Many clubs around the world have dedicated staff members who solely focus on scouting and recruitment. Scouts attend many games throughout their communities, which is why it is important to join clubs and consistently stay active and playing throughout the year.
Also, many soccer clubs will tell you which local clubs scouts go watch and you can find these details from clubs on our website fcscout.com. If you live in an area that has a professional soccer team, make sure you join local clubs that are affiliated with that professional soccer team to increase your chances of being scouted.
Some professional soccer clubs will also allow players to submit applications for their scouts to review your video highlights. Throughout your local club level career, try and get a family member to record games so you can edit these videos and make highlights to send to recruiters.
Soccer is the most popular sport in the world, thus creating a large competitive pool of players all looking to reach the highest level possible, to maybe one day play for Real Madrid, Bayern Munich or Manchester City. This level of competitiveness should entice you to learn about what specifically scouts are looking for when evaluating players.
Scouts typically break down a player skills into a quadrant, which include:
- Mental
- Physical
- Technical
- Tactical
Also, there are in-game movements that scouts look for when evaluating players such as:
- Defensive/Offensive transitions
- Defensive/Ofensive Organization
- Defensive/Offensive Set Pieces
During a local club game that you play in or at a trial, scouts look at many things. From the way you help set up the practice cones all the way until you help clean up the cones. It isn’t all necessary soccer. Scouts also look at how you carry yourself, otherwise known as your mental state. Are you a team leader? Do you encourage others? Do you get frustrated easily when your teammate makes a mistake? Ask yourself questions like this. Put yourself in the shoes of a scout and ask yourself “if I was a scout for a professional team, what characteristics would I look for in a player other than soccer technical abilities?”.
To put things simply, soccer is very competitive. You need to figure out how to stand out from others both on and off the pitch.
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