Advice for Young Aspiring Pros
Over the past few years I’ve been fortunate to have been introduced to and worked with several professional coaches, players, owners, general managers, etc. in the world of football (soccer). I’ve worked as a consultant to Professional soccer organizations in the US, and Europe, I’ve helped build professional clubs and worked in various roles within the sport.
I’ve learned some incredible lessons from those conversations, and recently had the chance to pass on some of that wisdom to a high level player, looking for an opportunity to play in 2021. As you can imagine the COVID pandemic that has ravaged the globe has had a big impact on the business of professional soccer. Like many, players have lost jobs, opportunities have been shut down or are limited. Leagues across the country and globally have reduced teams, and even shut down completely. In many countries the lower levels are shut down completely as the financial realities of playing without fans is too much to bear.
SO WHAT ADVICE DID I HAVE FOR A YOUNG SOCCER PLAYER LOOKING FOR A POSITION AT A NEW CLUB IN 2021?
The first question I would ask is do you know where the opportunities are?
If you are a left back, a striker, a goalkeeper do you know what clubs are looking for those roles? If not, why don’t you know? What’s keeping you from obtaining this information?
If you really want to find a job, shouldn’t you also know who’s hiring, and what they are looking for? Many clubs have open tryouts, and invite only tryouts, do you have a calendar with those listed? Do you have them ranked by which ones are the best fit for you?
Obviously your chances of making a professional club are far greater if you were invited vs. randomly signing up, but an opportunity is an opportunity. Put your ego aside, do the work, find the opportunities and prepare a plan a system to attack it. Is this a guarantee of success? Of course not, there is no such thing. How often though do we attribute someone else’s success as luck, or having more money, connections etc. and don’t pay attention to the years of work it took for them to get there. We build our own list of excuses rather than confronting the realities or really opening our eyes to what it takes to be successful. It is easier to have an excuse, or rationale for why it won’t happen or didn’t happen for us than to face the realities or take the actions we really need to take. Don’t believe me? Even Lionel Messi says:
“It took me 17 years and 114 days to become an overnight success.”
Ok, so you are ready to start.
I’ve talked about systems in the past so let’s build one. I asked previously, do you know where the opportunities are? Let’s start their. What sort of information should you find? If you are a goalkeeper does it make sense to go to an open tryout at a club that already has the goalkeepers signed? If you are an attacking midfielder would you go to a club’s tryouts who’s 2 or 3 best players play that role now?
The answer isn’t simple. It might make sense to test yourself and find your level, or solicit feedback from specific coaches etc even if the chance of making the team isn’t great. Your personal budget has an impact on how much you can or are willing to travel, etc. Get creative, negotiate, think outside the box.
Do your research and find the best opportunities for you. Find out who you already know at those clubs, what do you know about their style of play. How do you fit in? Do you fit in? Do you have contacts who were there previously?
Again, if you really want to play then throw out the excuses, be humble and do the work. It’s not just about talent, skill or how hard you are working at the gym. Everyone is fit, everyone has skill.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Start reaching out. Build a plan and system just as you do for training that allows you to build relationships, make daily contacts. Make creating opportunities a part of your daily/weekly process. Building your career shouldn’t be something that is done all in one burst. It should be a daily part of what you do, a consistent habit that is part of your greater system.
General managers, technical directors, and coaches receive emails daily from would-be, aspiring professionals, or out of contract pros just like HR professionals receive hundreds of resumes. The task of reviewing, etc. is difficult. Often they are passed through other people to help weed them out.
Most of these emails probably look something like this:
Hello _____,
My name is _____. I’m a GK, Striker, etc. from (insert country, passport or green card status) and recently played for X, Y and Z, or currently play for (insert club name). I have also represented (country), etc. I am reaching out to see if there is an opportunity to get a trial with your club, or I think I would add value to your club and would love to play for you this season. I have attached my (resume/cv) along with some highlight films.
