For most aspiring soccer players, joining a soccer team has proven to be a very difficult task; nevertheless, joining a soccer team does not have to be a difficult process.
You need to find the right approach and seek advice from those who are already playing soccer at a professional level. When you do this, you will discover that joining a soccer team is quite an easy process.
In order to join a soccer team, you have to first be prepared, then search for any local or community team close to you. This can be done by checking local teams’ websites and talking to scouts around you.
If you do not find teams close to you, you can try extending your reach, and you have to note that joining a soccer team takes time and is not instantaneous.
How to join a soccer team?
Many people have wondered how they can join a professional soccer team. Joining the first divisions of clubs is usually one of the ways of becoming a member of a soccer team. But there are many things to be considered before you can join a soccer team.
One of the most important aspects to consider before joining a soccer team is the question of how prepared you are. There are various opportunities to join a soccer team, you just have to be prepared, and when the opportunities come, you grab them.
It might not be instantaneous and might take a while before your dream of joining a soccer team is achieved. However, you need to keep your dream alive of joining a soccer team, so you don’t miss out on any offer.
There are various soccer Academies both local and international, that are looking for players who can join their teams. These soccer Academies know that they need to allow soccer players to prove their worth.
In order to join a soccer team, there are a lot of preparations to be done and things needed, such as skills, experience, connections, knowledge, and others. Below you will be shown some of the methods that you can use to join a soccer team.
Be Prepared by Training Your Skills
Before joining a soccer team, you have to be experienced in playing soccer. Therefore, it would be unfortunate when you get the chance to go for a team try-out but get rejected because you are not up to par.
Even when you have not joined a team, you have to continue to practice your skill with friends, other players, or alone. So try to get as much experience as you can get with other players, especially older ones who already belong to a team.
Also, one of your aims is to keep improving your technical ability while you work with the ball. You aim to get better with the ball till it becomes second nature to you. Also, work on your weaker feet and skills to strengthen your adaptability and skill set.
Try out ODP
Now that your skills are up to par, it is then time to get into soccer teams. One of the ways to get into a soccer team is to try ODP. ODP means Olympic Development Program.
ODP is a US soccer program that searches for some of the best soccer players. There are national team level, regional team level, and state level. You can try it out as far as you fit the age category. You just have to pick the level you wish to play for and apply for the try-out.
When you attend ODP’s, you put yourself out there for scouts and coaches to see. Even when you are not selected immediately, you could be scouted. Attending ODP shows to pro coaches, scouts, and colleges that you are ready for joining a professional team.
Even when your performance on ODP does not meet the bar, it does not mean that your chances of joining a soccer team are barred. Instead, it increases your experience, which would expose you to team coaches, college coaches, and national coaches.
Attending and playing at ODP’s also improves your skill sets, as you have the opportunity of being under the guidance of chosen coaches.
Most important of all is that attending ODP presents you the opportunity to get to the peak of soccer, which is a place where every soccer player wishes to get to.
Aim to get Scouted
Getting scouted is one of the ways that a soccer player can join a soccer team. Scouting is often referred to as climbing the ladder to the top.
Regardless of where you play or attend try-outs, always aim to be scouted. Whether in parks or public places, when playing soccer, ensure that you show your strong points, abilities, and skills. You never know who is watching.
A beautiful aspect of soccer is that everyone has the chance to play or showcase themselves to succeed.
You have to be different from the crowd, have abilities that would overshadow other players, then perform exquisitely. There might be scouts watching you and waiting to see your potential for signing.
You have to know that your abilities have to be trained like stated above. So, for example, if you want to have impressive dribbling skills that would dazzle scouts, you have to train dribbling exercises and drills.
If you want to use speed to impress scouts, you also have to perform speed exercises or drills. You cannot be a better player by relying on talent alone; you need to train these skills.
When scouts have scouted you, you would then receive invitations to attend football academy trials and try-outs.
Like Arsene Wenger stated, you do not know who is watching you. Soccer scouts are actively searching for players to recommend. But, on the other hand, the scouts could be watching you play by coincidence and might have a good first impression of you and your abilities which is very important.
When scouts are impressed by your abilities, they will always try to contact you or anybody close to you. From there, you could get the chance to attend soccer try-outs or trials or even be directly signed.
