Are You Good Enough? Evaluating Talent in Youth Soccer

In the world of sports - evaluating talent is one of the most essential, yet controversial, topics.

Don't think so?

I challenge you to ask 10 of your friends whether or not MJ or Lebron is the true GOAT (apparently that means "Greatest of All Time").

After that … if you still have any friends left… try Messi or Ronaldo… Wambach or Hamm… Brady or Manning…

The point is, there will always be some degree of subjectivity in the evaluation process. However, when it comes to youth soccer , there is a generally accepted criteria by which most coaches will assess you or your player.

While it's impossible to account for every coaches bias, perspective or preference - keeping the following components in mind as you establish your, or your player's, development plan will help to ensure you are putting your efforts towards improving the parts of your game that are most likely to help you standout.

Technical ability

Technical ability refers to a player's proficiency in the fundamental skills of the sport, such as passing, shooting, dribbling, and ball control. At the youth levels, this is generally considered the most important component and should be prioritized in both team and individual development plans.

It's important to note that technical mastery is not just established by the player's ability to perform these skills accurately, efficiently, and with proper technique - but also by their ability to do so under pressure.

Ensure that, as you improve, your technical drills and exercises incorporate increasingly more challenging and  game-like pressure.

Tactical Understanding

Tactical understanding refers to a player's ability to understand and execute the strategies and tactics of the game. It is the player's ability to make smart decisions on the field and to understand how to play within their assigned role on the team.

A player with good tactical understanding will have a solid grasp of the game - including different positional responsibilities, formations, and styles of play.

To Improve their tactical understanding, players should dedicate plenty of time spent in age appropriate, game-like scenarios to develop their ability to read the game and make decisions.

Additionally, spending time watching, studying, and analyzing both your own and other games can be beneficial as it can provide a different perspective relative to what you see in the moment, on the field.

Physical ability

While technical and tactical ability are essential, soccer is a sport, and thus a certain level of athletic ability is required.

Especially as players advance into more senior ranks - speed, agility, strength, and endurance are required.

This doesn't mean every player needs to bench press 300 lbs or run a 4.4 second 40-yard dash. However incorporating age appropriate cardiovascular, speed, and strength training in your development program will help ensure you are prepared to handle the physical demands of the game and will help you stand out during tryout or evaluation sessions.

Psychosocial skills

According to the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) player development criteria, the psychosocial development component refers to the set of mental and emotional skills that a player possesses.

In non-PhD terms this component has to do with some combination of a player's "mental toughness" and "emotional intelligence."

While it is far outside the scope of this post to discuss the nature of childhood or sports psychology - a coach is looking for players who demonstrate a positive attitude, work ethic, confidence, composure during the games highs and lows, and a willingness to work within a team.

In conclusion …

Evaluating talent in youth soccer is a complex and to some degree subjective, but there is a general framework by which coaches assess players.

If you truly are talented technically, tactically, physically, and psychosocially, and have a development plan in place to ensure you're constantly building upon that talent; it doesn't matter whether or not you're MJ or Lebron … Ronaldo or Messi… you're going to be just fine.

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