How do you join a school training center ?
For anyone wanting to pursue a career in sports, joining a school training center is a fantastic idea. It will give you relevant skills and experience, show potential employers that you are capable and driven, and you are likely to make connections too. But how do you join a school training center ? A team at Looking for Soccer, the ideal website for finding soccer camps at the biggest clubs in the world, has found out what is needed.
How can you join a school training center ?
There are two main ways that school training centers recruit new student athletes : through students applying and through trials. Applying is more common, since these tend to be private schools with good reputations. This therefore means that you will need to be prepared for the cost of a school training center. Of course, it varies from place to place, but expect a minimum fee of about $5,000 a year. This figure can go much, much higher for the very best schools.
To apply, you need to include your grades, your sporting performance and very often a motivation letter to show your desire to join. Student athletes need to be dedicated, and unmotivated students will not reach their maximum potential.
Alternatively, the school training centers will hold trials to find students. Even though the trials can be for any sport, the advice for all sports is the same: they are not just looking for the best athletes, they are looking for students who love their sport and will give all they can whenever they compete and train.
Do you need great grades to join a school training center ?
The short answer to this is no, but the better your grades are, the more impressive your application will be. They are not looking for super smart kids who will ace any test put in front of them, they are looking for students who will work hard and take an interest in what they are learning. The curriculum will be slightly adapted to sport, and this can actually help students who are struggling. Through the love for their sport, they can become great students, and it is not that rare to see.
More important than having great grades or being a fantastic athlete is being well suited to being in a school training center. This translates to being eager and motivated to learn, and it is also important for students to be fine with being separated from their parents for long periods at a time.
How can you stand out when applying ?
The best way to stand out when applying is to prove your motivation and your passion for the sport. The school training centers do not want finished products, they want kids that are eager to learn and eager to play. Students like this are much easier and more pleasant to teach, and this yields much better results in the students.
Another good idea is to identify your strengths and weaknesses. If you have fantastic sporting performances under your belt already, then showing you are also motivated for your education will be the best thing to do. On the other hand, if you are already a very good student, then it would be better to demonstrate your passion for your sport.
Conclusion
So, to join a school training center, there are several things you need. Firstly, you need to pay the yearly fees, which can get very expensive. You do not need to be an excellent athlete or student, but you do need to have the basics covered. Motivation and passion for learning is also crucial, as that will be the most important factor in how quickly you progress. Lastly, students will have to spend quite long periods of time away from their parents, so they must be ready for that.
If you would like a little taste of what it is going to be like, why not try a soccer camp at the ICEF or Manchester City ? If you come back from there wanting more, then a school training center is right for you.
