Youth Prep: Getting Started
Friday, 03 August 2007
One of the biggest questions that professional soccer players are asked is, “What steps did you take as a kid to become the player you are today?” After talking with many players from MLS, these are the top answers that we heard over and over again that stood out above the rest. Practice on your own as much as possible. Play for a good club team. Participate in big tournaments that have a good draw of teams from all over. Attend quality soccer camps and participate in ODP.
Practice, practice, practice . . . Even playing for a club team that practices 2-3 times a week is not always enough. It is the players that have the dedication and commitment to go out and practice on their own or with a group of friends that tend to succeed in the end. Whether it’s juggling on your own or knocking a ball against a wall, the more touches you can get on the ball, the more you are helping yourself develop as a player. By going out and practicing on your own and doing the little things, you will find that those things you work on will carry over into your games. You will see that your touch is more fluid and consistent. You will start to read the game better. And you will be more confident in yourself as a player.
Playing for a good club team can make all the difference. It doesn’t help you at all, even if you are a great player, if you play for a team that isn’t serious about soccer. Many of the responses from MLS players said that if it wasn’t for teammates and coaches who pushed them and took the game so seriously, they would not be where they are today. This holds true at any level of soccer. The reason you look good on the field is because the players around you helping you look good. Soccer is a team game, it’s 11 versus 11, and each player has a role. The more competitive the players you play with and against, the more you will develop as a player, and the easier the game becomes.
Using this logic, you should try to play for the top teams in the top leagues in your area. Now everyone knows that sometimes that is easier said than done, and not everyone makes those teams. Just don’t be content being a great player on a mediocre team. You should try to get on a team where everyone around you is good and you have to fight day in and day out for a spot. Like I said before, it will help you become a better player and pay off in the end.
Participating in big, well known tournaments can really put your team on the map. At the youth level, this is a great chance for kids to see what kind of competition is out there and what they are up against. It’s a good measurement of where you stand as a player compared to other players of your own age from other parts of the country and even the world. Many college coaches also attend these tournaments, or send someone on their behalf, to evaluate players. Even if you didn’t contact a college coach, chances are that you have a great opportunity to be seen if you and your team do well.
Lots of times college soccer recruiters go to tournaments to evaluate a player, but see two or three other prospects that interest them as well. You might even be contacted by a school you weren’t considering, as a result of being seen by a coach or scout. So playing well in a well-known tournament could create great opportunities for you. Some of the more established tournaments include: Capital Cup, San Diego Surf Cup, Dallas Cup, Disney‘s Soccer Showcase, Adidas Blue Chip Showcase, Tampa Sun Bowl, and USA Cup. These are just some of the big name tournaments you will hear over and over again. State cup and regional tournaments are also big draws, but you can’t just register for the regional tournament, you must win your state tournament in order to be able to participate.
Participating in camps is another way great way to expose yourself to different styles of play that can greatly contribute to the development of you game. Going to a camp for one week is generally not going to make you a great player, but it will give you the opportunity to see different coaching styles and open your eyes up to other training methods that, when incorporated into your team practices, (or practicing on your own) will continue to develop you as a player. Camps are also a great way for teams to learn how to play with each other, communicate with each other, and help define systems of play that work for a specific team. Attending a camp is also an opportunity to be coached by someone new. Sometimes being coached by the same person for years and years has its disadvantage, as some coaches can only take you so far. Attending camps and seeing different points of views is very advantageous.
Last, but certainly not least, is the highly publicized and sometimes criticized Olympic Development Program, better known as ODP. This is the system we use in the United States to help us find and evaluate players at the highest level of play. The US usually chooses players from this pool to form our country’s Olympic team and National team, but the ODP process, and ODP regional and national pools, begin at the youth level. Trying out for, and hopefully making your age group’s ODP team is another great way for kids to try out against and play with players who are often on competing teams during club team play. It’s also a way for players to gauge the level of their skills, their strengths and weaknesses, against other players in their age group. For more information on the ODP process see our ODP article or go to the official USYSA ODP website.
