What To Focus On In High School Soccer?
Bad Habits
Will it be detrimental to my development?
What are the pros and cons?
Will I get exposure?
Should I just stick with club?
These are questions that I hear quite a bit from many players I coach. I’m not here to tell you if you should or shouldn’t though!
I’m here to give you a bit of advice on what not to do if you are playing high school.
Joe Shmoe is a young player with hopes of playing at the next level. He’s a decent little player on his club team but on his high school team he’s a superstar. He’s treated differently by his peers and he knows it. He never gets yelled at, gets a ton of praise, and performs well. He’s loving it.
It’s easy for Joe to think he’s hot sh** and to act like it. What’s difficult is to play like he should regardless of the circumstances.
Do you get what I’m saying? Check out these bad habits:
Giving a pass and not continuing the run because that teammate will most likely lose it.
Dribbling because that teammate wide open will lose it.
Not overlapping because that teammate won’t give it to you anyways.
Not recovering the ball because you’re the “best player” and someone else will do it.
Act like you are above anybody else because they aren’t on your level.
Yell at players because they aren’t very good.
Cut corners in training because nobody will say anything.
NONE of these things will help you improve your game so why do it?
I know it can be frustrating sometimes if teammates lose the ball or they aren’t the best players. Remember why you are playing though. To have fun and improve.
These little bad habits add up and the only one that will be affected is yourself in the long run. You are only hurting your own development.
Push yourself to change your mindset. Think to yourself:
“I’m going to make that overlap! Even if my teammate loses the ball, it’s the right thing to do. If he loses it I’m going to run back and recover it as fast as I can. It will help the team and help my fitness.”
“I’m going to try to recover more balls each game. Last game was 3 so this game I want more! It will help my team, development, and my fitness.”
“Instead of yelling at my teammates when they make a mistake, I’m going to talk to them. I’ll explain it in a way to build them up. This will help the team and my leadership skills.”
“I’m going to do a little more than what is asked of me. If I do the bare minimum, I will be working just as hard as others. If I do a bit more, I’ll have a slight edge over my opponents.”
All it takes is a quick change of mindset. Find the positives in the things that you don’t want to do. Look at the big picture if necessary. If you want to play at the highest level, you have to give yourself the best odds. The best odds are gained from good habits. And good habits come from repetition.
Good luck to all those lucky enough to have a season this year! Enjoy!
⚽ Gabriel Farfan