How to Be a Professional Female Soccer Player

Over the past few years, the number of competitive female soccer players has increased exponentially. These exceptional female athletes are finally getting their share of the spotlight. One of these women may have inspired you to start playing. However, if you want to play soccer beyond the high school level, you may be unsure of how to do so. Here are a few steps that any aspiring professional soccer player should be taking.

Instructions --- Difficulty: Challenging

Step 1:
Practice, practice, practice The first step is the most obvious, and the hardest to do. It’s not enough to only attend training session twice a week with your teammates. Future professional players spend individual time with the ball every day to sharpen their skills and supplement their team practices. If you want to succeed in soccer, then you'll be practicing every day.

Step 2:
Attend soccer training camps By attending soccer camps taught by professional coaches, you'll have seasoned experts there to correct your bad habits as a player and teach you various new skills and techniques. Plus, you'll be playing with your soccer peers, who are just as dedicated to their soccer careers as you are. Never underestimate the power of friendly competition. In addition to attending soccer camps in your area, consider also an international soccer camp. These can range in length from a few weeks to half a semester, to even an entire academic year. Not only will you get the benefits of professional training, but you'll also have the opportunity to spend some time in another country with a different culture and learn a second language. To reach your dream of becoming a university or professional soccer player, you'll likely spend a lot of time traveling around the world to play. An international soccer camp will be a great introduction to that.

Step 3:
Update your soccer resume You might not think your soccer career is noteworthy now, but start keeping track anyway. Keep a record of every team you've ever played for. Track your statistics, the team's statistics, and every award you've received. Soccer resumes should also include an imbedded digital photo, your date of birth, height, weight, position, dominant foot, coaches' references and GPA for university consideration. Be sure to continue to update your soccer resume with current information year to year so that it’s ready to be forwarded to an interested coach, scout, agent, school or club at any moment. Don't think of it as bragging. Think of it as an honest assessment of the kind of player you are. When it comes to trying to play professional soccer, nobody's going to toot your horn for you. That's something you've got to do yourself. It's also a good idea to put together a soccer video resume or a highlight reel to send to university coaches or professional scouts who haven't had the chance to see you play. A personalized soccer video resume will effectively show what words and pictures cannot, and that may be the difference in getting a foot in the door.

Step 4:
Don't leave discovery to chance We all hear the stories about somebody who was just playing soccer in a park with friends when a professional scout happened by and signed them to a multi-million dollar contract. It makes for nice fantasy, but the chances of that actually happening are roughly one in 1.4 billion. You've got to get yourself out there. One way to do that is to attend elite soccer camps or high-level showcase camps, where professional scouts or football clubs will most likely be looking for fresh blood. Try to play in as many high-visibility games as you can, whether it's in college, at camps or in local competitive club matches.

Tips & Warnings:
Becoming a professional soccer player requires hard work and some good fortune, no doubt about it. But don't let that stop you. If you are truly determined to follow your dream of playing soccer professionally, follow these steps and play your heart out every step of the way. With passion, talent, and practiced skills, you'll become a force to be reckoned with on the pitch.

Resources:
Joey Bilotta is the vice president of EduKick, a soccer boarding school exchange program. Check them out online at: http://www.edukick.com.

EduKick Announces Elite Soccer Camp – Girls Only!

Competitive female soccer players, listen up.

At EduKick, we're always excited to help young athletes expand their knowledge of soccer and the world. Over the past few years, one of requests we've most often heard has been for a higher level international soccer camp for female players.

Well, you asked, and we answered.

We're proud to announce that we've partnered with the Spanish Football Federation's Women's National Team to offer our very first Girls Only Elite Soccer Camp, happening this July in beautiful Madrid, Spain. Female players between the ages of 14 and 24 are welcome to attend.

The camp will include participation in the Donosti Cup, Northern Spain's famous youth tournament.

Be warned, though. We're not just throwing "elite" in the title for show. This is a high-level international soccer camp directed at helping female players better their skills for competition on the collegiate and professional levels. The coaches you'll train with are professional coaches, and you'll be playing with girls who are just as talented as you are, or if not more so.

On top of that, the Spanish Football Federation is actively seeking to recruit North American players with Spanish origins through this new girls-only elite camp. Players with Spanish parents or grandparents will be able to get a Spanish passport, which is necessary for them to potentially play for Spain.

