How to create an effective soccer player CV

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If you’re seeking a career as a footballer, a strong CV will create a pleasant reading experience for soccer recruiters, and enable coaches to quickly see that you have the talents they are looking for. A football / soccer CV (Curriculum Vitae, or resume) is a written outline of your soccer abilities, playing history and contact details. A professional soccer CV is something all players should have to enhance your chances of being recruited for soccer. We at IFX Soccer want to help you to create a great soccer player CV taking into consideration some simple but important directions.

Getting noticed by soccer clubs no matter what division they play is hard work. There are so many talented and dedicated footballers sending emails playing the same positions, making it difficult to set yourself apart from other players to recruiters.

To stand out from the crowd, it is important to keep a simple and clean design where you highlight relevant personal and professional information. If you will email your CV, you want to keep your message brief and direct and show that you have a specific reason for messaging this club in particular. This will boost your chances of getting a response. Stay professional from the beginning and throughout the process. Avoid using email addresses like “nextCR7@… bestmidfielderever@…

Key sections to include in your soccer CV

Personal Bio: The way you list your details will show recruiters how serious you are.  Be sure to do it with the upmost care. Your contact details and key data also assist the coach in contacting you if you are what they are looking for. Name, contact number, email address, nationality, D.O.B (Date of birth), height, weight, preferred and other positions as well as preferred foot are essentials. With regards to the photo that must be placed onto the CV, we recommend “a full-length shot of you in action with the ball during a match or training” since it allows the recruiter to assess your physique, visual health and environment that you have played in. The more the professional the environment looks, such as a stadium with a crowd behind you, the more your photo will stand out.

Playing experience: Just below your personal bio information should be your Current and Previous clubs or teams. The best way to lay this out is in a table, you don’t need to replicate the FIFA 21 stats appeal, just make a table and fix cells for Year / Club / League / Country / Appearances / Goals / Assists. Remember, all the stats you provide will make it easier for the club to compare you to their roster no matter the performance of your current club. This is also the place to list any soccer-program, pro clubs or summer camps you attended. Scouts are looking to see that you love the game and extra curricular activities communicate just that!

Player profile: This is an important section since it is here where a coach / recruiter decides if he or she stops or continues reading. This is your chance to show your value and catch the coach's interest. A catching-eye profile must include the experience you have gained to date e.g. you’ve represented your state at a youth level or have profesional training while playing abroad. This is the only part of your soccer CV that is opinion based. However, this does not give you the opportunity to exaggerate your abilities.

Vital Statistics: It is recommended list your physical statistics, awards, tournaments, languages you speak as well as second nationalities (if applied). Coaches aim to find a certain type of player with a specific physical build. A recruitment board will assess different characteristics depending on the player’s position but generally you can mention assets such as excellent physical condition, stamina, knowledge of the game, teamwork, decision-making, effective communication, and organization.

Key Skills: Try to list your best footballing attributes/skills and back them up with stats (this enables the recruiter to see how you might fit into their team). You can include stats like these: Vertical jump, Average distance covered in a game, 20m sprint speed, Pro-agility test score, Strong leadership – e.g. Captained 1st team for 4 years.

Links to highlights: It’s important for coaches be able to see you in action. For your soccer CV, it is recommended to include both a highlight reel and full game video (in case recruiters want to see you in a real situation). Start your video off with a 10-second introduction of your name, position and squad number. To make your soccer highlight video clear, try using arrow overlays or highlight areas of the video pointing to you. It is important while making a highlight video to cut and trim your clips only to show the highlights. Mix up your video with footage of you performing the skills needed in your position.

References: If a coach / recruiter gets to this section of your soccer CV, you have most likely caught their interest and you are almost done! Choose your references wisely and ask the person first for permission to list them as a reference. The person selected will help you improve your overall image and confirms to the coach that you are going to fit into his team. Don’t forget to write their full name, position and contact details.

A soccer CV is vital for both signed or unsigned players wanting to progress to the next level. If you are serious about becoming a pro footballer, always keep an updated soccer resume every season readily available, demonstrating your current statistics, ability, performance and details. We hope this guide has helped you, and if so please share with your teammates. We recommend another IFX blog, "10 Soccer Tryouts Tips to remember in your next Football Trial".

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