How to Become a Professional Football Player in India || Step by Step Guide

Football, somewhere also known as soccer, is one of the most famous sports in the world. People enjoy watching a bunch of professional athletes kick the ball all around the football pitch. Thousands of fans attend matches of their favourite team and that shows the love towards the game.

How to Become a Football Player in India: Step by Step Guide

But, in India, the story is very different. It is the country that is mad about Cricket. Cricketers are treated like a celebrity here in India. But, in recent years, the love for football has started to increase, mostly after the inception of Indian Super League in 2014.

The All India Football Federation, the governing body of football in India, along with Reliance chairman Nita Ambani founded the league in 2013 and the first season of the competition was played in 2014.

Today, we show you how can you be the next big thing in Indian football. To have a successful in the game, you must follow the below steps.

Love for the Game

To have a successful career in any sport, the first thing that you should have is love for the game. If you don't love the game where you aspire to have a successful career, there will be a time when you will feel bored and tired of it and will give up. So the first most thing is the love for the game.

Knowledge of the Game

Now, the next thing you should have is knowledge of the game. You might not want to commit yourself to a game which you don't know about. So, the next thing you should have is knowledge of the game in which you want to build your career.

Start Young

Most of the successful athletes in any of the sport in the world start at a very young age, somewhere around 5 to 6. This is a very rare thing in India. Indians start playing football mainly in their school when are studying in class eight or above. But, this is not the proper way. You need to start early if you want to be successful.

Now, you don't need to be playing for a football team at the age of 5 or 6. You can play football with your friends or your parents. It is not necessary to start your football journey at any team or academy. You can move on to these at a later stage of your career.

Train at a Regular Basis

We all know that kids at an early age always try to avoid school, but, you can't do that here. You need to be training regularly, because, the more time you will spend on the football pitch, the much better you will be. And, always remember that practice makes you better. So, don't avoid any training sessions.

Join School Team

The next step in your journey is joining your school team. Now, this is a very important stage in your football career. Because here you need to give your all. The better you perform, the more the chances that you will be noticed by academy coaches who always attend school football matches to find the next big thing.

Go to Trials

Trials play a very important part in any players football career, whether you are young and starting or you are an established footballer. You need to go to trials of football academies or teams. And if you manage to impress the coaches, a contract will be waiting for you.

Be Patient

Sometimes, you might feel it's not working. You are not getting what you want. You might feel frustrated if you don't get chances in any Academy, but, remember, nothing happens so fast, so be patient, because the time will come one day.

Assess Yourself

After you have trained hard for a while, the next thing you need to do is access yourself, figure out where you feel best suited, figure out where you feel your skills can be very effective, and only in this way, you will be able to find your perfect position as a player.

Record Your Games/Practice

The next thing is very important if you want to never repeat any mistakes. Record your games or practice to find out what you are doing wrong and make sure you never repeat that, because, one mistake is enough to become a cause of your team's loss.

Be Social

Football is a team game. Football match can't be won with an individual performance. So be social, communicate with your teammates, better communication will lead you to be a good leader on the pitch.

Be Fit

Fitness is one of the key things in football. If you are not fit enough, you are not good enough to be selected in a team. To keep yourself fit, you need to leave all your favourite foods. Make sure you eat diet food. You need to do workout every day. 

Be Injury Free

So when you are training, make sure you don't push yourself too hard, because that can result in injury, and no team or coaches like injured players.

Impress the Academy Coaches

You have to perform so well during your academy times that your coaches are impressed with your performance.

Get Ready to Sign a Professional Contract

So, when you are at academy, you not only have to impress the coaches but also the scouts of various team's who attend academies various times in a month. So when a scout feels impressed with your performance, they will send your scout report to their teams head coach, and if the head coach is impressed, get ready, because soon you will be approached by a team.

Well if you follow these steps, there are a lot of chances that one day, you will be the next big thing in Indian football. But, it doesn't end here. Whenever you get a chance in any club, make sure you give it your best.