Guest post from Steven Caulker.
Professional footballer, Steven Caulker has 13+ years experience of playing top-flight football in England, Scotland & Turkey. Amongst others, he has played for QPR, Southampton, Liverpool and Spurs as well as at international level for Sierra Leone.
Steven now also heads up ‘Behind the White Lines’, a unique aftercare academy, skilfully put together for players who have been released from professional academies.
Visit https://behindthewhitelines.com/ for more information.
“I spent most of my adult years trying to help other people, only to learn that I should probably have helped myself first.”
“How can I make it pro?”
You’re an under-15 player, playing in the local park on a Sunday morning, there is dog muck all around you, and there hasn’t been a scout here for years.
The reality? Your chances are beyond slim.
But if you really, really want to make it. Here are my suggestions:
• Make your bed in the morning – non-negotiable 🛌
• Run like your life depends on it – the fittest, most willing runner on the pitch always stands out 🏃♂️
• Be aggressive in every challenge – you want it? Show it 💥
• Do press-ups when you wake up in the morning and sit-ups before you go to bed 💪
• Eat healthily (as hard as it is) 😬
• Meditation – you’re going to need a strong and healthy mind to deal with the setbacks along the way. Take good care of your brain 🧠
• Be disciplined in all that you do – create good habits at training, at school and especially at home 🫡
• Don’t let anyone tell you that you’re not good enough 💯
My thought process is this –
If you do everything within your power to be the best version of yourself, whether you make it pro or not, you would have learned good habits for a lifetime.
What would you suggest? 🤔
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