Research Essay: Youth to Professional Soccer

Nowadays, soccer is one of the most popular games in the entire world. Naturally, many children dream about becoming a professional soccer player. However, often children are unconscious of the possible consequences of such a decision. This is why it is necessary to underline that the decision of a child to become a professional soccer player should be taken after a profound reflections and the participation of parents in this process is extremely important. At the same time, it is necessary to provide a child with an opportunity to make an independent choice of his or her own professional career that implies that the decision to become a professional soccer player should be conscious and rely on the child’s understanding of the essence of this profession, its advantages and possible disadvantages.

First of all, it is necessary to underline that nowadays sport is extremely important to the normal, healthy development of children. In fact, in the modern world children are often deprived of an opportunity to go in for sport and have some experience in different sport games. Instead, the lifestyle of modern children is rather sedative and does not meet the physical needs of children and their development. It is not a secret that many children are unwilling to go in for sport simply because it is not interesting for them. In such a situation, playing soccer may be a very effective alternative to other sport games which may be not so interesting for children. The reasons is quite obvious since, at the present epoch, soccer is considered to be the sport number one in the world that means that it is the most popular sport in the world. Naturally, this will attract children attention, especially at the early teens when a child attempts to be like his peers and readily plays popular games. What is more important, soccer is a really universal sport which is accessible to all. In this respect, it is worthy of mention the fact that “the sport of Women’s soccer keeps progressing in the United States; more and more have decided to play/coach/write about it” (Becoming a professional soccer player). Moreover, nowadays, 18 million people are soccer playerts in the US and over 200 million in the world (How to become a professional soccer player). In such a situation, it is important that a child could make a write choice in his future career.

Naturally, before taking such a responsible decision it is necessary to be conscious of the possible consequences of such a decision, i.e. it is necessary to fully realize what the career of a professional soccer player is. It should be said that becoming a professional soccer player implies hard work. It is necessary to start with early age. Traditionally, it is recommended to start training under the age of 12 in order to achieve really positive results. At the same time, a child should be ready to train regularly and he/she must be conscious of the fact that training is not as fascinating as the game itself. In stark contrast, if a child wants to be a professional soccer play he/she will need to go through the routine of the training process steadily improving his/her performance (Pro soccer player?).

In fact, often children have an erroneous view on professional soccer play. Often they sincerely believe that when they become professional soccer player they just enjoy the game they play. However, in actuality, the situation is quite different since becoming a professional soccer player is primarily the hard work and naturally some talent a child should have in order to perform effectively.

On the other hand, many professional soccer players really enjoy their work regardless those difficulties and problems they face in their work. At the same time, nowadays, a professional soccer player is a prestigious and well-paid job. Naturally, the earnings of a professional soccer player may vary depending on the country, for instance, Europe is considered the best place, from financial point of view, for a professional soccer player. This is why this profession may be quite perspective though the career of a professional soccer player is relatively short and traditionally constitutes about 15 years but before becoming a professional children need to go through the process of training and learning (Winter soccer academy).

However, even the most gifted child cannot be sure that he/she will really succeed in soccer because the cases of injuries are quite often in this sport. This is why children must be conscious of the threat to their health. On the other hand, it is also necessary to underline that if a child at the age of 12 or under takes a decision to become a professional soccer player he starts training and, thus, he takes care of his health. This means that soccer may be really useful to human health though there is still a high risk of injuries as well as in other sports.

Finally, it should be said that a child should realize the fact that a professional soccer player should possess certain qualities and characteristics that can make him/her a really successful professional. To put it more precisely, children should have physical abilities to play soccer since this sport is really hard and children need to have a good physical health to afford training and games. Also, they need to have a variety of technical abilities that can make their professional play really diverse and unpredictable to opponents. At the same time, modern soccer is considered to be an extremely intelligent game that means that a professional soccer player should be a part of a team and, what is more, he/she should know perfectly tactic of the game in order to be able to defeat the opponents not only physically or technically but also tactically. Also, a good professional player should be strong psychologically since he/she needs to be sure in his /her performance regardless the current result of a game. Naturally, it would be perfect if all these qualities were combined in one player since such only such players are considered to be the best (The professional player).

Thus, it is obvious that modern soccer is a really popular sport and many children are willing to become professional soccer players but they need to understand the difficulties and dangers hidden in this game. In fact, it is only really gifted and hard working children that can become successful professionals in this field.

References:

1. Becoming a professional soccer player. Retrieved June 6, 2007 from http://www.ftl.pinecrest.edu/ms/WebQuests/Erica/my%20webquest.htm
2. Pro Soccer Player? Retrieved June 6, 2007 from http://www.saysoccer.org/tunnel/proplayer.htm
3. How to become a professional soccer player. Retrieved June 6, 2007 from http://www.expertfootball.com/training/professional.php
4. Winstars Soccer Academy. Retrieved June 6, 2007 from http://www.winstarssoccer.com/
5. The professional player. Retrieved June 6, 2007 from http://www.soccerperformance.org/playertypes/introtoprosoccerplayer.htm