YouTube links
Transfer Market Link.
Thx,
Player Name
General Managers, Coaches etc. get this same email every day. They get hit on Facebook, WhatsApp, Linkedin, Instagram, Twitter and any other medium players and agents can find to contact them. Most emails from players look the same. They include a CV, a few YouTube highlight videos, some basic stats (height, weight, etc.) and sometimes a bit of commentary.
The better ones try to connect to the club in some way, although most are very generic. Maybe they add I’ve reviewed your club’s project and think I would fit in nicely. Again, it's a nice touch, but still very generic. With very little difference between the letters the question becomes how do you cut through the noise? How do you stand out from the crowd?
It may not be true for everyone, but as I see it if you aren’t willing to do the work to see what a club needs, to build relationships or paint a picture about why you are relevant to that club you are leaving it up to the club, the GM, the scout/admin reviewing or whomever receives your email to make the determination. That means your generic email will do very little to move me. It might be an incredible video, but why should I click that link in the first place?
You might say I just need an agent. I’d suggest you take a look at this post by Brandon Miller. In it he makes a great point when he says:
“If you’re paying people to work for you, set expectations and make sure they are met. Sitting around hoping that people are getting things done for you is a passive way to find yourself in a situation you’re unhappy with 2–3 years down the line.”
Many agents send just as many random emails saying they have X player that would be a great fit for your club. They are the same generic email that players send. Every time I received one of these emails I thought, “Why didn’t they do a little research? Do I really want to look at this one or should I just pass it on to someone else?” Often it becomes more work and time is already a precious commodity. This is an important concept to consider.
THIS SEEMS TO HARD
Humans are hardwired to take the path of least resistance. A Forbes article by Caroline Beaton says “A University of College London study put it bluntly: We’re Lazy.” That same story points out that in a psychological study published in eLife they said “Imagine you are in an orchard, trying to decide which of the many apples to pick. On what do you base your decision? Most research into this type of decision-making has focused on how the brain uses visual information - about features such as color, size and shape - to make a choice. But what about the effort required to obtain the apple? Does an apple at the top of the tree look more or less tempting than the low-hanging fruit?”
As you can probably guess the low hanging fruit is the choice that we almost always make. Our brains are hardwired to take the path of least resistance and convince us that the low-hanging fruit is really the ripest. Which option do you think we are more likely to take? As something gets harder how likely are we to take that choice? We are naturally hardwired to take the easier choice. So why does understanding psychology of decision making matter too would be professional soccer players?
SIMPLY PUT: BECOME THE LOW HANGING FRUIT.
Running a soccer club is a difficult task. Putting a team on the field is just one of many pieces to running a club. The best clubs are also concerned with the culture they are building, the experience for the fans, the community impact, they have a style, a player profile that fits, staffing models etc. The highest levels are likely using things like xG or other metrics and tools to scout and find players.
Lower level clubs however typically do not have the luxury of complex systems, data rooms etc. so rely on a network of relationships, etc. to help funnel them players. Sometimes that is via agents, but only those that are trusted and consistently present high quality players. For most US clubs it’s through relationships with current and former players, coaches and other friends in the game. It’s just easier if someone you trust, and value their opinion is telling you about a player. The more consistent someone’s referrals work out, the more trust they get, and subsequently the easier it is for the coach or GM to find players. If humans are hardwired to see the “low hanging fruit” how can a player use that to their advantage?
Build relationships, do the research, find the pain point and paint your picture to solve that problem. Become the apple at the bottom or the tree. Start building your process now, does it include understanding when, and where the opportunities are? Are you finding other ways to stick out from the crowd. Maybe that’s your ability to market a club via your own social media, maybe it’s your ability to connect to your community. Maybe it’s that all of your teammates recommend you. These little things compound, they spread, they build a reputation and make your job easier. Maybe they give you just the edge you need to become the easy pick, the low hanging fruit.
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Thanks for reading
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