When you see that one of your children excels in a sport such as soccer, it is very possible that you are wondering how to help him to become a professional soccer player or at least to encourage him to try and bring out his full potential, not only in soccer but also in his motivational side. In many of these cases, parents feel a lot of pressure when they have to boost their child’s skills because they don’t know how to do it correctly.
Parents’ fears are common. Some parents know nothing about the process a child goes through to become a professional player, others fear that if their child is too focused on their professional soccer career, they will forget the importance of their education.
In this article we are going to look at the whole process of helping your child become a professional player and also discover the best option for children to continue their studies while training at an elite soccer level.
How to help your child become a professional soccer player
You’ll find the basic steps to help your child become a professional soccer player below. Read on for more information and tips on each step to help your child become a professional soccer player.
- Plan and visualize the path to becoming a professional soccer player.
- Send your child to summer camps in your home country and abroad (Ages 5-12).
- As they approach adolescence, don’t sacrifice their education for soccer training.
- Consider sending your child to a high-performance academy in the United States or Europe.
- Decide between the United States or Europe.
Plan and visualize the path to becoming a professional soccer player
There are many ways to become a professional soccer player and depending on where you live there are different ways. There is a big difference in the path a professional soccer player must follow in Europe and in the United States, for example.
Learning about how European and American soccer players have made it to the pros is how you really get a better idea of the types of elite training your child should participate in . Therefore, learning about the process is the first step.
Below we will look at a comparison of the paths to becoming a professional soccer player in the United States and Europe:
The pathway to playing professionally in the United States
- Ages 5 to 9: have your child join local teams that travel with good coaches and have good connections.
- Ages 9-12: have him join his first USSDA team and work hard to become one of the best in his region. Try to have him attend soccer camps abroad to broaden his knowledge of the game.
- Ages 12 to 17: Have him join the FC Barcelona High Performance SoccerAcademy in Arizona, USA, for 1 to 4 years.
- Ages 15 to 18: Try to have him connect with college coaches and take college tryouts and tests to gain recognition. Consider having him train at a High Performance Soccer Academy in Europe for 1-4 years to expand his knowledge of the game.
- Age 18 to 21: Have him play at a Division I college with coaches who know how to get into MLS and have a history of training professional players. Have him prepare to be invited to the MLS Combine (make connections with college coaches and MLS coaches). Or be prepared to be signed by “Generation Adidas”, play professionally at first and then be able to attend the MLS Superdraft.
- Age 21-22 (maybe earlier): go to the MLS Superdraft and try to get selected to play professionally.
The path to play professionally in Europe
The path to playing professionally in Europe
- Ages 5 – 9: Your child should play for local teams or play for local official youth teams of professional soccer clubs. Attend summer soccer camps affiliated with big club teams to improve their skills.
- Ages 10 to 15: From ages 10 to 15, players can continue to play on smaller local youth teams without residencies, or they can join larger youth teams at more successful soccer clubs that have residency options.
- Ages 13 to 18: Elite youth soccer players have the opportunity to join high-performance soccer academies. Although more expensive, high performance academies are the safest option for students who have the potential to become professional soccer players.
* Consider joining a high-performance academy in the United States so you can earn soccer scholarships, study and compete at a U.S. university.
- Ages 16 to 21: At the age of 16, players are already eligible to sign professional contracts. Soccer clubs sign professional contracts with players on their youth teams because they believe they can play for the club’s first team or because they can loan or sell these players to other clubs for a considerable profit.
Send your child to summer camps to nurture their passion and define their talent
Elite youth soccer players between the ages of 5 and 12 should be exposed to as many soccer players and coaches as possible. This exposure makes them more well-rounded and versatile players .
It is especially important that your child be exposed to different coaches. Each coach is likely to have a slightly different perspective (sometimes a drastically different perspective) about your son’s natural strengths and weaknesses. As a result, each coach may see him or her excel at different positions on the field.
By allowing many coaches to train your child at a young age, your child is more likely to try new positions and styles of play. They will learn to adapt to the styles of play demanded by their coaches as they grow older and join more serious teams.
In addition, by being exposed to different positions on the field, your child will become a well-rounded player with extensive knowledge about all positions.
To make sure your child is exposed to many different coaches and playing styles at a young age, it will always be a good idea to send them to summer soccer camps where they will meet different coaches, players, playing styles, coaching styles, etc.
Finding the balance between studies and training to become a professional soccer player
When your child reaches their teenage years (around age 13), their soccer training becomes more intense. At the same time, their studies also become more complicated.
It is very important not to downplay the importance of your child’s education. We know that becoming a professional soccer player would be a dream come true for these children, but only a small part of the most talented players have the chance to become professional soccer players.
Of course, it’s important to help your child reach his or her full potential on the soccer field and, hopefully, help him or her become a professional soccer player. But it’s even more important to make sure they also receive a top-notch education in case their plans fall through.