Of course, that doesn't mean players of non-Spanish origin shouldn't attend the camp. The competitive soccer skills you gain from going to an intense, high-level international soccer camp like this one are unmatched by any other camp you could attend on your home turf. Plus, you get to experience another culture and play on a team with other female players from around the world.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience you can't afford to miss! Click here to visit our website and sign up!

http://www.edukick.com/soccercamps.asp?cat=149)

EduKick Announces Girls Only Elite International Soccer Camp

EduKick Announces Girls Only Elite International Soccer Camp


Competitive female soccer players can now take their game overseas. EduKick, Inc., an international soccer exchange program, has partnered with the Spanish Football Federation to host a Girls Only Elite Soccer Camp in Madrid, Spain.

Oakville, Ontario (PRWEB) January 25, 2008 -- Competitive female soccer players can now take their game overseas. EduKick, Inc. (http://www.edukick.com), an international soccer exchange program, has partnered with the Spanish Football Federation to host a Girls Only Elite Soccer Camp in Madrid, Spain. Competitive female players between the ages of 14 and 24 are welcome to attend the camp, which will be held in July.

"This is a fantastic opportunity for any girl who wants to attend a high level competitive soccer training camp," said Joey Bilotta, vice president of EduKick. "There aren't many camps that are geared toward competitive female players, and we're excited to be partnering with the Spanish Football Federation's Women's National Team to help female players get the training and experience they need to excel in the collegiate and professional soccer world."

Though EduKick has long offered coed international soccer camps, this is the first year that they have offered a girls-only "elite" camp. The camp not only includes the high-level soccer training and instruction that EduKick is known for, but also participation in Northern Spain's famous youth tournament, the Donosti Cup.

"Girls have been participating in EduKick camps since our inception in 2001, and their numbers have steadily increased," Bilotta said. "We've had a high demand for higher level international soccer camps geared toward girls, and we're only too happy to create this camp in Madrid to fulfill that need."
The extensive training and tournament play are only two reasons for competitive female soccer players to consider this camp. The Spanish Football Federation is also hoping to discover talented North American players of Spanish origin through the Girls Only Elite Soccer Camp.

Players with Spanish parents or grandparents are eligible to apply for and receive a Spanish passport, which would allow them to legally play for Spain. Bilotta encourages North American female players with parents or grandparents from Spain to contact EduKick immediately.
However, he adds, this doesn't mean female players without Spanish origins shouldn't attend this unique international soccer camp.

"Attending an EduKick soccer camp or boarding school is not the same experience as attending a soccer camp at the local park in your hometown," Bilotta said. "EduKick is a travel abroad high level soccer training camp with players attending from all over the world. It's very intense, with professional coaches and in a soccer culture and atmosphere. The benefits of such an exciting experience are invaluable for a young female soccer player."

For more information about EduKick's new Girls Only Elite Soccer Camp, visit them on the Web at http://www.edukick.com/soccercamps.asp?cat=149

About EduKick, Inc.:
EduKick's mission is to provide intensive soccer development training programs and academic soccer boarding schools that also teach youngsters about cultural diversity and foreign languages. As professionals, soccer fanatics and fathers, Joseph Bilotta and Corey Zimmerman wanted to create programs that maximized the EduKick youth's time abroad; instilling a sense of independence and pride through experiencing international travel, structured language study, cultural excursions, and daily professional soccer training.
###

Day in the Life of an EduKick England Soccer Boarding School Player

Show, Don't Tell! The Importance of Promoting Yourself in a Competitive Soccer World

