Become a Professional Soccer Player

Football (or soccer as it is known in Canada, the United States, and Australia) is one of the most popular sports in the world. People love watching professional athletes kick the ball around. If you want to become a professional player, you need to have a love affair with the ball. This means constantly playing soccer or kicking the ball around by yourself. This passion and drive to play is the most important thing to become a professional. Understand what else it takes and expect challenges along the way.

Steps

Committing Yourself to the Game

1. Devote yourself to soccer. It is this love for the game that will drive you to become a professional soccer player. Passion will help you push through the negative and challenging moments. Professional soccer must be something that you want to do. Don't do it because it's expected of you, or because it's someone else's dream.
   • If you want to be a professional player in today's market, you have to be fully committed. Every inch of your being needs to be determined to play. If you are hedging your bets, you won't be as good of a player as you can be.
2. Know the sport inside out. Learn as much about soccer as you can. Read books, watch matches and DVDs, and talk with great soccer players. Ask them about their tactics and what they've found helpful as they have climbed the ranks.
   • Have a solid understanding of what famous soccer players have done to succeed and their signature moves.
3. Train a lot and improve yourself as a soccer player, both physically and mentally. Train everyday, make time to train, time to play the beautiful game, because at the end of the day you only get one shot.
   • You can improve your dribble skills and reflex by seeing yourself as the only hope on a play ground and making up a player to dribble through your imagination; then make use of your favorite moves in dribbling your imagination. 
4. Start playing soccer at a young age. Don't worry so much about playing on a team early on. Get your friends and parents to play soccer with you as much as possible from an early age. Shift to playing in organized youth teams some time between the ages of 5 and 14.
5. Train regularly. Attend training camps as early as possible. If your club or association of clubs offers training camps, summer camps, etc., make use of these. You'll feed off the enthusiasm and competitiveness of other players. You'll also learn a lot in an intense, short period of time.
   • Get involved in organized games as early as possible. Try to get into matches and tournaments that represent your school, region, state or country at the youth level.
6. Practice by moving through graduated levels. Choose a school team, local club, or district team that you can attend regularly and that has a good coach. The best option would be an academy, known for grooming young players to become professionals. Continue with youth teams every year, progressing to more competitive and selective teams every time you level up.
   • Eventually, move from youth teams to scholastic and collegiate teams. Then move to amateur and semi-professional level teams and clubs. Climb the levels gradually, being sure to play against senior players. If you're in the USA, aim to get into a college that has a top soccer program in place.

Meeting the Challenges

1. Work hard and practice a lot. Focus completely on training to become a professional. You'll need to practice nearly every day, regardless of the weather. You'll also need to balance practice with your studies or even part-time work. It is the practice, the daily dedication, that will develop your talent and hone your skills.
   • If you're a parent of a child seeking to become a professional player, your own level of dedication must be enormous. You may need to transport your child to games, buy soccer gear and membership fees, talk with coaches, help with informal practice sessions, or boost your child's morale. You might even coach youth soccer.
2. Be patient. Accept that turning professional is a gradual process. You'll continue to learn, build your technical skills, learn soccer knowledge, make good contacts with other people.
   • Look for professional development programs and see how you can become a part of these. Ask your coach or club mentors for advice on what's available.
3. Assess yourself as a player. After you've played for a while, seriously look at your skills. Find out what position your innate skills are best suited to. When working this out, don't just think about yourself. Think about how your skills feed into your teamwork, and how your strengths fit into the game as a whole. It's important that you are exceptional at what you do because there is a lot of competition.
   • Seek your coach's honest opinion about your strengths and your chances. Learn from your coach's suggestions about possible ways to improve or hone your natural talent.
4. Strive to be the best in your level. If you're not, make an honest assessment about how you can improve your skills or if you need to shift to a different position. You should also be able to prove that you're good in games. Be consistently good and show that you can deliver every week, not just once in a while.
   • If you're the outstanding player of the week every week, you're on the right track.
5. Communicate. Soccer is a team sport and good communication is vital. Prove at all times that you are good at communicating. Use your manners, express yourself clearly, avoid unruly or angry behaviour on the field, and be a team-player.
   • A player who is too much of an individual player, or refuses to communicate properly, is a liability on a team and not likely to go far.
6. Get in shape. Your fitness levels matter in soccer. Exercise regularly, eat a healthy diet, and avoid substances that can impair your performance, such as alcohol. Get enough sleep every night. It is also important to learn how to try to stay injury-free. Learn how to play well from the start and how to keep in good physical shape by stretching and exercising.

