Introduction
It’s not a secret that most of the youngsters while growing up, dreamt of playing soccer with a professional club. However, not many of them get the chance to do so because they aren’t aware of principles on how to become a professional soccer player.
As per stats, only 1.4% of players who get to play for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) have the chance to become professional soccer players. Likewise, less than 1% of the children who start going to any European football school by the age of 9 stand a chance of becoming a pro soccer player.
Becoming a soccer captain is indeed tricky as the odds are low but fret not because this is where we will help you. Today in this blog, we’re going to give you some handy tips on how to be a footballer. Continue reading to find out more!
Contents
Which System is more suitable for Becoming a Pro Player? The USA or Europe
You must be aware that the way players get selected in the US, and Europe is a bit different. So, for your convenience, we are going to compare both of them to find out which one is more suitable.
USA
In the US, soccer players get the opportunity to complete their education while they’re training to become famous soccer goalies. If they’re lucky enough, they could secure a scholarship that brightens up their chances of becoming a professional soccer player and pursue their careers while completing their college degree.
Likewise, players who fulfill high school soccer coach requirements get picked up by great high school teams or USSDA teams that provide them with good opportunities for playing in college. However, if a player isn’t lucky enough to avail any of these opportunities, then the chances are relatively low that he’ll be able to pursue professional soccer player education requirements.
Europe
On the other hand, in Europe, soccer players get more opportunities to start playing a professional game from a very young age. But what it takes to be a footballer is teaming up with any of the official youth teams that professional football clubs have.
Most of the high-level clubs generally provide accommodation to their players so, they can train on how to start a professional soccer team and live with the club’s official team members. However, these clubs’ main problem is that they don’t care about the student’s future.
As long as the student is advantageous to the club, they’ll keep him; otherwise, they’ll turn him out, helpless. Because of this reason, professional clubs usually take-in a large number of students fulfilling high school coach requirements, and then after proper screening, only the professional players remain.
Therefore, to become a pro footballer, you have to be in the battle for survival 24/7.
Comparison
In simple words, only a few of the players can make it on how to become a soccer player and learn how to start a professional soccer team as soccer captain.
5 out of every six signed players get dropped out before the age of 21. Even though the European system may seem more opportunistic to people who’re trying to learn how to play professional soccer but one thing that shouldn’t be ignored is that these players usually don’t get the proper formal education.
Therefore, when they’ve dropped out, they are devastated. Another great option for students who want to know how to become pro soccer players is to join high-performance soccer/football academies.
High-Performance Soccer Academies: A Better Option
Know how many professional soccer teams are there? Well, all of these are the outcomes of efforts by high school soccer coaches. Luckily, another great option is available for the students in America and Europe and that is getting enrolled in some high-performance football/soccer academy. These academies are solely dedicated to football training on how to become a professional soccer player.
Therefore, students present here have high chances of pursuing a career as a professional player. These academies are mostly boarding schools that keep students on their premises and then train them for everything including training on how to become a soccer coach.
Moreover, unlike unofficial youth teams of professional clubs, these academies are not associated with any professional football club, so they focus solely on their students’ performance and teach those techniques on how to be a soccer player.
Consequently, the students receive the best possible training from these academies that not only greatly help them become top-notch players but also train them how to be a good soccer coaches. Even those student players who aren’t too outstanding to make it into a professional club and earn money via playing football. These academies try their best to adjust such students to some semi-professional clubs so they can still earn some money from playing soccer.
How to Get into High-Performance Academies
Although such academies are quite expensive to attend, they increase your chances of learning how to play professional soccer. Nevertheless, different ways are using which you can easily get into these high-performance academies as you must be aware that they’re quite strict in screening their students.
Three ways are using which you can get enrolled to how to be a footballer at a high-performance football academy, and they are:
· Summer Camps
· Winter Camps
· Day Trials
Using these three means, students can see how life in the academy is like. Every year these academies conduct full academy trial programs that last for two weeks mostly. The duration of these trials varies from academy to academy, but they serve as an entrance trial which means that the students who perform well during these trials get a chance to be enrolled in these prestigious academies.
How to Become a Professional Footballer in Europe?
Learning how to be a soccer coach and how to be a footballer in Europe isn’t as difficult as it might seem. Europeans start their pursuit to become a professional quite early. Many clubs intake students as young as six years old and train them to become professional players and become soccer coach. European players typically start their journey by playing for their local clubs.
With time, these young players get the exposure and those with potential are selected by the top-of-the-line clubs. In this way, the time when these players reach teenage, they’re so good at their game that successful clubs engage them.
Likewise, players between 13 to 18 years of age also get a chance to join high-performance academies and using which they can carry out their dream of becoming a pro player. Another good option for people living in Europe is to get enrolled in any good football clubs that offer boarding facilities. This way they can train and study side by side. Check out the guide on best suitable goalie gloves for your kids here.
How to Become a Professional Soccer Player in America ?
The path of becoming a professional soccer player in the US is quite straightforward as all the players are selected through the MLS Super Draft. However, to be invited to play in the MLS Super draft is the real challenge. By using the following three ways which you can get invitation.
· Playing in the MLS Combine.
· Playing as Generation Adidas player.
· Nominated by an MLS team.
The MLS combine is the showcase of top-tier athletes and geniuses from Division 1 college students. If the students are brilliant enough to impress the coaches and scouts, their good days start. Similarly, the MLS offer Generation Adidas contract to students that are brilliant players. Likewise, different MLS teams can also nominate top-notch young players to play at the MLS Super draft, providing an opportunity to other MLS for drafting them.
Final Words
Although learning how to become a soccer coach and how to be a footballer isn’t an easy journey but if you stay persistent and follow your path with zeal you can become one.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the ratio of getting soccer scholarship successfully?
Well, saying honestly, the chance of getting soccer scholarship is quite low. Statistically, 50% of the students successfully get some scholarship. Out of which only 2.8% get it in D1 and D2 academies. Consequently only 1.4% out of that 2.8% gets a soccer scholarship.
Is it worthy to try High school soccer teams?
Yes, absolutely! Many of the soccer players playing for high schools are now playing in National Women Soccer League (NWSL) and Major League Soccer (MLS) every year.
At which age can I start soccer?
It is the best practice to start drilling at the age of 3-5 years. It will not only develop their interest in the game but also help them in learning skills like running, kicking and scoring.
For how much time should a player practice his game a day?
If you want to be a professional football player, then it is necessary to sketch out a routine of 5-6 hrs football practice, 5 days a week, and follow it religiously.