How many times have you heard "It's not what you know, it's who you know?"
It's been said so many times it's starting to get old, but the point is that it's important to get out there and meet people in your chosen field, however you can. We all have heard, over and over, the importance of networking and self-promotion for when you want a job. But what you may not have heard much about is the importance of self-promotion when you're a soccer player.
If you're planning on pursuing soccer beyond high school, either by playing in college or by trying out for professional teams, you need to master the art of self-promotion.
Unfortunately, for a lot of people, this is harder than it sounds. When we think of somebody who talks about their accomplishments, we tend to think of people who are arrogant, conceited, boastful or braggarts, and we certainly don't want those negative words associated with us.
Repeat after me: I'm the best!
Look at it this way: You're going to be just one of hundreds, if not thousands, of other student athletes applying for that soccer scholarship or trying to get that trial for that professional team. If you don't talk up your soccer accomplishments, nobody else will, and that scholarship or tryout will go to somebody else.
So don't be afraid to let coaches, agents, scouts and soccer clubs know just how awesome you are. And don't just tell them. Find ways to make your self-promotion stand out from the crowd. Grab their attention and show them why you're the best player they've ever seen.
Get them your soccer résumé
When you're job hunting, one of the first things you do is create a résumé and cover letter. The cover letter is the first step to selling yourself to potential employers, and the résumé backs it up with a detailed listing of your experience and accomplishments.
When you're a soccer player, it's important to have a soccer résumé and cover letter that do the same thing. The object of the cover letter is to convince the coach why you're perfect for his team, or to convince an agent that he needs to represent you in attaining professional trials.
Your soccer résumé should back up your cover letter with your soccer experience and accomplishments. You need to have the teams you've played for on there, along with how well the team did during your time with it, as well as how well you did while playing for them. You also need individual statistics, like goals scored, points, assists, shut-outs, etc., plus any soccer awards or honors you've received.
It's also good to get recommendation letters from coaches you've played with, be it at your school or elsewhere. They can provide firsthand testimony to the kind of player you are, which can be invaluable for your soccer career.
If it's a scholarship or university team you're applying for, you may need to include some academic information, like ACT or SAT scores and your GPA. Because many universities have minimum academic requirements for acceptance, a coach needs to know if you'll even qualify to get into the university.
Modernize your soccer résumé approach
While a paper résumé is important to have, it's something that every other student athlete will have as well. You need to find a way to push your résumé out of the crowd. One way to do this is to include a video résumé or a highlight reel along with your traditional paper résumé.
Where your paper résumé will tell people what you've done, a soccer video résumé will show them, especially coaches who may not have had the opportunity to come and see you play. Plus, modernizing how you display your résumé will set you a cut above the rest. If you don't send in the video résumé with your traditional paper one, make sure that you include a note at the bottom that lets coaches know you have one available. A better idea still is to upload your video résumé to "Google Videos" and include a link to the video on your paper résumé.
If you've been involved with any soccer camps, see if they have videos of your playing time. If you're lucky, some camps or soccer programs may even help you create a soccer video résumé.
Don't hold yourself back from getting that soccer scholarship or scoring a chance to play for that professional team. Get started now making your soccer video résumé and highlight reel so that you can blow those coaches away.
About the author:
Joey Bilotta is the vice president of EduKick, a soccer boarding school exchange program. They host international soccer camps in countries as diverse as Mexico, England and China. EduKick offers all participating soccer boarding school players and summer campers the opportunity to purchase a Soccer Video Résumé while abroad with EduKick. See more information here:
http://edukick.com/soccervideoresumes.asp?cat=146

EduKick Introduces Video Résumés for Soccer Self-Promotion

EduKick, Inc, a soccer boarding school exchange program, has introduced video résumés to its repertoire to help students promote themselves in the competitive soccer world.

Oakville, Ontario (PRWEB) December 7, 2007 -- With technology changing the way people work, play and even job hunt, soccer players applying to universities or professional clubs need to modernize their self-promotion efforts. To that end, EduKick, Inc, a soccer boarding school exchange program, has introduced soccer video résumés to its repertoire to help students promote themselves in the soccer world.


"University and professional teams are inundated with calls and résumés from players wanting to get noticed," said EduKick Vice President Joey Bilotta. "The key is to produce a packet of information for the coach or decision maker, including a high-level video highlight summary and a professionally designed soccer video résumé. You need something that will grab their attention and distinguish one player from the rest."


Soccer video résumés provide an opportunity for coaches to see players in action; even if they haven't been able to come watch them play in person. Players should still submit a traditional soccer résumé, which includes information like teams played for, those teams' standings, and individual statistics like scores, assists, points and shut-outs.


A soccer video résumé adds to that by giving soccer players their own personal highlight reel, which can help grab the attention of coaches, scouts and agents.


"We hear all the time how important self-promotion is when you're looking for a job," Bilotta said. "For our players, soccer is their job. We have the means to help them document their accomplishments on the field in a professional DVD highlight reel, which they can then use to help them stand out from their peers."


For the past five years, EduKick has been giving high school and university soccer players a unique opportunity to attend soccer board schools around the world. EduKick's soccer exchange programs take students to countries as diverse as Mexico, Italy, China and England. Some EduKick players even get the opportunity to participate in professional soccer trials.