Preparing to Become a Professional Soccer Player

1. Continue to train individually. Even when you're not at the club, practice your skills alone or with friends and family members. Try to get good experience with older players as often as possible. Aim to improve your technical ability at all times. Work with the ball until everything you do with it seems like second nature. Work on your weaker skills too, to strengthen your skills-set and adaptability.
2. Be strong mentally. Playing professional soccer is uncertain and unstable. Prepare for short-term contracts, the risks of injury, and inevitable aging and loss of skill. These realities can create feelings of insecurity and burnout. Public exposure can be overwhelming if you do make it to the top. This can be tiring and even lead to depression.
   • Consider seeing a sports health professional or sports psychologist to develop coping strategies if you don't already have these skills soundly in place. Learn early that it's okay to talk things out with someone you trust rather than keeping worries bottled up inside.
3. Use your club. Clubs might hold trials or talent days. They also tend to rely on the network they have in place to spot the best players and refer outstanding players onwards.Involve yourself in all important tryouts. Make the most of these opportunities by meeting as many people as possible, exchanging details, and following up on leads.
   • Ask about how or whether your club encourages talent scouts to visit your club.
4. Know what a talent scout is looking for. A scout might appear at any time to check out your team. A scout will watch your entire attitude, not just your ball play. You'll be watched for character as much as talent. Show your team spirit by helping your team mates. Show your ambition and competitiveness, but don't be mean.
   • You should also show that you can be calm and focused under pressure. Remember to play your best at all times. You never know who's in the crowd.
5. Be prepared to move often. Clubs and agents will expect you to move quickly to meet their wants, without caring much about your personal life or the long-term prospects for your career. Be fully prepared for this and continue to focus on your soccer skills.
   • Before you move, consider: how often you'll be playing, if you speak the language of where you'll be moved, if the pay is adequate, if the club is challenging and has a good reputation, and if there is good medical treatment if you would become injured.

Tips

• Be fearless. Don't let your thoughts or nervousness get in the way—dribble and shoot the ball as if you were playing a competitive game with a friend.
• Practice your weaknesses in the game, like shooting or passing with your left if you're right-footed and the other way around if you're left-footed. Being left-footed especially is a great advantage as it will be hard for right-footed footballers to tackle you.
• Never get discouraged. Skills and ability are subjective and one coach might say you aren't good enough while another coach might think you are great. You only need one coach to believe in you.
• Keep your head in the game and dedicate your game time to thinking only about soccer. You have plenty of time to discuss other things before and after games.
• There are online databases for registering yourself as a player. This way, scouts and others can look for you. Using a search engine, do a search for "online football recruiting".
• It is important to share your hopes and dedication with your family and friends so that they can both support you and facilitate your training. Talent scouts will often want to meet the family if you're still young. This gives them an idea of your background and your family's level of support.
• Get plenty of practise. Dont let your weaknesses get in the way. For example, if you are right-footed try shooting with your left foot, or the other way round.
• If soccer is everything to you, well play it professional . Everything is possible. Dont stress if u start playing at a late age, most athletes start playing the sport they stick with in highschool or college. Most importantly never ever give up no matter how hard it is, you have to risk anything and everything to achieve your goal. And believe me hard work does pay off . You just have to really want something to be willing to do everything and anything for it. Your dreams won't get here unless you make them reality.
• Never give up!
• Don't drink alcohol or take drugs because some of the best don't drink because it will affect them.

Warnings

• Keep your distance from alcohol and drugs. It will only make you want it more, and will likely reduce your performance in your career.
• Injury is an ever-present reality with professional sports. Do your best to avoid injury but expect it too and seek appropriate insurance and health advice. Most likely players will tackle you and you will get hurt.

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Sources and Citations

See also

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• Juke or Dodge a Defender in Football (Soccer)
• Be a Better Football (Soccer) Manager
• Improve Your Game in Soccer
• Play Soccer
• Dive in Soccer
• Be Good at Soccer
• Be a Good Central Midfielder in Soccer
• Become an Advanced Soccer Player
• Dribble Like Cristiano Ronaldo

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What links here

• Become an Advanced Soccer Player
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• Be Good at Soccer
• Be a Good Soccer Striker
• Become a Football Coach
• Juke in Football