Growing up, my only goal was to play college soccer. From the teams I joined, to the videos I made, I was only trying to get noticed by the elite level teams in the country. There are a lot of myths abut the recruiting process, especially with soccer, but I am here to squash those and give you the three biggest tips to making it and going to the school of your choice to play the sport that you love.

Tip #1: Start early

A lot of people will question why you are thinking about college during your freshman year of high school, however this makes all the difference. Even though most coaches can not respond to your call or emails, letting them know where and when yo will be playing will give them the opportunity to watch you play and get you on their radar. This also means that once they can respond, starting your junior year, they will most likely have seen you play already and you will have a leg up on everyone else.

Tip #2: Write your Own Recruiting Emails

A lot of parents want their kids to play college soccer even more than their kids do. This sometimes shines through during the email writing process by the parents writing the emails for the kids. This is not how it should be. A college coach will absolutely know the difference between a student written email and a parent written email. This means that the athlete themselves need to be the ones writing it. In your email you should include a personalized message with facts that you learned while researching the given school.  This means that every email needs to be different. Do NOT write the same email for ten different school and expect to get responses as they will be able to tell this also and just forget about you all together.

Tip #3: Don’t Attend Any Camps

A lot of emails you may receive during the recruiting process will be camp invites to various schools. These invites are not formal visits and are given out to anyone who inquires about playing there. If a school really wants you they will not invite you to a camp and instead ask you to either come for an overnight visit or a day visit. These camps are nearly ways for the school to make money off of kids from around the country who think that they are being looked at when the coaches already have their recruits picked out before hand. The truth is that if you are receiving a camp invite from a school, you are probably not on their radar and need to just move on to a different school because they are not interested.

I hope that this post shed some light on some mysteries and questions that arise during the recruiting process. It is a very tricky and stressful time for a soon-to-be college soccer player, but it should also be excited trying to find the next place for your soccer career.

Ever wonder how players like Messi and Ronaldo got so good? Or how the best player on your college or club team got to where he or she is? Well, hopefully I can shed some light on how they reached that elite level of play so quickly. These five steps are simple and easy ways to better your chances at becoming a better player and joining that elite level sooner rather than later.

Step #1: Join an Elite Club

The first thing you want to do in your journey to become an elite player is to join the best club possible. Whether or not you are on the A or B team does not matter, what matter is that you are getting trained by a top level coach. For the most part you will find these elite coaches at the elite clubs in your area and usually at the premier level opposed to a select or recreational level.

Another reason that joining an elite club is a must when trying to become an elite player is that you will be playing against the best competition possible. By doing this, you have to step up your game and bring your best every time you play otherwise you will be replaced by other players who are looking to take your spot. It also gives you the opportunity to get better and show yourself for colleges or professional coaches who come and watch games as you get older.

If you are serious about becoming an elite player then it is on you to find a club big enough and with an elite reputation so that you get the most out of its coaches and top opposition.

Step #2: Surround Yourself with the Best Players Around you

Whether you are just hanging out at practice or going to each other’s houses during your free time, it is essential that you always put yourself in positions to get better and succeed. Whenever you are training and you split into groups, make sure to join the group that has the better players. This will force you to elevate your game and you will begin to get into the mind set of believing that you belong with the best.

Step #3: Train Everyday

Just because you train 3-4 times a week with a game every weekend for your club does not mean that that is enough. If you truly want to be elite you will be willing to put the work in every day. No matter what, get touches on a ball everyday whether its at a park our in your back yard by yourself this is key. It is also important to be in the gym at least three days a week. This will help a lot with strength and injury prevention on the field, I know that This made a huge difference for me because even though I did not add a ton of weight, I got stronger and never missed a game.

Step #4: Have a Strong Connection with your Coach

This is one of the most important steps you can take in your career. Establishing a relationship with your head coach will help you take that next step to becoming elite. It is crucial that you are able to approach him at practice and ask him for his opinion on your play or how you can get better. He might say some things that hurt your feelings but take it as constructive criticism instead of an insult and focus on bettering the things he tells you in practice and even in games. This will better you as a player and will allow you to grow in your coaches eyes too and shows him that you care about getting better and working hard.

Step #5: Don’t Try to do to Much

The worst thing you can do is do too much in games and in practice. This will do a number of things that will not help you in your quest to be elite. If you try and do too much in games, it will lead to you gaining a bad reputation and less ball and field time. It will also frustrate other players which means that the only way to please them is to do your job and play simple then pick and choose your moments to dribble and do more. It is also not your job to always be the hero. Just because you are in the mind set of being an elite player, does not mean you are one yet and need to still play within your abilities and share the spotlight.