"With EduKick, you get an experience unlike any other: training abroad in a professional soccer school environment," said Bilotta. "And now our players don't just have to tell coaches or professional teams about it. They can actually show them with video what they did with EduKick and how they played while abroad with us in our soccer school."


For more information about EduKick's soccer exchange boarding schools and soccer video résumés, visit them on the Web at http://www.edukick.com


To see EduKick's Soccer video résumé web page, click here: http://edukick.com/soccervideoresumes.asp?cat=146


About EduKick, Inc.:

EduKick's mission is to provide intensive soccer development training programs and academic soccer boarding schools that also teach youngsters about cultural diversity and foreign languages. As professionals, soccer fanatics and fathers, Joseph Bilotta and Corey Zimmerman wanted to create programs that maximized the EduKick youth's time abroad; instilling a sense of independence and pride through experiencing international travel, structured language study, cultural excursions, and daily professional soccer training.

Show, Don't Tell! The Importance of Promoting Yourself in a Competitive Soccer World

Show, Don't Tell! The Importance of Promoting Yourself in a Competitive Soccer World

How many times have you heard "It's not what you know, it's who you know?"

It's been said so many times it's starting to get old, but the point is that it's important to get out there and meet people in your chosen field, however you can. We all have heard, over and over, the importance of networking and self-promotion for when you want a job. But what you may not have heard much about is the importance of self-promotion when you're a soccer player.

If you're planning on pursuing soccer beyond high school, either by playing in college or by trying out for professional teams, you need to master the art of self-promotion.

Unfortunately, for a lot of people, this is harder than it sounds. When we think of somebody who talks about their accomplishments, we tend to think of people who are arrogant, conceited, boastful or braggarts, and we certainly don't want those negative words associated with us.

Repeat after me: I'm the best!

Look at it this way: You're going to be just one of hundreds, if not thousands, of other student athletes applying for that soccer scholarship or trying to get an audition for that professional team. If you don't talk up your soccer accomplishments, nobody else will, and that scholarship or audition will go to somebody else.

So don't be afraid to let coaches, agents, scouts and soccer clubs know just how awesome you are. And don't just tell them. Find ways to make your self-promotion stand out from the crowd. Grab their attention and show them why you're the best player they've ever seen.

Get them your soccer resume

When you're job hunting, one of the first things you do is create a resume and cover letter. The cover letter is the first step to selling yourself to potential employers, and the resume backs it up with a detailed listing of your experience and accomplishments.

When you're a soccer player, it's important to have a soccer resume and cover letter that do the same thing. The object of the cover letter is to convince the coach why you're perfect for his team, or to convince an agent that she needs to represent you.

Your soccer resume should back up your cover letter with your soccer experience and accomplishments. You need to have the teams you've played for on there, along with how well the team did during your time with it, as well as how well you did while playing for them. You also need individual statistics, like goals scored, points, assists, shut-outs, etc., plus any soccer awards or honors you've received.

It's also good to get recommendation letters from coaches you've played with, be it at your school or elsewhere. They can provide firsthand testimony to the kind of player you are, which can be invaluable for your soccer career.

If it's a scholarship or university team you're applying for, you may need to include some academic information, like ACT or SAT scores and your GPA. Because many universities have minimum academic requirements for acceptance, a coach needs to know if you'll even qualify to get into the university.

Modernize your soccer resume approach

While a paper resume is important to have, it's something that every other student athlete will have as well. You need to find a way to push your resume out of the crowd. One way to do this is to include a video resume or a highlight reel along with your traditional paper resume.

Where your paper resume will tell people what you've done, a video resume will show them, especially coaches who may not have had the opportunity to come and see you play. Plus, modernizing how you display your resume will set you a cut above the rest. If you don't send in the video resume with your traditional paper one, make sure that you include a note at the bottom that lets coaches know you have one available.

If you've been involved with any soccer camps, see if they have videos of your playing time. If you're lucky, some camps or soccer programs may even help you create a video resume.

Don't hold yourself back from getting that soccer scholarship or scoring a chance to play for that professional team. Get started now making your soccer resume and highlight reel so that you can blow those coaches away.

Joey Bilotta is the vice president of EduKick, a soccer boarding school exchange program. They host international soccer camps in countries as diverse as Mexico, England and China. They also offer players a video resume to help them continue their soccer career after their time at EduKick. For more information contact EduKick!