* What it takes to be a player
* Commitment
* Pride & Responsibility
* Practicing like you hope to play
* Professional Preparation
* Eating to Win
* Resisting Peer Group Pressure
* Ability to overcome disappointments
* Motivation
If you are a promising young soccer player growing up in the United States there has never been such an exciting time and greater number of learning opportunities available to help you become a better player. With the introduction of Project 2010 the United States Soccer Federation has created a framework to fame for promising young players who dream of playing like their idols.

Did you watch the last men's World Cup? Did you watch our women win the World Cup here in the US ? Who are your favorite players? How do you think players like Mia Hamn and Claudia Reyna got to play at such a high level?

Although, the purpose of this article is to help promising young players like yourself to understand the importance of a professional attitude and to experience it yourself. I have had the great fortune to work with the development of thousands of promising young players, both in Europe and the United States , many of whom are now playing both professionally and internationally. During this time I have witnessed a great number of players who had outstanding ability as youngsters, but failed to realize their potential because they did not pay enough attention to their performance off the field.

If you have the maturity and courage to improve your attitude off the field, the results of this personal development will be better performances on the field. That's right, how you act at home and perform in school can and will make dramatic differences to your playing ability. If you are hoping to play like a professional you must think and act like one.

Life skills develop Soccer skills.

There are many important life skills that will help to improve your soccer performance.
Here are some examples of what you can achieve by taking action towards developing a professional attitude.

ARE YOU COMMITTED TO ACHIEVING EXCELLENCE?

Do you want to be known as a committed player? For this to happen it means that YOU must be willing to give everything you do, everything you've got, all of the time.
Now go back and read that last sentence again. You notice the word everything is written twice. Unfortunately, the vast majority of players will never get to discover what their everything is because they are not prepared to push themselves beyond their comfort zone and therefore will never realize their true potential.

A great example of what you can achieve through commitment is the story of Matthew Ethrington who I had the pleasure of working with at Peterborough United F.C., a professional soccer club in England . As a small boy " Mushy " grew up and played with his club soccer in Cornwall , which is a small rural county where he soon out-grew the challenges available to him and became a big fish in a small pond.

So what was he to do next? At thirteen years old he asked his family if he could move to Peterborough so he could have a better chance of making it as a professional player. His parents were concerned about his education and decided that they would move as a family. Mushy was now able to train at our " Center of Excellence ," learning from and competing against other great players. At this time he was a fine player but certainly not gifted with natural ability.

What he did possess though was a tremendous commitment to become a better player, and not just in the sacrifice he made to move away from his hometown, school and friends. His attitude in training was tremendous. When I stopped the game he would always be listening and concentrating while others were distracted. He would work himself to near exhaustion to win the ball back during practice. He knew he needed to work on his stamina so he came to us asking for more fitness training! After school he would get the bus and meet me at the stadium and we would train under the lights in the parking lot. I remember one afternoon after a grueling fitness session I asked him how he was getting home. “I'm going to run home,” he said. Mushy lived 30 minutes away. I would set a stopwatch and when he got home he'd run inside and phone me and I would record his time. After each session he would try to beat his previous record time and he did every time.

Mushy made his professional debut at age 15, and now plays for the English National Team against his heroes at Spurs in the Premier League. Do you want to commit to excellence?

PRIDE & RESPONSIBILITY.

Nothing works unless you do.

Think back to your last training session. Were you proud of your performance? Did you give everything you had during the entire session? If the answer is no, don't worry about it, just turn it into a yes for your next session.

PRIDE to me stands for Personal Responsibility In Developing Excellence.

A professional attitude starts with you. When was the last time your coach made a pass or won a header for you in a game? Have your parents even scored a goal for you? Of course not. You must do it for yourself. You must take personal responsibility for improving your performance off the field.

