How to be Scouted
Think About the Outcomes of Being Scouted by Specific Clubs
For the vast majority of parents and children the clubs offer two basic propositions to consider carefully, especially if more than one scout makes an offer. And by 'vast majority', I mean those that will never become a professional footballer.
Cat 1 and 2 clubs will offer you what is arguably the the most glamorous football experience.
Your child will play with and against the best players. They will play in some of the best leagues and international tournaments. But the odds of making it professionally are heavily stacked against your child and you could be asking your child to risk their educational success for the remote chance of football success.
Cat 3 and 4 clubs offer less glamour and fewer opportunities to play against the best teams and players but, you may find it less disruptive on your child's education.
There are fewer tournament opportunities and playing against teams abroad is extremely rare.
But for some players they will be successful and will go on to be professional players, so it presents quite a dilemma to parent.
Scouting
Football clubs have a well-developed scouting structure. Some are slick 'machines' that vacuum up talent around the world, some operate on a 'best endeavours' basis and, others have no academy set up until the age of 16 plus.
The majority of clubs have a team or network of scouts that visit grass root football matches every week up and down the country. Some grass root clubs may have an affiliation with professional clubs. Some have regional development centres around the country designed to catch potential talent outside of the club’s main catchment area.
The Professional Football Scouts Organisation that governs member scouts also host trials. The trials typically cost £75 per player (Price correct: June 2019). There are other benefits to be gained such as video recording analysis of your child's performance that can be sent to clubs. There is an additional charge for this.
Club Trials
Some clubs offer open trials. Details and dates are published on the individual club's website either in their community or academy pages. You register online and your child will take part in a series of tests, drills and games.
Communication and decisions can be made very quickly with the initial intake culled significantly after the first day. Expect 30-60 children to take part.
Many of the trialists are there by internal invitation - the scouts having already seen some of the key attributes they like and some will have progressed from in-house development squads to the academy trial stage.
We participated in three trials that saw our son enter the development squad, after attending a summer football camp in a Cat 1 club and was subsequently watched by the club scout at his grass roots club.
In our experience, you pay for your child to attend development training. Our son progressed well and really started to stand out above the football ability of the others in the development squad.
After a year our son was invited to trial for the academy. I did not stay to watch given our son knew the facility and coaches and I felt he could do without the pressure of Dad watching. However when I arrived back before the end of the trial to watch and collect him, I could see our six year old looking frustrated and cross having received very little of the ball during the game whilst other players were showboating.
Head down and looking disheartened our involvement at that club came to end. He was invited back to the development squad but by this time I was very much aware of the huge scale of the academy operation. I could see this was all part of the academy revenue stream so we decided not to return.
On a parallel track a Cat 3 club had spotted our son in a tournament. He was a successful trailist and also made it into the development squad. The club was beginning to reform their academy operation but things were looking financially fragile for the club so we also accepted a trial at a Cat 4 club.
I stayed to watch the Cat 4 trial this time and saw what I considered to be some really gifted kids dominate the match.
My son was successful and he was offered a place and paperwork to sign.
Meanwhile our son performed well in development matches with the Cat 3 club and was also offered an academy contract.
We signed with the Cat 3 club who stabilised financially. Shortly after that, the Cat 4 club went into administration.
Looking back with hindsight, our son had a tremendous work rate and was tenacious. He wanted the ball and set out to get it. He developed some good feet and pace. He wouldn't let an opposition player past him. These became real standout attributes from the rest of the field.
Football Club Holiday Camps
School holidays offer a great opportunity to spend time with junior coaches running football courses during school holidays.
Your child will receive great training and, after your child has attended and worked their way through the basic courses, you will get a sense as to whether your child is operating at or above peer group level.
But be warned. Just because your little Ronaldo has scored 10 goals all by himself, it doesn’t necessarily follow the staff will like him enough to recommend a more senior coach take a look.
You can’t always rely on staff to come up to you and ask if you would like your child to go for a trial or join a development group. Sometimes you might have to ask them if your child has potential and take it from there.
Club Community Football Teams
As part of a club's Corporate Responsibility Programme, they often run a set of teams designed to feed potential talent into their development programme. Whilst these children will mainly play locally, they benefit from receiving a good level of coaching and may be given the opportunity to play against the club's official academy team once or twice a year. Children that demonstrate potential may be given a trial in development teams and or with the academy.
Independent Football Academies
These are run independently and not exclusively linked to a specific professional club. They are a great link between grass roots football and academies and will receive regular attention from professional club scouts.
You will probably have to pay to cover direct costs such as kit and travel etc.
Waiting Around Academy Matches
On the odd occasion we have seen parents waiting around training and match venues hoping to catch the eye of the coach.
Opinion is arguably divided on this approach. For some this might illustrate dedication to the cause, going the extra mile if you will.
Many clubs have strict security at the gates. They are sending a big message here, so this approach is not wanted or possible at all venues.
Where facilities are more accessible, you will have a chance to meet the coach but take a moment to see things from their point of view. They receive calls and emails daily from parents who pitch their son/daughter as the next big star.
Right at that moment in time they are focused on the match, preparations or post match/training actions. If you were in their position how much attention would you genuinely take in someone pitching up at their place of work?
The best you can hope for is a polite offer to send a scout to watch your child play.
If it's a straight no, don't persist with this approach. Let the football do the talking on the pitch or engage in another way described earlier.