High-performance soccer academies: striking the balance between education and elite soccer training
High-performance academies seek to bring balance to young soccer players who have the potential to become professional players.
They are essentially boarding schools for high school students. Except that, unlike regular boarding schools, these schools are designed to turn talented young soccer players into professional soccer players.
At the same time, they place great emphasis on education and developing a young person’s character, not only as a soccer player but also as a person. Therefore, even if your child is away from home at a high performance academy, they still receive sufficient guidance from teachers, coaches and academy staff to ensure that they become responsible and respectful young men.
Send your child to a high performance academy in the USA
Whether in Europe or the United States, sending your child to a high performance academy in the United States might be the best option to help them become a professional soccer player.
The U.S. education system does a great job of incorporating sports to ensure that athletes participate in sports training as a supplement to their education. However, whether or not your son has the opportunity to earn a college scholarship and/or become a professional has a lot to do with how good the teams in his area are.
If the local teams in his area are not known for being strong and winning competitions, your son will likely not be exposed to many scouts and, therefore, will not be offered scholarships or other opportunities that can be crucial.
Get them to compete at an advanced level, catch the attention of scouts and get them a college scholarship
High-performance academies offer the perfect solution to the problem. They only accept elite athletes and only compete with the best teams in the country. Therefore, competition is guaranteed to be fierce and the kids in these academies are constantly receiving visits and attention from scouts.
Likewise, since these academies are like boarding schools, they can accommodate students and accept students from all over the world. This means that, talented soccer players, who attend high schools and do not receive attention from college coaches can join these academies to get the elite training, tough competition and scouting attention they need to become professional soccer players.
Send your child to a high-performance academy in Europe
You can also help your child become a professional player by sending them to a high performance soccer academy in Europe.
Spain is the BEST choice for choosing a high performance academy in Europe and has a very high success rate in terms of producing professional soccer players.
Established stars such as goalkeeper Keylor Navas of Real Madrid, Oliver Torres of FC Porto and player Berta Pujadas of Real Club Deportivo Español, along with a long list of successful professional and semi-professional players have gone through this academy.
There is also a large high performance academy in the United Kingdom that has educated and trained players such as Calum Jahraldo-Martin, who plays in the English second division of the English league, or Emmanuel Oyeleke, who currently plays for Aldershot Town in the English National League.
The traditional youth system in Europe neglects the importance of education
There are many opportunities in Europe to play soccer at an advanced level. Many players join the youth teams of official clubs at a young age in the hope of moving up through the ranks and eventually signing with the first team.
These clubs offer residences for their students and have agreements with private schools so that students can train and receive an education at the same time. The clubs place great emphasis on training, but are notorious for neglecting the students’ education in favor of their professional sports careers.
In addition, soccer clubs always work in their own self-interest and offer little guidance to individual players. Therefore, if a player is good enough to become a semi-professional player, but does not have the skills to earn money for the soccer club where they train, they will be released without support or advice.
Fortunately, there are already other, safer options to help your son become a professional soccer player in Europe.
Train at an academy that values education and offers personalized advice
High-performance academies offer the perfect solution to the problem of the European youth system. Therefore, they could be the best option to help your child become a professional soccer player in Europe.
High performance academies place great emphasis on the education and development of the child’s character and personality. Also, as they are generally not affiliated with any specific club, they always work in the best interest of their students and offer them their best opportunities as professional or semi-professional soccer players according to their style and level of play.
In case you send them to an academy in the United States or Europe – Exploring the results
Europeans can join high performance academies in the United States and likewise, Americans can join high performance academies in Europe.
High performance academies in Europe have more connections to European soccer leagues. For example, the high performance academy in Barcelona has more connections and produced many players for the Spanish soccer league. The high performance academy in the United Kingdom, on the other hand, has more connections and produces more players to compete in the English Premier League.
The high performance academies in the United States have more connections to U.S. universities, where players can earn scholarships and compete with U.S. universities before entering MLS (Major League Soccer).
You should decide which academy you want to send your child to depending on the outcome you want to achieve.
how can Ertheo help you as an Education and Sport agency?
Ertheo is a sports and education agency located in the south of Spain with connections to the best high performance academies in Europe and to the FC Barcelona academy in the USA.
We know all about how to become a professional soccer player and we collaborate with world famous soccer clubs doing summer camps like Real Madrid, Barcelona,Manchester City, Liverpool, AC Milan, Arsenal, Paris Saint Germain and Chelsea.
You can browse a full list of our summer soccer camps, or you can browse by country. We offer programs in Spain, the United Kingdom, Italy, the United States and other destinations.
We are knowledgeable about the details of each camp and each academy we offer, from training, staff, coaches, accommodation, education, and we can help you choose the best option for your child and his or her personal needs as he or she continues on his or her path to becoming a professional soccer player.
For more information on any of these programs or advice on which summer camp or high performance academy best suits your needs, please feel free to contact us.
You can also email us directly at [email protected] or you can give us a call.