I have seen players experience tremendous improvement on the field once they start to make a determined effort to develop themselves off the field. Soccer is a game of decisions. The more correct ones you make the better you play. If a player goes home and every time their parents ask them a question they reply with "don't know " or other lazy answers, they are unlikely to be able to think quickly to work out problems they face on a soccer field. Of course there are exceptions but even those star players could be even better if they set the standards higher at home and at school.

What if you come home from school, throw your clothes on the floor, get a snack, lay down to watch TV until your dinner is ready, leave your plate on the table, don't say thank you, get changed and throw your clothes on the floor, and don't do your homework until your nagged to? Sound Familiar? If you take this attitude on the field with you, you will be beaten to every ball and make sloppy passes. When you see a player go past you, you will think it's ok because someone else will get him, but they don't and he scores.

Don't be afraid of setting your standards higher than other players. Take as much pride in the quality your schoolwork as you do with your passing. The older you get, the more intelligence you need to break down and outplay your opponents. If you are helpful, responsible and mature at home your parents will appreciate it and reward you. If you can make responsibility a habit then it will transfer in to your game. You will see things quicker and perform to a higher standard.

Set goals for yourself at school as to what grades you are aiming for. Do more things for yourself around the house and don't lower your standards to fit it with other people in your neighborhood.

Practice like you hope to play.

Too many players go to training and spend time just hanging out. They never push themselves out of their mental or physical comfort zones. These same players wonder why they are not playing well and making the same mistakes over and over again in games. You need to go to practice determined to become a better player. The only way you can do this is to concentrate and focus on giving every effort for the entire practice. Don't arrive to training on time, arrive to training early with a smile on your face, shake hands with the coach, and work with a ball as soon as you arrive. Get switched on mentally .Get involved, do well early and build on it throughout the session. You should leave practice exhausted because you have put so much effort in to everything. Push yourself.

Preparation Promotes Performance

Are you ready to play?

In school, if you don't study for your finals you wouldn't expect to get good grades. Soccer is not any different. The results of most soccer games are decided before the kick off by how well the players on each team have prepared. We have already talked about training, but how do you prepare for a game. The night before a game eat well and get to bed early. Professionals would be in bed by 9.30pm. No rest no zest . Make sure your cleats are clean, your bag is packed with everything you need, and your kit is laid out ready for morning. Fall asleep thinking of how well you are going to play tomorrow and dreaming of goals you have scored or watched your heroes score. In the morning get up and read soccer magazines or watch soccer videos. If you have time, go out and have a light workout with the ball. Eat a healthy breakfast. Drink plenty of fluids. On the way to the game think positively about what you hope to achieve today's set goals for yourself, such as today I'm going to: 1. Win all my headers. 2. Not get caught off-side. It should be related to what you have been working on to improve. When you get to the game field, stay focused on your performance and have a great warm up. Now you're ready to play.

Eat to win.

You must take the importance of your diet and nutrition seriously and not just think it is your mom nagging you. The amount of energy you have in practice and games comes from the quality and quantity of the food you eat.

What happens to a car that runs out gas? It breaks down just like your body will if you don't eat the right food regularly. Simplified, your muscles are like gas tanks that carry glycogen, which fuels your performance. When your glycogen runs out, your muscles are then filled with lactic acid, which causes you to fatigue and run out of energy.

Mickey was a 17-year-old apprentice professional during my time at Norwich City . He was a really skillful left-footed player and a great lad who would often come into my office for a cup of tea and a chat. One Monday morning I asked him how he had played on Saturday. He told me that he was running the show in the first half but complained that the coach had substituted him only 15 minutes into the second half. The coach told him that he had a great game but looked tired and wouldn't last the full game. So I asked Mickey if he thought that was correct " Yeah, I suppose so," he replied reluctantly. “Why is this?” I asked him but he didn't know.

