Developing a Growth Mindset After a Soccer Cut: Turning Rejection into Opportunity

Getting cut from a team is a painful experience that brings a whirlwind of emotions: disappointment, sadness, anger, embarrassment, just to name a few. It’s only natural to feel like there must be something wrong with you, or you’re simply not a good soccer player.

Of course, neither of these things are true. Getting cut does not mean you’re not a good player, or you’re not meant to play soccer at all.

Ok, so why did you get cut?

The real answer to this question is very different from what countless athletes have been led to believe. By adopting a different, more realistic mindset towards getting cut, young athletes will realize they’ve been gifted a marvelous opportunity to elevate their game, one they’ll be extremely grateful for in the future.

What Does Getting Cut Really Mean?

Every player has strengths and weaknesses, so getting cut doesn’t mean you’re the only one on the team who needs improvement. It just means that at this time, for whatever reason, your current coaches don’t have the capabilities to help you improve. No, not because you need more improvement than everyone else on the team.

You just need a different kind of improvement, and your current team can’t give you that. As former pros, we know that all sorts of external circumstances can contribute to this scenario.

So, getting cut really just means that your current team isn’t the right team for you, and you’d be a better fit somewhere else.

How to View Getting Cut as an Opportunity

High-level athletes are always looking for new ways to elevate their game. So, even if you weren’t cut, improvement would be a top priority.

Well, you can’t get better if you don’t know which specific aspects of your game need the most improvement. This is extremely valuable information that many young athletes are not entirely aware of.

When you get cut, you gain access to this information, and it’s a very empowering feeling. You learn exactly what you need to focus on most in training, and which specific physical or technical issues are stopping you from reaching your full potential.

In other words, you learn how to train like professional. Instead of letting your weaknesses go unnoticed - like so many athletes do - you are facing them head-on and building a more complete game.

Learning to Embrace Change

Viewing your release from a team as an opportunity teaches you how to embrace the unexpected twists and turns of high-level sports. Take it from us when we say that this is a crucial skill, arguably one of the most important in an athlete’s mental arsenal.

Why? Because twists and turns are inevitable. Would Harry Kane have become the player he did if he didn’t get cut from Arsenal’s academy? Would Declan Rice be the player he is if he didn’t get cut from Chelsea’s academy?

The truth is, if you didn’t get cut now, another form of adversity would surely come your way at some point. Since you’re bound to run into all sorts of obstacles in your soccer pathway, you might as well learn how to embrace them as early as possible. This way, you’ll be prepared to deal with your next challenge, and even more prepared for the one after that.

Every Athlete Faces Adversity

If you can embrace twists and turns and prevent them from hurting your confidence, you are behaving like a true professional, meaning you’re well on your way to a successful career. Countless legendary athletes have been cut and used this experience to go from good to great. In fact, that’s what makes them great.

Every player runs into adversity time and time again, but only some can deal with it like it’s their job. All of your favorite athletes have this in common, so getting cut is your chance to join their company.

At Beyond Goals Mentoring, we know how much it hurts to get cut. We’ve both experienced it firsthand. That’s why we’re so proud to help young athletes learn how to view challenges as opportunities by staying dedicated to their personal development, no matter what life throws their way.

So, if your athlete is struggling emotionally after getting cut, let’s set up a mentoring session and use this hurdle to build them up instead of tear them down.