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Mental Skills Toolkit:

3 Mental Prep Tips to Help You Quickly Get Noticed at Soccer Tryouts

Published: August 31, 2021
Updated: February 20, 2023
By: Jenn Ireland

Category: Confidence, Growth-Mindset, On the Soccer Field, Performing under Pressure, Soccer Tryouts, The Women's Game

Soccer tryouts can be nerve-wracking. You want to play your best and impress the coaches so that you make the team. Whether trying out for your high school soccer team, a select club team, or an elite league (such as GA or ECNL), players put a lot of pressure on themselves in these situations to perform well and get noticed at soccer tryouts.

The secret to standing out at soccer tryouts is to head in as prepared as you can be, both physically and mentally. That means pre-planning what type of player you are going to show up as on that field, and then taking action to get yourself ready.

If you want to get noticed at soccer tryouts, it’s all about making a positive impact on the game. To set yourself up for success here, you’ll need to go into tryouts both physically and mentally prepared. Physical preparation involves doing the work that needs to be done in order to progress and grow your game in the months and weeks leading up to tryouts. Mental preparation means getting into the right mindset before taking the field.

You want to physically prepare so that you can go into tryouts with confidence, ready to compete and play your best soccer. You want to mentally prepare so that you are able to execute and stay in your optimal performance zone, despite the nerves and the pressure. This post is going to dive into what mindset your mental preparation should focus on beforehand if you want to stand out and get noticed at soccer tryouts.

First, understand what coaches are looking for

Contrary to what you may think, soccer coaches are NOT looking for players that play perfectly and make no mistakes. At soccer tryouts, the players that stand out the most to coaches are IMPACT players. How to get noticed at soccer tryouts is to be a DIFFERENCE MAKER.

Regardless of the level of play or competition, from middle school soccer teams to ODP teams and everything in-between, coaches are looking for soccer players that positively impact the game environment and make a difference when they are on the field. These are the players that get noticed at soccer tryouts, especially when tryouts are short in duration. While some tryouts are multiple days, others can be as short as an hour!

things that will help you quickly get noticed at soccer tryouts:

Competitiveness, physical play, intensity
Work ethic
Leadership and good on-field communication
Playmaking (making things happen instead of waiting for things to happen)
Ability to adjust, anticipate and interfere defensively
Situational awareness and ability to read the game
Confidence on the ball and lack of hesitation
Speed-of-play, fast paced game tempo
Urgency to get behind the ball on transition
Proactive movement, early decision making
Good technique (footwork, ball control and ability to strike the ball)

If you want to show the coaches at tryouts that you can be an impactful, difference maker on the soccer field, you need to purposefully & proactively, cultivate this mindset. This is especially true when you have a short tryout and need to stand out QUICKLY.

Showing strongly in any of these areas will help you get noticed at soccer tryouts and will make an impression on the coaches. But how exactly do you make sure that you DO these things when you are out there? How do make sure you are focused on these things when the nerves, the overthinking, and the worrying about mistakes inevitably take over your thoughts during tryouts?

You mentally prepare that is how. You take the time to set the intention and take action NOW so that when you hit that tryout field, you can stay focused on your plan even with the nerves and pressure present.

Grow your confidence through preparedness.

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3 Mental Prep Tips to help you Stand out Quickly

To get noticed at soccer tryouts, you need to be able to stay composed, focused and in your optimal performance zone, despite the pressure or nerves you may be feeling. These tips will help you create this focus going into tryouts. They will help you keep a productive, healthy striving mentality that will prepare you to stay engaged and help you plan for what to do in moments of adversity.

Here are 3 mindset tips to help you stand out and get noticed at soccer tryouts:

tip #1 - Be prepared to Prioritize intensity, creativity & proactivity

Intensity, creativity, proactivity. If you want to get noticed at soccer tryouts as an impactful player, prepare to focus on these three things. Why? Because these are all things that make players stand out quickly.

Intensity is hitting your top physicality and speed, and maxing out in the small moments. It’s going 100% when needed. It’s closing space fast. It’s change of pace. It’s having urgency to move quickly and be where you need to be. Intensity is a mindset, and one you can CHOOSE to play with. One that will make you a better soccer player, one that will help you get noticed at soccer tryouts.