It was a month later that I discovered why. He came into my office and as he went to sit down I heard a rustling and crunching noise from his jacket. “Has something broken in you pocket Mick?” I inquired. “No, it's ok, it's is only my crisps (potato chips).” He pulled out two full bags and another seven empty ones! It was like a magician pulling handkerchiefs out of his top pocket! I love them he said. When I began talking to him it became clear that he wasn't eating a healthy breakfast before training or games.

No wonder he was running out of energy in games- he had no gas left in his muscles to fuel his performance. Unfortunately it was too late for him, as the club had already made the decision to release him.

Eating the right foods can make a dramatic difference to the way you feel and play.

One player who found that out was Russell Duncan. I first came across Russell Duncan at one of my soccer camps in Portlethen , Scotland . He was only eight years old and scored goals for fun. He was much bigger than other kids his age, but surprisingly players who were much smaller than him would push him off the ball.

The most promising players who attended my camps were invited to "Player Development Centers" during their school holidays. Russell was invited and on his first time away from home he continued to bang in goals with both feet against players two years older than him. After training we would go back to the hotel for lunch where my mum had cooked chicken nuggets, mashed potatoes, and baked beans for all the players.

It was our first meal together so I sat everyone down and explained to them the importance of eating well and how it could help their performance. They were not allowed to leave the table until they had finished their food. Of course most players wolfed it without hesitation. When everyone had left Russell was still sat there with his elbows on the table sobbing into his hands. I told him how well he had done in training, how impressed I was with the fact he had traveled away from home at such a young age, and from what I could see he had the potential to be a great player one day. “Do you want to be a great player Russ?” I asked. “Yes!” he said. “Well to do that you need lots of energy, which comes from the food that you eat.” He told me his favorite food was pizza. Plain pizza! “Tonight we will have plain pizza for dinner.” I said. He Smiled. After dinner, which he ate without a problem, I asked him to come and see me if he still wanted to be a great player. He did. As it turned out the only foods he ate at home apart from pizza were toast and ham sandwiches.

I threw out a challenge to him. If he tried a new food each week then I would give him everything I had to help him develop his game and I would take him to Sweden with me on our next Training trip. He held out his hand we shook on it and that week I received a postcard from Scotland : “Dear Tony, Meat Pie. From, Russell.” They continued: “Dear Tony, Lettuce. From, Russell.” During that trip to Sweden , Russell got better every mealtime and it showed in his performances. Every time he won a tackle I would shout, "See, that's chicken, Russ. Well done!" or whatever food he had conquered that day. He would look across at me after he scored as proud as a peacock.

Russell is now a Scottish Youth International playing a year up. Eating the right foods can work for you too. Start at your next meal.

Resisting Peer Group Pressure

"Stay in Soccer and away from trouble"

I remember one player, Andy Jones, who was gullible enough to believe his teammates who had told him that that they needed to travel in pink jackets to their next away game. His parents called me inquiring were they could find a pink jacket!

Failing to resist peer group pressure, however, is no joke. It is one of the main reasons players don't develop. On the field, resisting peer group pressure can be as simple as stretching and warming up properly while other players are blasting shots at the goal without stretching. However, off the field it can cause you much more serious problems than a pulled muscle. As you grow older you will be faced with many temptations to do wrong. The older you get the more serious the consequences of your decisions.

Mark Maceever was a ten year-old left winger who I met at my " Talent Academy " in Belfast , Northern Ireland . He grew up in Derry among the violent troubles between the people of different religions. It would have been quite easy for him to be caught up in the wrongdoings of other kids in his neighborhood. However, instead of picking up stones and throwing them, he chose to pick up a soccer ball to try to become a player. Shortly after a trip to Florida , where we competed in tournaments in Orlando , Clearwater , and Miami , we talked about the courage he would need to resist the increasing peer group pressure and what it would take for him to become a player. From when he was fourteen years old, he spent almost every weekend traveling to England to train and play with us at Peterborough United. By this time his peers were now experimenting with drinking, drugs and crime. At sixteen " Mac " moved to England and became an apprentice professional. Less than a year later he was traded to Sheffield Wednesday F.C. in the Premier League for over $1.5 million. Mark is a shining example of what you can achieve if you are your own person, do the right things, and stay focused on what you want. On the other hand, last year I read about another of my former players who had not been as focused, and got caught in some trouble and was shot in the kneecaps. Stay in soccer and out of trouble . If you do the right things from an early age it will become second nature when you are older.