Another way to get scouted is through coaches. If you play at your community soccer teams, you should have some contacts or know people who have valuable soccer contacts.
So if you can impress your coach at your level and show that you are better than your current level, many coaches would be glad to help you move up the ladder with their contacts.
This happens frequently; as coaches want their players to have a good soccer career and succeed, therefore they would often give you recommendations. Some coaches go as far as sending their players to soccer camps or soccer clinics so their players can show their abilities.
Get an Agent
Getting an agent is one of the ways that you can join a soccer team. However, many people are usually discouraged about getting agents because they think that there are a lot of controversies surrounding agents.
An agent’s task is to pitch you to their networks of coaches and scouts. They are quite similar to soccer scouts. An agent searches for soccer talents, and they tend to go anywhere to get them, in teams, parks, and others.
Where agents differ from scouts is that agents can take care of other parts of a soccer player’s career, like salaries and contracts.
This is where they get their fees. Agents are also capable of providing soccer players with soccer career advice. This is why they often require an upfront fee or 10% of the player’s salary.
You can sign non-exclusive contracts with agents. This means that you should have multiple agents instead of sticking to a single agent.
When you impress an agent, they will try to help you arrange for soccer scouts to watch you play and arrange try-outs and trials that would enable you to get into teams faster.
Most agents are very eager to get in contact with soccer players. This is because it is their business nature. They also succeed and get profits when you succeed, meaning everyone wins.
Most agents are of the professional level and might not be looking around low-level clubs, and this would, in turn, make it harder to get their help in joining your dream team. Agents usually help soccer players that are already part of a soccer club.
However, some persons have been a part of soccer academies and soccer clubs agents who are not searching for talents, but whenever they find someone with special abilities, they may likely help that person.
Going back to how you can get a soccer agent, agents are persons with lots of contacts. So, how do you go about finding agents? If you have finished with your college soccer or club and you want to take your soccer game to the next level, you can follow the steps below.
You should check out the FIFA registered agents list and search through the list shown. Then, choose agents based on the countries that you wish to go to for try-outs and trials.
The reason is that most agents have contacts in the countries where they are based. However, remember that the aim is to get an organization that can give you a chance to showcase your skills at the top spot of soccer.
Though there are many doubts surrounding most agents, it does not indicate that every agent is bad. On the contrary, there are a lot of soccer players that have succeeded in getting the right teams through the help of agents.
As a tip, ensure that you record yourself playing soccer, or you can record your soccer games. This will help you to contact agents through emails and send the video to them.
You would be surprised at the number of replies that you would get from the agents you contacted. This is so, especially if you played very well in your video.
Contact Teams Directly
In order to join a soccer team, one way is to directly contact the team you wish to play for. In addition, you can contact such teams during their training hours.
When you contact the teams directly, you should establish communication with trainers, coaches, and handlers. Discuss with them your intention and how you can join the team.
You can also make use of emails if you already have a good relationship with the receiver. However, contacting teams directly is usually troublesome because it can be quite difficult to build up your credibility since you are speaking for yourself.
Most soccer teams usually receive dozens of emails every single day for trial requests and other things. However, teams usually ignore a majority of these emails because they usually believe that their team scouts know the best quality of players in the market.
However, you can stand out if your email can be special among the crowd. But you have to note that most big teams are usually hard to get responses from.
You have to note that this is one of the few ways to join a soccer team. But this method is also a good chance to join a team without the need for agent fees.
Attend Soccer Camps and Soccer Trials
Over time, attending soccer camps and attending soccer trials have become important aspects of joining soccer teams. In addition, some companies take money for soccer players to play at venues where scouts gather.
You can try attending soccer camps or trials while developing close relationships with people who would help you in getting into teams. Also, ensure that you showcase your abilities to the fullest, as it would enable you to be quickly noticed.
You could speak to the organizers of the soccer trials or camps to get a better understanding of everything you need to do to get in the sights of Team scouts.
Ensure that you play College Soccer
College soccer is one way through which you can get a chance to join a team. There are coaches that scout for players through some of the college teams. Therefore, you can play at some high-level division 1 programs.
Though you can get scouted if you play at division 2 or division 3, it is usually easier to get scouted for teams from division 1 programs.
