Advice to Soccer Players This Fall Season

Whether you’re a seasoned player or playing soccer for the first time, there are several things you can do to improve your performance on the field.

As you prepare for the upcoming season, Here are some tips to make the most out of your fall 🍂 season:

1. Focus on Progress, Not Winning: In the grand scheme of things, wins and losses don’t matter. They really don’t. Instead, what matters, is the progress you make while playing the sport you love. You should learn to love to stack your skills. Brick-by-brick, focus on improving your soccer skills over everything.
2. Be a Ball Rat: Have you ever heard of the term ‘gym rat’? It’s a person who spends a lot of time exercising in the gym and is dedicated to their fitness goals. Instead of being ‘obsessed’ about going to the gym, have a soccer ball by your side any time you can. When you have some downtime, kick the ball in the backyard. At the same time, be aware that #4 on this list is always an option. This will help your game.
3. Improve Your Mental Health: You can always improve your mental game. Make a proactive effort this fall to build more confidence and increase your positivity. Then put that newfound positivity out onto the field. Work on being in the moment more. By concentrating on the now (because it’s all we have), you’ll naturally improve your focus. Don’t worry about tomorrow and try to forget yesterday…this moment is all we have.
4. Take Breaks: If you feel physically and/or mentally exhausted, take a break. It’s okay to just veg out once in a while. This is actually very healthy.
5. Take Responsibility (for everything): No matter what happens this fall season, take full accountability. If you can take full responsibility for everything, you become in control. It’s liberating to do so.
6. Prioritize Soccer Over Your Phone: From my experience, I find that a youth player’s phone is the biggest distraction to enjoying their soccer season. This is especially true for the teenage years. Players are consumed with highlights, social media, and other apps that zaps their dopamine.
7. Have Healthy Habits: Staying focused and energized during soccer season is easy in concept. All it takes is eating healthy (most days), getting plenty of sleep, and staying hydrated. The tricky part is building that habit. Once it’s developed though, you become a ball of energy.
8. Have fun: I know, I know…everyone tells you this but it’s so true. Soccer is a sport. As such, it should be enjoyable. Working hard with a team for a common goal should make you proud. You should wake up on game day with a little smile. A smile that tells you that soccer is fun. It’s not work. It’s not life or death. It’s not boring chores that your parents make you do. It’s simply soccer…the most popular sport in the world!

I hope these eight things will help you have a enjoyable, productive, and fun (there’s that word again) soccer season!