Why Attending a Soccer Academy Is Critical for the Budding Professional

To become a professional soccer player, it is critical to be in the correct environment which will foster your growth in the game.

Many believe that merely playing for their local soccer club is enough to assist in their development and progression as a footballer. This perception needs to be urgently dispelled. Playing for your local soccer club provides you with a totally different form of soccer coaching when compared to attending a soccer academy.

Coaches in clubs at youth level often concentrate on obtaining results and coaching an entire team not concentrating on individuals, therefore if you do not perform to the standard of your team-mates, you are left behind with little recourse for development.

In a soccer academy environment, the coaching is concentrated on developing individuals as there is no team at stake, where results are of pivotal importance. The soccer coaching is based upon developing you as a player, in all aspects of the game. Whether it be ball control, shooting, physical and mental fitness, passing or dribbling.

Coaches in an academy environment will note your strengths and weaknesses, setting coaching sessions to address and eliminate your weaknesses as an individual. This form of targeted and concentrated coaching is not available in a club environment, where the coach has to dedicate his time into developing a competitive team, which often means working on strategies, tactics and formations.

To play the game professionally, it is necessary to combine participation at a soccer club and regular training at an established academy. This way, you receive complete coaching instruction, both in a team situation and as an individual.

By attending a soccer academy, you cover 7 of the the most important aspects of player development -

1. Technique

In soccer, technique is considered the tool of the trade. The better the techniques, the wider the range of techniques, the more complete and competent a soccer player is. There is no alternative for good technique.

2. Understanding

Understanding means competence, it means coming to terms what you can do and what you cannot do. A player who attempts something which they know they cannot do, is unskilled.

3. Fitness

Fitness is an important aspect because fatigue causes technique to deteriorate. Since it has already been established that technique is the best asset of any soccer player, it is necessary to build a foundation with fitness and conditioning that is capable of lasting the entire 90 minutes of a soccer game.

4. Mental concentration

Without concentration and thought about what one is doing during the game, the player's participation is reduced to lottery. It is important for the player to combine his mental concentration with the applications of his skills, such as dribbling, ball control and shooting.

5. Perception

Players must learn to play with their heads up, constantly surveying changing positions of the ball and his own team-mates as well as the opposition.

6. Decisions

Mental concentration, understanding and knowledge are essential attributes to correct decision-making. It is highly important to sift the essential from the non-essential and adjust priorities accordingly. Soccer is a game of decisions and is often decided by the decisions individual players make.

7. Action

This is the final part of the process, application of the decision. Action must be one of commitment, it is important to not waver when committing to a decision.

Therefore, to play soccer at a professional level, it is necessary to receive well rounded soccer coaching, from a competent soccer academy.