These steps are the five main things that helped me get to where I am today as a soccer player and I continue to do them everyday with my coach. However, these should not be the only things you do. You have to work hard everyday and can’t just expect that if you do this you will immediately see results. It takes time and even with these steps you may not be considered elite for years. It is all up to you and how much dedication you put into your training and life when it comes to soccer.

Last weekend the Westminster College Men’s Soccer Team won the PAC championships 1-0 against rival Grove City. Since that game a lot has happened as the Titans prepare to take on Capital in the first round of the NCAA Tournament this up coming weekend. Before the team embarks on a journey to Cleveland, I was able to talk to their assistant coach Ryan Francis about their season and where they are going forward.

Question 1: What is the biggest difference between last years team, that did not make the playoffs, compared to this years team?

Answer: Honestly the biggest difference has been the leadership at every level. The seniors this year have been so driven and focused on winning the conference that nothing else has seemed to matter. They have truly put everything else aside and just focused on getting better every day and making everyone around them better. On top of it our three captains all led in a different way. Doc led very much by example while Reggie was a much more vocal leader while still leading by example every day. Comparing this to last year, we really did not have senior leadership. They were all kind of doing their own thing a lot of the time and that translated onto the field.

Question 2: What was the point in the season where you felt like you guys could win it all?

Answer: From the very beginning. I felt like we had a group of returners who were talented enough and a group of recruits who could hold their own It was all just a matter of putting it together on the field and playing as one cohesive team.

Question 3: How did going to Hawaii have and effect on your season?

Answer: It made all the difference. It gave the guys a great chance to be together and bond over something as a team from the very beginning. It is a lot easier to get the guys motivated to do a team meeting on the beach than it is in the classroom here at school. It also gave us the chance to play two very good teams in HPU and Chaminade, both of whom gave us good games that we really could not get here in Pennsylvania for pre-season.

Question 4: What was it like playing against some of the best teams in the country in Carnegie Mellon and Case Western?

Answer: It was exactly what we needed during the season. We got to play top flight opposition and see how we matched up against them. They both gave us good games and our boys stepped up to the test. We competed and had the lead at one point against CMU but we are a young team and will continue to grow, but I was very pleased with how we played in those games.

Question 5: How does this championship team compare to the one in 2015?

Answer: This team definitely has more talent and fire power. Up front we can score goals while keeping it clean at the back. In 2015 we were very senior heavy and that showed in our play. We defended first and were content with 1-0 wins compared to this year where we scored goals at a record rate. Also this year coming into the season we set the standard early that we were good enough to win the conference so we sort of expected it while in 2015 it kind of just happened so fast and one result led to another and we got the win.

There was no doubt that the Westminster Men’s Soccer Team is one of the best to come through Westminster, with multiple player setting individual records while the team smashed many team records along the way. As the Titans prepare for a tough match this weekend, we have to look back and marvel at all they have accomplished this year as they look to build upon this in years to come.

 

In the world of professional sports, the United States always seems to be at the top of the list for one of the best in the world, except for soccer. Many people have their theories as to why this is and many think that it is unacceptable for such a big country to struggle to qualify for a world cup out of the CONCACAF group.

A lot of people blame the fact that the United States men’s soccer team hasn’t won a world cup, or competed for one in a while, on a few main facts. First off, critics believe that college soccer has ruined the shaping of the modern day American Soccer player. Secondly, the youth system in the United States is flawed and needs to be changed. Also, the coaching and style of play in America is not classy enough for the world game, and lastly the teams that the national team plays are too weak compared to a team like Spain who always only plays the best teams in the world. Here are a few articles that discuss United States soccer and different critics take on the soccer issues in America.

Soccer’s other problem aside from being a ‘rich white kid sport’

In this Article, the writer discusses how the United States does not play soccer in a way that is good enough to compete with the best teams in the world. He also talks about how the coaches that they hire don’t input a style of play that can lead to success against better teams.

U.S. SOCCER IS HEADED IN THE
WRONG DIRECTION

In this article, The writer discusses all of the reasons as to why the United States missed the 2018 world cup in Russia. The article highlights the problems in the youth development systems all the way through adult player development at the professional level.

US soccer’s issues go way beyond finding the right coach

This article illustrates how the issues involved with the men’s national go way beyond the management. It discusses how its not just the coaches fault, like everyone initially thought, and that the issues stem way deeper in the USMNT federation.