The next time you are presented with a peer group challenge, have enough courage to say no. Do the right things, make the right choices, and good things will follow for you on and off the field.

ABILITY TO OVERCOME DISAPPOINTMENTS

Soccer is a mirror of life. It is an emotional roller coaster ride of highs and lows. You must have a positive attitude towards dealing with the disappointments and set backs that you will encounter. Remember that quitters never win and winners never quit . You must think determination rather than disappointment.

If your teams gets beat in a game, keep a positive mentality; use it as an opportunity to learn from the other team. Be honest with your own individual mistakes and take action to put them right. Look for ways to improve rather than finding excuses. Games don't change, it is players' attitudes that change games.

Your true character is revealed when you are asked to overcome adversity. You must have heard the saying when the going gets tough the tough get going. When your team is behind, are you the player that is still out there fighting like a tiger or have you rolled over like a pussycat?

You must think determination and not be disappointed if you are not selected to be a starter for your team or don't make your area, state regional or national selection. The professional soccer world is full of players who were considered not good enough at some stage of their careers. Quite often it was a disappointment that motivated them to work harder to improve their game and bounce back better than ever.

It is important for you to understand that players develop and mature at different levels both physically and mentally. Young players that have experienced early growth spurts may well dominate and win games because of their size and power, even though their touch and skills are not very good. However, when smaller players who have worked hard at their skills catch up in size, the bigger player who knows longer has that advantage is left behind. So if you are big and strong, work hard at your skills, and if you are small never ever get discouraged. Your skill will overcome size in the end.

A fine example of this was Andy Marshall, a young goalkeeper at Norwich City F.C., who was much smaller than the other goalie that was keeping him out of the team. At times it was difficult for him to handle it. When he was 13 years old during a training trip to Denmark , he came to talk to me. “Don't try to be better than Scott, just try to be as good as you can be,” I told him. “Don't worry about your size, that will change providing you eat right.” He had a great attitude and was really professional, and on the ferry back he told us that he wanted to do whatever we thought he needed to do. So it was arranged that I would travel to Peterborough every Wednesday night to train him in a basketball gym to improve his speed, strength, footwork and agility. Sure enough, once he got his growth spurt he was flying. He not only went on to overtake the bigger keeper, he is now the first team keeper at the club and is an England U21 International.

Andy learned to stay positive, focus on improving his game, and to be patient. When his time came he was ready for it. So remember, quitters never win and winners never quit .

MOTIVATION

The greatest competition you will ever face is with yourself. The competition that goes on in your head between the part of you that is content with being good and the other part that has the desire to be great. It is easy to be ordinary and it takes hard work to be successful . You can see the results other players have achieved in the stories above.

It's great that you have taken the time to read this article and I hope you found it useful. However, action speaks louder than words. What really gets you going? Pick out something that really motivated you from the text and go right now and act on it. Whether it is juggling the ball a record number of times with your weak foot, handing in your best piece of homework, tidying up your room, or having your best game, take action. Don't put it off for later, do it right now!

It doesn't matter what level you are at now, it is where you end up that counts. Set high goals, dream big dreams. Have faith in your ability. Be honest with yourself; outwork everyone in sight to improve your weaknesses and faults. Be the best you can be in everything you do. Think determination rather than disappointment.

You have what it takes to be a champion in soccer and in life. My challenge to you is to awaken the giant that slumbers inside your mind and commit yourself to excellence.

Good luck with all of your endeavors. If there is anything I can do to help you, please don't hesitate to contact me at tony@starfinderfoundation.org .