How to get noticed at football trials comes down to two things. First, you have to chase the trial itself, hard, instead of waiting for someone to find you. Second, when you're on the pitch you have to be the one who gets there first, because at trial level everyone can play. Being a bit better isn't enough anymore.
I played professional football for more than eight years, and I went through a lot of trials to get there. Here's what I learned.
Be aggressive before you ever get there
If you want a trial, you don't wait. You go for it.
I was eleven when I started. I sent around three hundred emails, and made three hundred phone calls to the same people. I went on the club websites and called staff at clubs across the top leagues in Europe, first, second and third division. Then I went to the FIFA agents list and worked out how to ring every agent on it. I bought Skype credit so I could call them, and when I got through I asked one question: what is needed?
Most of those calls didn't get me the big trial. They got me trials at other clubs, and doors that opened years later. My trial at Rapid Wien in Austria came five and a half years after my first email, from a man in Florida I'd kept messaging. He remembered me, and he pointed me to the right person.
You never know which call is the one. So you make all of them. Send every email. Call everyone. Don't wait.
How to get noticed at football trials once you're on the pitch
Here's the truth about the trial itself. Everyone around you can play. That was settled a long time ago. What isn't settled is who gets there first.
At that level, the gap between you and the player who gets the contract usually comes down to a couple of kilometres per hour. That's it. So the question isn't whether you're quick for your team. You probably already are. The question is whether you're quick enough for the level you're trying to get into.
When I was on trial at Rapid Wien's under 18s, I played with a player whose turning, decisions and coordination with the ball were on another level. It wasn't just his speed. It was how fast he processed the game. That was my reality check, and the earlier you get yours, the earlier the real work starts.
Win the first three steps
Most players lose their first three steps the same way. The foot reaches out in front of the body, and every step that lands in front is a braking step. You're putting the brakes on while trying to accelerate.
When it's right, every step drives down and back through the leg instead of reaching. Your first three steps decide whether you get in behind or get caught. A coach watching a trial sees that before anything else. I go deeper on this in how to improve first step acceleration.
Find the one line holding you back
Sean Dulic came to us at 1860 Munich, in the German third division. On his assessment, the one line lagging everything else was his ground contact time: how long his foot stayed on the ground each stride. It was 210 milliseconds on the first two strides, against about 180 at the elite level.
The report named it in one sentence. He had a standout season, made his German under 20s debut, and signed a five-year deal at Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga. He joined us before the transfer, not after. See the point? The work was done before anyone came to watch.
Train harder than the trial will be
In training, overextend everything you do. If you're playing a 10 m cycle on the ball, make it 15. If you're making 10 passes, make it 20, and chase speed behind them. Then on trial day, the game feels slower than your training.
And play week in, week out wherever you are. When your opportunity comes, you don't want to be raw.
Don't leave it until three weeks before
I'll be straight with you. If you want a quick fix three weeks before a trial, we're not that. We'd rather you know that now than find out later.
You've always been one of the quick ones. But there's a level in you that you've never reached, and more training on your own won't get you there. Not knowing exactly what's holding you back keeps you exactly where you are.
That's why we start with an assessment: timing gates, every run filmed at 240 frames a second, and a report that names the thing costing you the most. Then every session is timed and reviewed on film, so you can see it move long before a trial shows it. Read what the test involves in speed testing for athletes Sydney.
You can play. The question is whether you get there first.