While there are other supports such as person soccer trainers, soccer clinics, and over seas academies, for the majority of professional players we spoke with good teams, good tournaments, good camps, and ODP were, and continue to be, the most common, most available, and most beneficial supports to help you begin building your dream of becoming a professional soccer player.
Practice, practice, practice . . . Even playing for a club team that practices 2-3 times a week is not always enough. It is the players that have the dedication and commitment to go out and practice on their own or with a group of friends that tend to succeed in the end. Whether it’s juggling on your own or knocking a ball against a wall, the more touches you can get on the ball, the more you are helping yourself develop as a player. By going out and practicing on your own and doing the little things, you will find that those things you work on will carry over into your games. You will see that your touch is more fluid and consistent. You will start to read the game better. And you will be more confident in yourself as a player.
Playing for a good club team can make all the difference. It doesn’t help you at all, even if you are a great player, if you play for a team that isn’t serious about soccer. Many of the responses from MLS players said that if it wasn’t for teammates and coaches who pushed them and took the game so seriously, they would not be where they are today. This holds true at any level of soccer. The reason you look good on the field is because the players around you helping you look good. Soccer is a team game, it’s 11 versus 11, and each player has a role. The more competitive the players you play with and against, the more you will develop as a player, and the easier the game becomes.
Using this logic, you should try to play for the top teams in the top leagues in your area. Now everyone knows that sometimes that is easier said than done, and not everyone makes those teams. Just don’t be content being a great player on a mediocre team. You should try to get on a team where everyone around you is good and you have to fight day in and day out for a spot. Like I said before, it will help you become a better player and pay off in the end.
Participating in big, well known tournaments can really put your team on the map. At the youth level, this is a great chance for kids to see what kind of competition is out there and what they are up against. It’s a good measurement of where you stand as a player compared to other players of your own age from other parts of the country and even the world. Many college coaches also attend these tournaments, or send someone on their behalf, to evaluate players. Even if you didn’t contact a college coach, chances are that you have a great opportunity to be seen if you and your team do well.
Lots of times college soccer recruiters go to tournaments to evaluate a player, but see two or three other prospects that interest them as well. You might even be contacted by a school you weren’t considering, as a result of being seen by a coach or scout. So playing well in a well-known tournament could create great opportunities for you. Some of the more established tournaments include: Capital Cup, San Diego Surf Cup, Dallas Cup, Disney‘s Soccer Showcase, Adidas Blue Chip Showcase, Tampa Sun Bowl, and USA Cup. These are just some of the big name tournaments you will hear over and over again. State cup and regional tournaments are also big draws, but you can’t just register for the regional tournament, you must win your state tournament in order to be able to participate.
Participating in camps is another way great way to expose yourself to different styles of play that can greatly contribute to the development of you game. Going to a camp for one week is generally not going to make you a great player, but it will give you the opportunity to see different coaching styles and open your eyes up to other training methods that, when incorporated into your team practices, (or practicing on your own) will continue to develop you as a player. Camps are also a great way for teams to learn how to play with each other, communicate with each other, and help define systems of play that work for a specific team. Attending a camp is also an opportunity to be coached by someone new. Sometimes being coached by the same person for years and years has its disadvantage, as some coaches can only take you so far. Attending camps and seeing different points of views is very advantageous.
Last, but certainly not least, is the highly publicized and sometimes criticized Olympic Development Program, better known as ODP. This is the system we use in the United States to help us find and evaluate players at the highest level of play. The US usually chooses players from this pool to form our country’s Olympic team and National team, but the ODP process, and ODP regional and national pools, begin at the youth level. Trying out for, and hopefully making your age group’s ODP team is another great way for kids to try out against and play with players who are often on competing teams during club team play. It’s also a way for players to gauge the level of their skills, their strengths and weaknesses, against other players in their age group. For more information on the ODP process see our ODP article or go to the official USYSA ODP website.
While there are other supports such as person soccer trainers, soccer clinics, and over seas academies, for the majority of professional players we spoke with good teams, good tournaments, good camps, and ODP were, and continue to be, the most common, most available, and most beneficial supports to help you begin building your dream of becoming a professional soccer player.
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