How to Leverage Social Media to Build Your Player Profile
Social media can be an extremely valuable tool for drawing attention from soccer coaches, especially at the collegiate level. In addition to promoting your skills, accomplishments, and character, it allows you to interact with coaches and build personal relationships. It’s not a secret that coaches recruit players they’re already familiar with, since many don’t have the resources to travel across the country and discover potential recruits in every corner of the nation.
But what exactly do coaches want to see on social media? Unlike your most personal social media accounts, you have to be very strategic with the content you post.
Here are a few tips for leveraging social media to boost your network in the soccer community:
Focus Your Posts On Who You Want Following You
Most people’s posts on social media are for their friends. But if you are using it as a tool to build relationships with coaches, you have to tailor what you post for the coaches. You can still post about hanging out with your friends, but posting anything you wouldn’t want your parents to see is not smart. Coaches want to see a responsible student-athlete that is a great teammate and positive role model. Post about your individual workouts, your team’s accomplishments, and your highlights. Doing so will only make you look more appealing to coaches by showcasing your strengths and positive character traits.
Include Key Information in Your Bio
Your display name or handle should be your real name, or as close to your name. This will make it easier for coaches to find your profile when they search your name on Google.
In the bio section of your profile, include your graduation year, the club you play for, your position, and your GPA. Follow all the social media accounts of the
coaches at colleges you’re targeting so you can stay up to date with the team’s progress. It’s also recommended to follow social media accounts of athletes or public figures you personally admire. Make sure these players share your values, since coaches may be interested in who you view as a role model as an athlete and as a human being.
Your Posts Should Demonstrate a Variety of Skills
A great deal of your content should be two types of videos: game highlights and training sessions. Contrary to popular belief, your highlights shouldn’t just include your fanciest moments on the field, like scoring goals. Coaches want to see players who understand the various responsibilities of their position and actively contribute to their team’s success.
For example, a midfielder should include highlights of their ball-handling skills as well as their ability to quickly transition from offense to defense. To show that you’re a great teammate, you might also include clips such as you shifting back to cover a teammate’s spot on defense. Make sure to highlight you at the start of the clip so they know who to be watching.
When positing videos of training sessions, include context such as if you are working on your weak foot, your progress on your goal to get 500,000 touches this calendar year, or if you are working on increasing your speed, your 40 meter time. You can go into details like how many sprints you’re doing, what drills you are doing (and how many reps) etc. You want coaches to be able to easily see that you are putting in extra training at home and you have a great work ethic.
Show Your Support for Your Teammates and Friends
Another way to show coaches that you put the team first is posting content expressing your support and gratitude for your teammates. For example, you could post a game highlight with a caption that gives credit to the teammates who made this amazing play possible. Likewise, you could post a training video caption thanking the teammate who helped you improve this specific skill.
Coaches also want to see that you get along with people on and off the field. So, be sure to show your appreciation for your coaches, family, and friends when promoting your accomplishments. This shows that you recognize that you didn’t get here all by yourself, and that you’re loyal to the people who care about you. Doesn’t that sound like the kind of person you’d want on your team?
Don’t Forget to Comment on Coaches’ Posts
This is one thing most people neglect: commenting on coaches’ posts. If you are trying to get on their radar, liking and commenting their posts gets you into their notifications…meaning they are more likely to go to your profile and check you out.
Social media is a powerful tool when used correctly. At Beyond Goals Mentoring, we focus on helping youth athletes thrive on and off the field. If you are looking to play college soccer but don’t know how to go about it, check out our college soccer pathway.
