u uspjeh. Fudbalski skromne karijere, sa još manje poznanstava i u zemlji u kojoj je skauting na najnižim granama, gdje i danas objašnjavam ljudima šta je skaut, bio sam svjestan da put neće biti lak. Ipak, vjerovao sam u svoj kvalitet.

Znao sam da mi je potrebno vrijeme da pokažem ono u šta sam bio siguran. Vrijeme koje je u tim trenucima bilo teško čekati. Fokus mi nije bio na skupljanju pratilaca i lajkova, jedini cilj bio je prikazati kvalitet. Međutim, u modernom svijetu to često nije dovoljno; umjesto kvaliteta, često isplivaju neke druge stvari, to svi veoma dobro znamo. Ali ja sam, uprkos svemu, nastavio da vjerujem.

Smjenjivali su se prelazni rokovi, nizali se sjajni transferi igrača koje sam otkrivao i objavljivao na stranici. Pojavljivali su se prvi kontakti, upoznavao sam ljude širom svijeta. Bilo je i dosta neiskrenih, ali bio sam spreman, znao sam da u svijetu fudbala ima mnogo onih koji su spremni na sve zarad ličnih interesa. Ipak, vjerovao sam da kvalitet ide ispred kvantiteta, a dobro ispred lošeg.

Prošle su pune tri godine od pravljenja profila posvećenog skautingu. On je vremenom proširen u stranicu koja će i tekstualno i na druge načine dublje obraditi ono čime želim da se bavim. Tek tada su krenule ozbiljnije ponude. Već u samom početku bilo je ponuda od različitih agencija i agenata da im pomognem u radu, ali nisam sebe vidio u tome, u kontekstu čiste zarade, priče o novcu. Tražio sam nešto više, prostor gdje ću osjetiti veću vrijednost svog rada od puke finansijske koristi. Novac mi nikada nije bio glavni motiv u životu, pa nisam očekivao da to bude ni u poslu iz snova.

Sve do pojave priče o meni kao skautu NK Istra 1961, nisam pronalazio sebe čak ni u nekim klubovima koji su nudili korektne uslove. Sada je već treći mjesec otkako mogu reći da sam skaut fudbalskog kluba, od praćenja utakmica u okviru moje države, preko gostovanja i pobjede nad Hajdukom u Splitu, do puta u Nigeriju i skautiranja na turniru, gdje sam gledao nebrušene dijamante. Sve to prate odlični ljudski, poslovni, a mogu reći i porodični odnosi unutar kluba.

Slobodno mogu reći da je ono što radim ispunjenje snova, ili, kako bi Amerikanci rekli, dream job.
Kao što je objavljeno na zvaničnom profilu NK Istre:
„Budućnost pripada onima koji vjeruju u svoje snove.“
A ja sam vjerovao u svoje.