Join Academies
Another method of joining a soccer team is to join soccer academies. Academies are capable of improving a player’s chance of getting a good team for the player.
This is one of the best ways that you can join a soccer team. Academies are the ladder to professional soccer. They give players opportunities while preparing the player for challenges, and it usually increases the chance of them succeeding.
There are a lot of Academies out there; you just have to choose one that suits your preferences. First, choose soccer Academies that provide trial opportunities so that you can have a chance to showcase your talents.
One of the downsides of joining Academies is the price of academy programs. Some academies are usually very expensive, so aspiring soccer players have to ensure that they get the value of their money.
You have to decide based on the facilities and what the academy can do for your soccer career, then you decide what your best options are.
Get a Soccer Coach
Having a coach has proven to be very good, especially when you attend soccer trials. Having a personal coach would ensure that you are always put forward. In addition, your coach would know your information, with your weaknesses and strengths.
Coaches can link their players with other coaches, especially when they believe that they can perform better on a bigger platform. He would go to lengths to present you with opportunities and, in this case, a chance to get into a team.
How do I join a college soccer team?
Major League soccer relies heavily on the college draft program like other pro soccer leagues. Also, even some international scouts now recruit American college soccer players for signing or overseas academies.
Joining college soccer is a great move to transition into playing soccer professionally. The question then is how do you join college soccer teams.
Though the process of recruiting for college soccer is competitive, there are ways that you can go about it. Listed below are some of the ways that you can go about joining a college soccer team.
Talk to your Coach
As a community league, academy, or high school player, you have to first talk to your coach about your wish to join a college soccer team. Most coaches and coaching staff at all levels of soccer usually have good connections to various college programs and can clear the road for you.
These coaches can explain to you the process and how you are expected to play. Coaches can also provide an assessment and also guide you on how you can train your skills and what is expected of you to become a better college team candidate.
Also, good test scores, good grades, and being a hardworking and good player with a good personality are some of the qualities that coaches need to see.
Coaches need to see your commitment to excelling and see whether you can pass the test as a good and reliable team member.
Take College Soccer Team’s Forms
Most college soccer teams usually provide questionnaires or forms that prospective soccer players need to fill out on their websites or manually.
When you fill out the forms or questionnaires, you will become available for communication with the soccer team coach.
After indicating interest in the college soccer program of your choice, you should visit their website, then fill out the form or questionnaire immediately.
The key is usually to be early. This would show coaches of college soccer teams that you have indicated an interest in their soccer program.
Ensure that your supplied information is correct because when the coaching staff hosts camps or clinics or attend tournaments or on visitation days, you would be among those reached out to.
Have a Comprehensive Soccer Statistics and Records
Your community coach can help you in getting your statistics and records.
Usually, college soccer teams want to know the duration you have played for, the type of tournaments you have played, your player profile, game statistics such as injuries, substitutions, assists, goals, bench time, minutes played, etc.
When you show your records in an orderly manner, it would be quite easier for college team recruiters to review.
Make a Compelling Video Highlight
This is a very important aspect of joining college soccer teams. It is usually a very good asset when applying for college soccer teams.
Every year, there are many prospective players who want to get into college soccer programs, and the coaches are usually few. It then usually becomes nigh impossible for coaches to take time to review every single person.
This is where your soccer highlight video comes to play. It would give the coach a chance to see your best performances and be placed among the first to be shortlisted for the college soccer team.
Coaches usually do not have the time to see every single player. Therefore your video highlight would go a long way to get you into college soccer programs.
Though coaches might be able to see through editing, you just have to ensure that your video is compelling and stands out from the crowd.
Ensure that your actions are labeled accordingly. For example, your video should show your strengths with minimum flaws. If you are a midfielder with good free kick skills, showcase it; the same goes for strikers that can head defensively.
Conclusion
Playing soccer on a professional level is the dream of many soccer players. However, with the development of soccer, there are a lot of teams that need young talents to fill in their teams.
You have to put yourself out if you want to have the chance to join a soccer team. Attend soccer activities and other soccer events so that you can get noticed.
Try all the methods listed in this article to increase your chances of joining a soccer team.
Hi there, I’m Jay.
Soccer is everything in my life! My friends and I have created this blog with all our enthusiasm, passion, and understanding after years of playing pro soccer. Hope you will enjoy it!