Creativity is playing authentically and creating things from nothing. It’s playing freely. It’s seeing the game through YOUR eyes and bringing YOUR style and flair. It’s not hesitating or holding back. It’s taking calculated risks and going for it (and then immediately recovering & staying in the game when mistakes happen). Playing creatively in a mindset that doesn’t exactly have a blueprint, which is the glory of it. There’s no right or wrong way to do it.

Proactivity is anticipating and acting early. If you pay close attention to the body language, movement and communication of the players around you, you’ll notice that it is fairly easy to guess what is going to happen. Proactivity is when you ACT on this anticipation. When your team is out of possession, being proactive can result in critical defensive interventions, turnovers and counterattacks. When your team is in possession it can result in advancing forward quickly and unbalancing the opponent before they can get organized.

Self-talk tip to get noticed at soccer tryouts: Change how you talk about yourself.

You aren't someone who simply WANTS to play with more intensity, creativity or proactivity - you ARE someone who IS these things. Assume the identity of this type of person and BECOME them.

Repeat after me: "I AM intense, creative and proactive."

The best part here is that these are all mindsets that you can CHOOSE to play with. Intensity, creativity and proactive play are all within YOUR CONTROL. You can CHOOSE to show up to the field this way and play this way.

tip #2 - be prepared for mistakes & what to do when they happen

If you are trying to get noticed at soccer tryouts by NOT making mistakes, it won’t work. Why? First, when you play this way, you can play well but you’ll never play GREAT. You’ll never maximize your impact potential. Second, the quicker, more intense and more creative you play (tip #1), the MORE MISTAKES YOU WILL MAKE. So you’re going to have to be prepared to deal with them.

How do you mentally prepare for this? Ahead of soccer tryouts, sit down, have a chat with yourself, and accept that mistakes are going to happen. And then make a plan, a commitment to yourself, for EXACTLY what you are going to do when mistakes inevitably happen on that tryout field. This mental preparation will go a long way to help you get noticed at soccer tryouts.

So, what SHOULD you do when the mistakes happen? You should hustle. You should reset. You should try to win the ball back within 5 seconds of losing it. Continuing on immediately at high intensity will absolutely help you get noticed at soccer tryouts.

If you tend to struggle to get over mistakes quickly, make a commitment NOW, before tryouts, that are will push through that moment and harness that energy into something constructive immediately. How fast can you get back behind the ball? How quickly can you recover? Can you open up another opportunity, find another pocket to create space?

Errors on the soccer pitch are easily forgotten by coaches and teammates when you redeem yourself immediately and stay involved and impactful. Where your mistakes will hurt you is when you shutdown in the aftermath and give up on the play. This is exactly what NOT TO DO at tryouts.

Self-talk tip to get noticed at soccer tryouts: Put "what's next?" on repeat after mistakes.

Before your mind can start overthinking or dwelling on the error, IMMEDIATELY override your thoughts with this question, on a loop. Doing this will force you to focus outwardly on the game in front of you.

Repeat after me: "What's next? What's next? What's next?"

tip #3 - be prepared to use your outside voice & over-communicate

To get noticed at soccer tryouts as an impact player, prepare beforehand and commit to really emphasizing your on-field leadership. You don’t just want to communicate, you want to communicate LOUDLY – with more volume than you usually use. Doing this will help you stand out quickly and can be extremely helpful if the duration of the tryout is really short.

Whether you are providing information to your teammates, helping guide the ball from player to player or giving commands (step! pressure! drop!) – MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD! Don’t hold back. This will help you get noticed at soccer tryouts and quickly establish you as a leader on the field as someone who understands the game well and is able to make a difference and help the team organize.

It doesn’t matter if what you say isn’t perfect. You WILL make errors or misjudge something at some point and that’s okay. What DOES matter is that you are stepping up, showing leadership & confidence and helping those around make better informed, earlier decisions which ups the tempo and results in a faster speed-of-play. This is you having an impact. This is you making a difference.

BONUS Tip - Wear bright colored clothing if you can

While this has nothing to do with mentally preparing to be impactful, it is an excellent (slightly sneaky) way to get noticed at soccer tryouts. Hot pink or lime green clothing with ALWAYS stand out in a sea of generic white t-shirts and black shorts. This may seem silly, but it works. Wearing something that is bright, patterned or just different makes you stand out right from the get-go.

