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How to Become a Professional Soccer Player

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It is ever soccer fan’s dream to become a professional soccer player. If you’re in your teens and you want to start a career in soccer – or if you’re helping your kids reach for their dream to be one – then this article is definitely for you. Starting a career as a professional Soccer player is not as difficult as you may think. You just need to start early and use these tips we are about to discuss in this post to get started.

Train Hard & Train Smart

The main thing you need to start a career in soccer is the right set of skills. Aside from athletic prowess, you need to be willing to spend time training your soccer skills regularly. There are several ways you can do this, but the easiest way to get started is by joining a soccer school or a training camp near you.

Having a professional and experienced coach helping you with the first few steps of your journey really helps. You will be able to pick up the right training regime to stick to as well as various insights and guides on how to pursue the career you want in this sport.

You can also connect with the right people. It is not a secret that talent scouts and managers often visit soccer schools, colleges and other training camps to find new talents to recruit. That brings us to our next point….

Play Soccer in College

College soccer is the best entryway to professional soccer. The college soccer scene in the United States sits under the NCAA and has an annual championship league called the College Cup. Shining as a player and team member while playing in the league is your gateway to professional soccer. Many great players who played the College Cup ended up continuing to play for the best teams in Major League Soccer once they were done with their studies.

You can also pursue a scholarship and use your soccer skills to get you through college. Organizations like Athletes-USA offer many scholarship programs and opportunities to explore. Every college in the United States has a soccer program and there are a lot of options to choose from in terms of scholarships and grants.

Market Yourself

One last thing to keep in mind is to market yourself as a player. Unfortunately, this is the one thing that many aspiring – and talented – soccer players often neglect. In order to be recognized, you need to be willing to spend some time and market yourself.

Get in touch with coaches, build a strong network of influential people and don’t hesitate to develop a strong online presence. The only way you can get drafted is by letting others – especially those in the MLS – know about you and your soccer-playing abilities.

Even the simplest things, such as starting your own YouTube channel and making soccer videos, can help show off your skills and enable others to get to know you better. Use these tips – and the previous ones we talked about earlier – to jumpstart your career and help you be that much closer to becoming a professional soccer player.