IN a book entitled “OUTLIERS: The story of success” Malcolm Gladwell he writes about “The 10,000-hour rule” I quote: “The key to achieving true expertise in any skill is simply a matter of practicing, albeit in the correct way, for at least 10,000 hours”
I have often observed young players putting in a lot of effort and hard work as they chase their dream of playing football at the highest level, they are capable of. The secret is that the training and practice has to be quality and correct. In other words, the saying “Practice makes Perfect” is not 100% correct. It should read “Perfect Practice makes Perfect”
As many of us will appreciate, not every player has ambitions to play professional football overseas, or indeed in the A-League. Certainly, there are players who enjoy playing the game socially with their mates and there is nothing wrong with that. There are many local clubs in Ipswich that cater for all levels of skill.
In this article I want to highlight what I personally look for in a player with ambitions to play professionally. I have known many a technically gifted player whose attitude and application let them down. So, what are the attributes I look for in a player with big ambitions:
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
- Is a player prepared to listen and accept feedback from a coach?
- Will a player accept responsibility for their errors?
- How determined is the player?
- Can a player push beyond that point where they are about to give up?
- Is the player driven sufficiently to be able to attend training even when they do not feel like it.
- It is vital that a player is competitive to the point where losing/failing is just a nudge to do better
- Can the player remain focused and avoid distractions like late nights, parties and mates who have other priorities.
- A player MUST believe that the harder they work the luckier they get, and that success is the reward for hard work.
- Can the player be disciplined in terms of routine? Is the player 100% committed to the Football?
- The player must be resilient and adapt when things do not go well, and never make excuses.
It is very important that parents and players weigh up the cost of a long commitment toward achieving one’s ambitions. In England for example, there are 1.6 million players in youth academies but only about 200 actually make it as a Premier League Professional, that’s less than 1%. Statistically in Australia since 1982 over 1000 players have tried to make it in Europe and sadly over 75% return to Australia within a few years.
My tip is for players to be a success here in Australia first before investing a lot of time and money in something with such a low return percentage. I recommend that parents and players look up the successful careers of Australians who made it in Australia before they became stars overseas.
Brett Emmerton; Paul Okon (Now assistant coach of the Socceroos’) Ned Zelic; Stan Lazaridis; and Mark Viduka are just some examples.
