How to Become a Pro Soccer Player
By: Katie Svitchan
Introduction
Steps To Becoming A Professional Soccer Player
In becoming a pro soccer player there is no colleges you need to go to to be in this field although you could. A commonly asked question is “do you need to start young?” Meaning do you start playing soccer as a child? It is recommended that if you want to be a professional soccer player that you start young meaning getting onto an organized soccer team by age 14. Although, if you don't start young there's still a chance you can become a professional soccer player. If you don't start young and you really commit yourself to soccer like reading books about it and practicing all the time that gives you a better chance. “If you do travel soccer and soccer camps in Europe, that's a great way to help you get in the field” says Dan Hughart. Here’s some do’s and dont’s for your training into becoming a soccer player.
Do’s
Spend lots of time practicing.
Make sure you enjoy the sport enough to be doing this as your career.
Know what position you're going to play.
Learn what the soccer terms mean like man on, clear.
Have a good pair of cleats
Dont’s
Act like you're the best even if you're a good player, when you don't have a good attitude you won't make it very far because no one wants a person with a bad attitude on their team
Make sure you're always being a good sport, even though it's hard sometimes.
Try not to get red cards because that means you won't be able to play for a game or two.Day to Day Life of a soccer player
When off season they do lots of conditioning you should commit at least 2 days a week for anaerobic fitness and two more days for aerobic fitness these are some anaerobic fitness things u could do Pro Agility (5-10-5)
4 runs with 30-second rest - do for runs backs and forth with a 30 second break.
Heres some training for aerobic fitness Footwork Drills (2 sets of each x 30 seconds with 30-second rest)
Toe Taps- get the ball and tap the ball on its top without moving it.
Scissors- moving your foot around the ball in a fast motion trying to trick the opposing team
Inside-outside right and left foot- using your foot going from the inside to the outside with your foot
Inside-outside both feet- exact same thing as inside outside but using both feet instead of just using one
J.P. Shuttle (60-yard shuttle; run five sets with 30-second rest)
Gassers (100-yard shuttle; run 5 times with 30-second rest)
Bomb Drill (20-yard by 20-yard box; run one time)
Start by jogging three sides of the field and sprinting the last
Jog two sides and sprint two
Jog one side and sprint three
Sprint all four sides
Progress back down with jogging all four sides as last run
Almost all of our drills focused on passing the ball into open space so only your team can get to it and working on finding that open space so you can get to a good passed ball. I practiced a lot of set pieces, for corners and attacks on the goal because I was a Striker in college. I had to find a way behind their defense without being off-sides and getting to the ball first. Being able to redirect the ball into the goal with power is very important and being able to control the ball as soon as it touches you.- Dan Hughart
Professional In the Field
An amazing soccer player in this field is Alex Morgan. Alex Morgan is a USWNT player that plays forward. As a child Alex played multiple sports, she began playing soccer at a young age. Alex didn't begin playing for a club team until she was 14, her club she joined was called cypress elite. Alex was also the youngest member of the uswnt when she joined in 2009. Alex Morgan have made 91 international caps, 52 international goals and she's only 26 years old. This season Alex played for 436 minutes! That's a lot of running especially as a forward player. Here's some fun facts about Alex.
Alex was born on July 2nd 1989!
Alex Morgan is best know as Speedy, goal-scoring forward for the U.S. National women's soccer team.
In the 2012 opening Olympics game, she scored 2 goals.
Alex is a huge inspiration to many people young and old she is always nice and thankful for all of her fans. Alex Morgan is great person on and off the field.
Conclusion
Sources
http://time.com/money/3936754/highest-paid-women-soccer-stars/
https://newrepublic.com/article/122246/us-women-won-world-cup-and-earned-four-times-less-men
http://www.mymajors.com/career/professional-soccer-player/salary/
http://www.wikihow.com/Become-a-Professional-Soccer-Player
http://www.stack.com/2013/03/04/womens-soccer-conditioning/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Morgan
http://www.sportsgoogly.com/highest-paid-female-footballers/
http://www.biography.com/people/alex-morgan-20837393#olympic-medalist
http://www.nscaa.com/news/2012/08/uswnt-training-session