It is often referred to as the land of opportunity.
Perth footballer Morgan Miller certainly hopes that will be the case when he embarks on his American adventure in the coming weeks.
The former St Johnstone youth prospect has netted himself a scholarship at St Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas.
He was originally planning for a summer switch but the chance has arisen to make the move earlier.
Morgan, who thanked Global Sports Recruitment for their help, is excited about what the future holds Stateside.
“Over the summer I was thinking about football and was missing it,” he said.
“Since November, I wanted a change and to see the world for a bit of life experience.
“I got contacted by St Mary’s and they seemed keen. I sent over a couple of videos of me playing and they were interested.
“I didn’t think I’d be going until August but one of their players has signed professional.
“It opened up for me and the last week has been a bit of a whirlwind. I’m hoping to go out within the next couple weeks.
“One thing that really attracted me towards America is how motivated and driven they are.
“Some people think when you get released, injured or leave a club, it’s the end. But there is a whole world out there to experience.
“It’s going to be a positive environment where you can enjoy yourself.”
The standard, Morgan expects, will be of a high level and one where he feels he can develop further. He will be playing NCAA Division Two football.
“There will be Brazilians, Spanish, Portuguese. I think it’s going to be a really good standard,” said Morgan, who plans to study sport and exercise science.
“The goal is to do as well as I can football-wise, plenty of goals and assists. Hopefully I can make it pro in the USA one day.”
Morgan (20) grew up in Saints’ youth academy alongside the likes of Ali McCann, Cammy Ballantyne and Ross Sinclair. He moved on to Forfar before injury resulted in a break from the game.
“I signed with St Johnstone when I was 12 and went to the SFA performance school, St John’s High School in Dundee, for three years,” Morgan explained.
“I was training with the under-20s a couple of times a week. Ali McCann was in the same team, Ross Sinclair and Cammy Ballantyne.
“I hit a bit of a growth spurt at 16 or 17 and had problems with my knees.
“I ended up getting injured and took two years out of football. I focused on my studying and did a personal training qualification.
“Injury maybe stopped me from progressing. But I don’t have any regrets. I don’t look back on anything like that.”
There will be one obstacle to overcome when the summer months roll around - the searing Texan heat.
Considering Perth has been blanketed by a layer of frost for the majority of the past month, it will certainly be different.
“I’m coming from Scotland and minus two so it’s going to be tough to adapt to the heat initially,” smiled Morgan. “But I’ll get there.”
