While the aspiration might seem too good to be true for many, there are a select few who get the opportunity to become a professional footballer, to make a living from the game that they love. Reading this, you might already have an idea of whether or not this kind of opportunity could be possible for you.
If you already know that you have the skills, then it may be about finding the right opportunity to make it a career. Here, we’re going to look at how you could become a professional footballer.
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Ensure that football is your number-one priority
One of the biggest steps you have to take in moving towards a football career is recognizing that it has to become your sole top priority. There are a lot of young people willing and trying hard to become football players, and it’s only those with the most dedication, alongside the skill, who are going to be able to make it to a professional club. Not only does this mean that you have to find whatever opportunity to play at the top level available to you, but it also means that you should take the time to study the game, to understand it as more than just a player on the pitch.
Find the right place to play football
Being able to play football in any form, even if it’s just a game on the weekend with your friends versus other local teams, can ensure that you’re always, to some degree, keeping your skill sharp. However, if you want to ensure that you’re pushing the limits of your skill, and always progressing as a player, then you should find the football clubs near you at the top level that will accept you. Club and casual football clubs can be found practically anywhere in the country, so it’s all about finding the highest level that is available to you. If you’re not able to make it in based on skill, then you need to work even more on your game.
Train at all times
Part of the dedication that football demands from its players is to be in peak physical condition for the pitch. Being in the best condition during the season is vital, but keeping yourself in that condition throughout the year can ensure that you’re able to avoid slipping into bad habits that can end up affecting your chances of landing the spot that you should. To that end, you should look into all-year training programs that can help you reach the physical condition that you need, given your favoured position, Finding training plans that have the specific goal of improving your condition to ensure that you can as effective on the pitch, as well. Your training needs to be as objective-focused as you are.
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Keep up with your drills
Some of the tips we outline below, such as football training at schools and football coaches, will likely cover these drills for you. However, while you’re still waiting to get into one such program, you should make sure that you’re running those drills, yourself. Football drills build up not just the ability and agility that you need with the ball, but can have you carve the necessary muscle memory into your legs and body so that, during a game, you’re able to bring out the techniques that you want without having to actively think about it as much. Muscle memory makes such a huge difference even amongst the top level, and it’s what sets the cream of the crop apart.
Choose schools that offer great football facilities
A very large percentage of people who get into professional sports initially begin through the schools that they attend. As you’re developing as a young adult, maintaining your education makes it difficult to find the time and infrastructure to invest in your sporting potential outside of school. As such, take the time to focus on finding the best UK Boarding schools for football. These schools offer the facilities, and training, and focus on creating connections with professional clubs that can make it a lot easier to not only stay in the best playing condition that you can, but to get noticed and picked up.
Stay in coaching
Coaching is usually offered by a club that you play for or a school that you are in. However, if you’re not having your coaching provided for you by either of these, then you should look for coaching opportunities that you can grab onto, yourself. To that end, you could consider finding a coaching academy, that makes professional-level coaching more broadly available to the general public. More and more of these coaching academies have started to appear online, offering a mixture of informative video lessons as well as face-to-face time with professionals who can help you develop your game on a more one-to-one level. Coaching can make the difference between someone who is really good at football, and someone who can play on a professional level.
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Getting scouted
How you actually get picked up by a professional league team is a matter of being in the right place at the right time. Most teams at this level do not have open trials, but will instead scout players in club and casual players across the nation. As such, your best bet to get into a team is to know how to get the attention of the scouts. Playing at a club level becomes practically essential at this point, and from there, you’re trying to develop into the kind of player more likely to get noticed. This means not just improving your competitive play, and playing in the position that best suits your skills, but demonstrating the right attitude on the pitch, as well as keeping a cool head and showcasing your dedication to the game.
If you have the aim to become a professional footballer, the tips above can help set you on the right path to make your dreams a reality. However, even if you don’t make it as a player, that passion and interest can be used to work within the industry in other ways, as well.
