How to Contact a Professional Team for a Trial:
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I am guessing you stumbled across this article because your goal is to be a professional footballer…
If you haven’t read my article on “how to play football overseas,” I highly advise you do that (either before or after you read this):
It is one of most-depth articles on the subject and can definitely save you a lot of money and time in the future.
In this article, I am going to specifically dive in to “how you can contact a professional team for a trial.”
You Better Be Prepared:
Like I’ve said many times before, you need to be prepared for the trial. If you’re not prepared for the trial, don’t bother contacting teams, will be embarrassing for you and will completely ruin your reputation (which you don’t want in this business).
It’s an absolute waste of your time.
“Fail to Prepare, Prepare to Fail.”
-Benjamin Franklin
Self-Analyze Yourself:
Besides that, like I’ve spoken about before, you need to accurately self-analyze yourself. Delusion will lead to a lot of wasted time and money.
First of all, you need to be at the professional level.
Second of all, you better make sure you’re fit and ready to go.
Third of all, you need to be willing to sacrifice. You will miss a lot of things “back home.” You will miss family vacations, birthday parties, weddings, etc. It might be easy to sit in your arm chair at home and read this or in your car (in your comfort zone). You won’t really know how much you need to give up and sacrifice until you put yourself in that uncomfortable situation.
Do You Need an Agent?
You might ask me, “Ric, wouldn’t it help if I had an agent?”
Yes, agents could help, but honestly, if you are reading this article, you probably haven’t been picked up by an agent yet, which means you don’t need one at this time.
I’m not saying why won’t help you in the future, but right now is the time to be your own agent and do your own networking.
Once you get into a league, prove you’re good enough to be there and have a good showing; trust me, people will start to take notice of you.
So, let’s focus on the now.
Your Goal:
The goal is to get a trial at a professional team, sign with the team, make an impact and make a name in the league/country you are in.
So, the steps are simple, but they will not be easy.
I am telling you right now that you will receive a lot of “no’s” and rejections, before you receive a “yes” or a half-chance.
That is professional football.
Everyone wants to play the beautiful game and make some money doing it.
When there’s a saturated market, getting the “job” is very tough.
As Promised, Here It Is:
Become an elite player on the pitch and learn how to build a 6 Figure side hustle off the pitch within Our Exclusive Academy:
You Can Do Anything You Set Your Mind To:
I am not saying you can’t do it. Let’s take Jay Demerit for example. This guy bought a one way ticket at 23 years old (from the US to England), played non-league for 2 years (in the 9th Division) and ended up signing for Watford.
Check out the full story here on my podcast:
Practical Example of How to Contact a Team:
So, let’s take a team in Europe (Iceland) and walk you through exactly how to contact a professional team for a trial:
Iceland:
Watch the screen recording below as I walk you through how to go to the best website in the world for this to find the contact information for a team in Iceland UMF FJÖLNIR:
This team is in the second tier of Iceland, which is definitely a very good league, and an excellent place to get your foot in the door.
As shown, their email is there, as well as their phone number. All you need!
Like I stated in my previous article on “how to play football overseas,” the best is if you are on the ground (in the country), so you can buy a phone card to contact them directly or show up to the ground (if you have the finances).
There are also options where you can use an international phone and contact clubs from around the world, from your country (but I’m not sure which apps do that).
6 Ways to Contact a Professional Team for a Trial:
1.Contact them via phone (best option).
-When you speak on the phone, it’s not as easy to ignore you as an email.
2.Show up to their training ground (best option if you have the finances).
-For this option, you need to be prepared because you can definitely get rejected.
-I’m not sure if you have heard of “Brandao” from YouTube, but he does this. The amount of courage this guy has is incredible.
-I would be the first to say that I couldn’t do what he does (in terms of going to clubs and recording to show the real journey.)
-But, to each their own. That’s why this world is so beautiful and unique.
Brandao in 2nd League Romania
3.Send them an email with your CV and highlight video.
Using the club in the example, all you would do is email the club (that’s their front office), and say something like this:
(This is an example if it was coming from me)
Halló (find how to say hello in their language!):
I hope you are doing well and having a great day and week so far.
My name is ___________________. I am (your age) years old. I am originally from New York, but have been playing overseas for the past 8 years (list your experience). I can play anywhere across the back line as well as a number 6 (list your position).
I have had many friends who have played in Iceland (country you plan to go to) before and they have told me how friendly the people are and how beautiful the country is.
I have taken a look at how you guys play at UMF FJÖLNIR (the club that you’re emailing). You guys seem to play excellent football and it really suits my style.
I would love to come down and have the opportunity to train with you for at least 2 weeks. I will take care of the airfare, hotels, my food, and transportation.
Here are my highlights from last season:
Attached is my resume of where I’ve played in the past (attach your CV).
Thanks so much for your time. I hope to meet you soon!
Eigðu frábæran dag (have a great day in Icelandic).
Regards,
Eric Friedlander
_______________________________________________________________________________________
4.Send them a similar message via their Facebook Page.
5.Send them a similar message via their Instagram Page.
6.Find their owner or team on LinkedIn and send a similar message.
The principles are very simple.
Conclusion:
1.Be kind, be respectful, be professional.
2.Be willing to put your ego aside and do whatever it takes.
-Take as much “financial burden” off the club as possible by offering to pay for housing, transportation and flights!
3.Ask to “train” instead of “trial.”
-The change of words make a big difference.
4.Be persistent!!
-You will receive many no’s before you get your chance. Just be prepared for it.
5.You will have to send a lot of those emails, I promise you.
-Probably thousands of them 😉
This should really help you.
If you have any other questions, feel free to reach out for more help!
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