Summertime is normally a time for taking a break, recharging, and getting ready for the big year ahead. While there are elements of truth to this as it pertains to youth soccer, the summer is usually a busy time for players. Between ID camps, offseason trainings, college visits and summer leagues, there’s a lot going on!
Here are some key tips on how to keep your social media fresh during the offseason.
Make sure to do a postseason recap: It’s tough to talk about the end of a soccer season, especially if it does not go as expected. But as difficult as it may be to sift through video and photos, and talk about the end of the year and the previous season, it’s a necessary exercise. First, from a recruiting perspective, colleges want to see recent game footage of you. Even if the final result may not have gone to your liking, you should review the game film and share the best aspects of it. It’s also important to talk about the season as a whole and discuss where things went well and end them on a hopeful note.
It’s OK to take a break from soccer: The youth soccer calendar is a real grind and it takes a toll on a players body and their mind. But there seems to be this notion that breaks are bad and the sheer number of players posting videos of their offseason trainings, ID camps, and summer league games seems to point to the idea that the season never stops. It does and that’s OK.
While it may seem counterintuitive to take a break, taking some time off to regroup and recharge is a vital part of the overall process. There is the physical aspect (injuries take time to heal and even if one is not seriously injured, the nicks, bruises, and knocks all add up) but there is also the mental aspect as well. Especially when results don’t go the way we expect, there is this reaction to immediately ramp up again. But sometimes the best thing to do is step back and rethink how one can get better and do it with a fresh set of eyes.
It’s important to note that the idea of taking time off isn’t linear. Given how packed summer schedules are ones break from the game might not happen until say July or August. That’s OK too! It doesn’t really matter when one takes time off just that one does do it. Players aren’t robots.
ECNL National Finalists for the second year! 1-2 loss to Michigan Hawks. Great game & battle. Happy to assist in our goal today & 4 out of the 5 goals scored during finals. It’s been a great season & our team is amazing?@ECNLgirls @PrepSoccer @TheSoccerWire @TopDrawerSoccer pic.twitter.com/prKPFrBRs9
— Sloane Phillips (@SloaneJPhillips) July 17, 2023
…But make sure your social media doesn’t go dormant. While it’s OK to take a break, recruits also shouldn’t let their social media go dormant. Especially when attending college ID camps or doing school visits, coaches should have a good sense of what you’ve been up to lately.
Obviously there are soccer-related items that you can post about (your offseason training, working out at the gym, clinics or camps that you are attending) are great pieces of content.
But so too are off the field items. Whether you are doing community service work, working at a job that has a certain level of responsibility/ is something you are interested in doing as a career, or attending a camp that is a passion of yours (theater camp, music classes, etc.) show the different parts of yourself that one might know based off of your highlight video. College coaches want to know you as a person and not just you as a soccer player.
Talk about what you are working on: A common theme of summer highlight videos is players talking about ‘their game’ and what they’re working on. But what is interesting is that players rarely actually explain what they’re working on. Talking about the specific aspects of your game that you are improving shows a certain level of maturity, that you know you are still growing and developing and that you know specifically what you need to work on.
Make sure that your profile is up-to-date: Your profile page is integral to college coaches getting the basic information from you down. If it has an old team on it or your old position, it could obstruct their decision making. Making sure that your profile includes the most recent information about you is key-so take a minute, go through your profile and make sure it’s up-to-date.
Have any questions about college soccer recruiting and social media that you would like to talk about? Email Sean Maslin at [email protected]