U.S. Soccer Tries To Fix Its Problems By Building A Bigger Bureaucracy

In this article, the critics focus on how the United States are going to fix these main issues in the future and how to get this train back on track. They realize that the bigger fixes will not be fixed over night, but they need to start now in order to see changes before the next World Cup in 2022.

All four of these articles discuss the issue in the United States Soccer Federation and the consequences that they have suffered since missing the World Cup this past summer. While many issues still linger and remain unchanged, some changes have been made to improve on the actions of the team that failed to qualify last fall. It seems that the new people in charge of the Federation have been making strides to better the team for the future.

In a decade dominated by Messi and Ronaldo, a new star emerged onto the world stage in the 2017-18 Premier League season. Mo Salah, and Egyptian born winger burst onto the scene scoring endless amounts of goals and leading Liverpool back to the Champions League and Egypt to its first ever World Cup.

Salah

Last season for salah was record breaking. His 37 goals in the Premier League was a new record to go along with his 12 assists and eventual Golden Boot and Player of the Year award. After scoring a last minute penalty to put his country into its first World Cup in their history, he scored their first ever World Cup goal as they eventually got eliminated in the first round.

Most people thought Salah was a for sure lock for a spot in the FIFA Pro XI which recognizes the top eleven players at their respective positions in the world. After the awards were given out and Salah was surprisingly left out of the top 11, many people were surprised and could not believe what happened.

The three players who beat him out for his position were Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Kylian Mbappe, who is just 19 years old. While all three of these players had exceptional years, were they better than Salah’s?

Ronaldo

Ronaldo led his team to the World Cup and scored a team high 4 goals. He also Led Real Madrid to a third consecutive Champions league title while scoring 44 goals and adding 8 assists throughout the season.

Messi

Lionel Messi also had a great year leading Argentina to the World Cup Round of 16 and scoring a big goal for them in the tournament. He also led Barcelona to another La Liga title while scoring 45 goals and setting up another 18.

Mbappe

The player who most people were surprised from that ended up making the Pro XI was the teenager Kylian Mbappe of PSG and France. He scored only 21 goals in all competitions for PSG as they underachieved once again on Champions League play. However, he was a star throughout their run to the World Cup Final as he eventually won the Best Young Player Award on top of winning the tournament with France.

Most would say that Salah deserved a spot on the FIFA Pro XI team, but in the end, his team never won anything and he was never asked to truly preform on the big stage as he was taken off due to injury in the Champions League final Against Real Madrid after a short amount of time. This does sway voters against Salah and the consistency of Messi and Ronaldo will always hold a special place in the voter hearts. Mbappe’s World Cup is what put him ahead of Salah as he, at the age of 19, lead France to the World Cup title and dominated world soccer at such a young age.

One of the biggest debates in the soccer world, for a while now, has been who is the better player, Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo. Hopefully this will show to you that instead of making them enemies we should all sit back and enjoy their greatness.

Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo has been playing professional soccer since he was 16 and has scored 400 goals in that time span. Having played for some of the top teams in the world and in the top three leagues in the world, it is astonishing that he can still play at such a high level at the age of 33.

After a slow start last season for Real Madrid, he finished the year having had one of his best seasons to date. he finished with 42 goals and 9 assists in 49 appearances and had a spectacular season for his home country of Portugal scoring 11 goals and 4 assists in just 11 appearances. This is truly an incredible feat as he turned 33 in February of this year and most of the soccer world had counted him out after he didn’t score for the first three games of Real Madrid’s season.

Messi

Now a look at Lionel Messi. The little Argentine has been playing professionally for Barcelona since he was 16 and over that span has scored 556 goals. The now 31 year old has now played fifteen years for the club who he has called home since he was 11 and is now the winningest player in club history.

On top of scoring his goals, Messi shares the ball like no other superstar in the history of the sport. This makes him impossible to guard and is why many think he is a better player than Ronaldo.

Last season, at age 31, he totaled 50 goals and 16 assists in 57 appearances for his club. He also was the lead role in Barcelona’s nearly perfect La Liga season in 2017-18.

Why neither one is better than the other

Both players have been spectacular for both club and country. Messi and Ronaldo have both single handedly taken their countries from average teams to World Cup favorites. Ronaldo lead Portugal to the 2016 Euro title while Messi has lead his Argentinian team to a World Cup Final in 2014 and back to back Copa America Finals in 2015 and 2016.

It is nearly impossible to choose one or the other since both superstars bring so much to the table, so why not enjoy greatness while it lasts and watch the two greatest to ever play the game for a few more years.