You are slowly picking yourself up off the ground. The smell of the perfectly groomed field is sharp on your nose as you wipe loose blades of grass and sweat from your face. For only a moment your sole focus is on the dull pain where a reckless tackle just made hard contact with your leg. But you are quickly brought back into your surroundings as you hear the deafening roar of whistling, chanting, boos, and cheers. You look up to find the source of the commotion: a sea of colorful waving flags, blinding lights, and weighty expectation. And you know that those colors above you are matched by the emblem on your chest. Instinctively, you run your fingers over the red, white and blue embroidered patch before collecting yourself and placing the ball at the spot of the foul. It’s the 85th minute of the World Cup final and this is the very moment for which you were made. You back up. You pick your spot. The whistle blows. You approach the ball with pace. The crowd holds its breath. You swing your leg…… and you wake up.
As soccer players we have all had this dream or something like it because WE LOVE THE GAME. I still remember practicing on my own in my front yard as a kid and imagining exactly what it would be like. These dreams are wonderful, motivating, and exciting but they are missing something: the REALITY of what it takes to get there. Getting in touch with the reality of this journey is tough when we have lofty ideas of our destination. But before we go anywhere, we must realize where we are beginning.
Where we are as a player is the first reality that we need to face. To know where we are, we need to be honest with ourselves about our strengths and weaknesses. When determining our starting point, it is important not only to self-assess, but also to ask coaches and mentors for feedback in order combine perspectives and get the best picture of our current level. This assessment can include soccer related qualities like technique, tactical acumen, or athleticism, but should also include non-soccer related characteristics like mentality and work-ethic. This can be a fun process, as when we uncover more about our skillset, it will certainly be exciting and encouraging to hear about our strengths along the way. However, it can also be challenging and humbling when this self-evaluation reveals hard truths about our weaknesses. Take heart though, because understanding our weaknesses already gives us a leg up on the majority of players who passively pursue their goals. If we can regularly check in with ourselves and understand where we are, we set ourselves up to move towards a destination. But where are we headed?
Where we want to be as a player is the second reality that we need to face. This goes far beyond our dreams though. As players we need to understand the skillset of the professional (if that is our goal). When our destination is vague it is very difficult to reach. What does it mean to have professional level technique, tactical knowledge, or athleticism? How can we cultivate a professional mentality? Through research and consultation with trusted coaches and mentors, we can start to understand and specifically identify goals that mark our destination. When we have a strong picture of our starting point and our destination, we can finally develop a plan to bridge the gap between where we are and where we want to be.
The final reality that we must face as players is what it takes to close the distance between where we are and where we want to be. This requires the acceptance of two truths. First, closing this distance requires sacrifice. If we truly love the game and wish to make it at the highest level, it takes an uncommon commitment that rules out a “normal” way of living. We must relentlessly pursue our goals and be willing to give up a lot to reach our desired destination. Second, and most importantly, we must accept that our sacrifice does not guarantee success. Any player who aspires to make it to a high level of play needs a special combination of luck, support, and this ability to sacrifice that not everyone possesses. Even with all of these in place there will be many that don’t make it to the highest level. In fact, according to the NCAA, only 0.8% of male Division 1 college players go pro in the United States, and the numbers are even lower for women at 0.4%. These statistics are yet another hard reality that we have to grapple with.
A lot of this is tough to hear. We must evaluate where we are. We must know where we are going. We must plan to get there and sacrifice to make it happen. And even if we do all of that we still have no promise of making it. But one promise that can be made is this: if we learn to sacrifice for the game that we love and accept the risk that comes along with it, we will get in touch with a reality that carries over to every part of our life: what we want, what we dream of, and what we love requires sacrifice. And if we can continually work to self-evaluate, set and adjust goals, and make the necessary sacrifices in our lives, our realities will unexpectedly exceed any dream that we could have.