While the sight of U.S. male teenagers popping up at academies in Europe is becoming more common, it’s still a rare occurrence in the women’s game.

There are ample reasons for that, from the differing pathway to pro soccer, labor laws restricting movement from the USA, to name just a couple of them.

Mariner Headrick, a prospect at Atlético de Madrid, offers a rare exception.

In 2012, her family moved from the Bay Area to Spain – specifically Madrid – and Headrick has worked her way up the ranks at Atlético de Madrid. Currently part of the Juvenil A team (Under 18) she plays in the Preferente Femenino Juvenil league.

It wasn’t a case of popping up in Madrid and immediately joining the La Liga team’s academy either. When she first moved to the Spain at the age of eight, she started playing for her school’s boys’ teams; not many girls that age played soccer, so she tried out and made the team. When coaches and scouts in the area saw her play, they encouraged her to try out for Atlético de Madrid Feminas.

That’s provided a much different soccer development pathway than she would have received in the United States.

“Atlético de Madrid has really built my confidence in my technical ability along with my mental decision making on the field,” Headrick told TopDrawerSoccer in an email interview. “I have learned to utilize my strengths to the best of my ability and put myself in positions where I am confident and comfortable.”

A versatile attacking player, Headrick says she can play anywhere across the front three, whether as a No. 9, right or left wing and even dropping into the attacking midfield spot underneath the forwards.

Playing soccer in Spain, the emphasis on her development has centered on the technical and tactical parts of the game, which blends with a competitive mindset Headrick brings to the field. One of the biggest differences between her experience with Atletico de Madrid and how it would look playing club soccer back home is the overall goal of the academy.

“A top club like Atlético de Madrid is structured and designed to develop their players professionally,” Headrick explained. “Therefore, developing within the Atlético de Madrid system towards the first team, year after year you acquire the skills necessary to meet the expectations and requirements to go professional. It’s very demanding and every year the pressure builds, but my experience has made me both mentally and physically very well prepared for the pros or college.”

Headrick remains on an academic pathway as well, taking classes at a competitive high school in the Madrid area and is in an International Baccalaureate (IB) program. She’ll graduate in 2022.

While she’s spent the bulk of the past nine years in Spain, Headrick did return to live for the 2017-18 school year in the U.S., moving to Seattle where she also trained with Crossfire Premier. Before moving to Europe, she played with San Francisco United.

That’s allowed her to see some of the contrasts between a massive club like Atlético de Madrid and what the experience is like back home.

“Every team I have been on has had at least three dedicated coaches per team in addition to goalie coaches, physical trainers, and an entire physical therapy team within their academies,” Headrick said. “If you're hurt or have an issue, you have an entire team of physical therapists/doctors on-site to assess and help. There are tremendous resources available to players along with the facilities having multiple fields and stadiums. I am sure it is like playing on the pro or DI level in [the] USA.”

Headrick has also seen the explosion of women’s soccer in Spain during her time there.

“Atlético de Madrid was one of the first to create a top women’s program and now seeing so many more top teams in the leagues has been amazing,” she said. “It is an incredibly exciting time to be in Spain as a women’s player. Apart from more girls playing, more and more Spaniards have accepted that fútbol is a sport for both women and men, leading to more people encouraging young girls to play with their support. Girls have real mentors now and the some of the best coaches in the world supporting their development. As well, TV networks are broadcasting the women’s games for free and there are a lot of incentives being giving to women’s teams to encourage continuous growth and expansion.”

Before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, Headrick said she went to an Atlético de Madrid matchup against FC Barcelona – another La Liga team to offer significant support of their women’s team – that attracted over 60,000 fans.

Academy players on the women’s side are offered similar opportunities that are available to the boys’ teams. Everything from training methodologies, game analysis and interaction with the professional players are available to Headrick as she’s grown and developed with the club.

Of course, like for so many others, the past year has been challenging. While Headrick is back playing with the academy, the experience of the pandemic and lockdown were very hard.

“I will never forget leaving Atlético de Madrid’s facilities on a Tuesday night and getting an emergency alert on my phone saying go home immediately and stay there,” she said. “We were in lockdown in a small apartment in downtown Madrid for over 100 days and could not even go on streets and struggled to coordinate getting food. We were all so scared because the hospitals were overwhelmed and families we knew were gravely affected. Spain was hit so hard, especially Madrid.”

On a track to become a professional player with Atlético, Headrick is keeping her options open. In 2022, she could very well return to the States to play in college, like her older brother Gannen, a freshman on the men’s soccer team at Columbia.

But she’s taking a measured approach.

“So much is happening in Europe with women’s soccer, but right now I am just focusing on being my best self both on the field and in the classroom this year and next year,” she said. “That’s as far in the crystal ball I can see right now…”