If you are visibly easy to see, it’s easy for coaches to keep an eye on you and catch more of your play. It’s also easier for them to point you out to other coaches because you are quickly identifiable.

Quiz: is your perfectionism holding you back?

Is perfectionism negatively impacting your soccer game
OR is it helping you stay focused to fine-tune your skills?

Be intentional with your mindset + self-talk

The best advice for going into tryouts with confidence is to come up with a plan beforehand, one that includes being very intentional with your mentality and self-talk.

Although it doesn’t always seem so, YOU GET TO CHOOSE what you think about before, during and after the tryout. If you don’t take control of your mindset and self-talk, then your brain will take charge and fill your head with detrimental thinking. You’ll be overthinking, catastrophizing, and stressed out in no time. This is NOT how you get noticed at soccer tryouts.

The biggest mistakes that players can make heading into tryouts is that:

they overly focus on weaknesses
they set impossible expectations of themselves
they pressure themselves to not make mistakes
they tell themselves what NOT to do (example: don’t dive in, don’t miss the shot, etc.)

Instead, prepare for tryouts by filling your head with things that are good, useful and constructive. This type of positive self-talk can help you elevate every piece of your soccer game. Try asking yourself these questions to mentally prepare and get noticed at soccer tryouts:

What am I good at? (Ex: overlapping runs up the flank!)
What have I been working hard to improve lately? (my left-footed shot!)
How am I going to help my teammates play well today? (move into supportive positions early and give good angles to the ball carrier!)
What can I commit to bringing to my game today, regardless of outcome? (playing with intensity, running hard, and providing good information to my teammates!)

Before the tryouts, prepare by building yourself up. Remind yourself of all the things you do well and commit to working your hardest. Remind yourself that you are prepared and ready! Remind yourself that you are ready to crush tryouts!

soccer Is 90% Mental

So what are you doing to train that part of your game?

Introducing the Mindset Mastery Academy

A 10-week 1:1 mental skills mentorship experience for female soccer players

Do this for yourself and no one else

Ultimately everything you do here is for YOU and YOUR growth. Yes, you want to stand out, get noticed at soccer tryouts, and make a positive impression on the coaches, but REALLY, it’s about honoring your commitment to yourself. Taking responsibility for how you show up on that field is an act of self-love. It’s doing something positive for yourself and your development.

Look at it this way, let’s pretend we have a player cloned. Same skills, same talent, same weaknesses. One has been working on ‘good and useful thinking’ before tryouts and has made a commitment to herself about what she will do in the moments after mistakes, and the other is obsessing over potential errors, overthinking, and hyper-focused on her weaknesses. Which player will perform better and get noticed at soccer tryouts? Which player will feel like they showed up for themselves? Which player do you want to be?

A recap on how to get noticed at soccer tryouts:

1 – Be easy to see by wearing bright colors & patterns

2 – Use your outside voice, increase your volume

3 – Play with intensity, creativity and proactivity

4 – Have a clear plan for how you will react after mistakes and stick with it

5 – Take charge of your thoughts and fill your head with things that are good & useful

If you take this approach, you win anyway you look at it. If you take these tips to heart and spend the time to pre-plan and carefully cultivate a positive mindset, you will be heading into soccer tryouts prepared and confident. Confident because you are DOING SOMETHING AMAZING FOR YOURSELF. You are showing up for yourself, taking action, and making things happen.

Hi everyone! I’m Jenn and I create content to help female soccer players and coaches maximize individual and team potential by developing healthy mindset skills. Join other subscribers and sign up for the newsletter for all my best tips and advice!

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Christina Slimp

1 year ago

Love it Jen☃️

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Jenn Ireland

1 year ago

Reply to Christina Slimp

Thanks Christina! Glad this was helpful 🙂

wpDiscuz

Hi everyone!

I'm Jenn, a USSF C-licensed youth soccer coach, mental skills coach & founder here at Expand Your Game. I created this site because it is the site I needed when I was a soccer player.

About me: I am a former newspaper photojournalist who loves downtempo electronic music, guacamole and books of every sort. And of course soccer! On days off you can find me researching tiny farms in Portugal , tossing a frisbee for my dog, or tending to my growing collection of indoor plants.