activities – Page 2 – Football Focus

Do you want to attend an international football academy in England? Well, be ready: you may find yourself in over your head. The English game is very fast and physical as compared to American and European soccer. If you aren’t in peak physical condition, you might not be able to keep up.

However, with proper preparation, you can be head and shoulders above the rest of the players who haven’t taken the time to get ready for the trials they’ll face. Here are a few tips to get you ready for playing English football!

Tip #1: Work on your upper body strength.

British players are much physically stronger than North Americans, and we’ve seen many players struggle to keep up. At some international football academies, the first few weeks are spent doing a lot of fitness training on the track and in the gym, building core stability and conditioning.

Start working on your abdominal and your upper body strength now. Core stability is important for any athlete, and a strong upper body will help you fend off other players. The game in the U.K. can be very fast and furious, so you have to be strong, first.

We’ve seen many football players fail in England because they haven’t got the strength they need to compete there. If you’ve already started building your upper body strength before beginning a football program in the UK, then you won’t be one of them!

Tip #2: Increase your speed and endurance.

As we mentioned earlier, English football matches are both faster and more physical than soccer games elsewhere in the football-playing world. In addition to building your strength, you should also be working on your speed, agility, and endurance.

If you can, train with hurdles, poles, and ladders, in addition to doing sprints and endurance running. The more you practice your physical fitness beforehand, the more ready you’ll be for the fitness program you’ll undergo at a UK-based international football academy.

Tip #3: Regulate your sleep schedule.

One of the major adjustments we see players having to make is adapting to the rigid schedule of an international football academy. When you’re doing a 9-5 program that includes academic and physical discipline through the day, it’s important to get into the routine.

Before you ever set foot on the plane, start getting your body used to the schedule. Go to bed at the same time every night and get up at the same time every morning. That way, your body won’t have to go through the same period of adjustment when you’re trying to get used to all the other things that come with attending an international football academy.

Bonus Tip: Here’s what English coaches are looking for.

There are four things that most English coaches ask us about when it comes to players: attitude, athleticism, ability with the football, and commitment. They’re looking for players who aren’t just talented, but who have the right attitude and discipline to make it with a football club.

Players who are consistently late to practice, who do poorly in their academics, and who have disciplinary problems aren’t going to be picked for professional trials, no matter how talented they are. You have to bring more to the table than just talent.

Follow these tips, and you’ll excel not just in English international football academies, but in any international football academy you wish to attend.

Author: Joey Bilotta

With the commercial appeal of football dominating, if not leading the football game in many ways (the industry in general is dominated by summer tours of countries with lucrative commercial Audiences, player endorsements and corporate sponsorships), football tends to buck most commercial trends. It is no small coincidence that over 60% of Premier League Teams are now foreign-owned by successful wealthy foreign owner who will tell you what you already know – that the game’s global commercial appeal is unquestionable. But how much influence do player yield off the field?

With the game having so much commercial involvement, the players have also enjoyed rocketing salaries, thanks to image rights whenever clubs use their photo or name, commercial endorsements with private sponsors and, the customary media attention that has come with it. With that comes the consumerism that is intrinsic to the proliferation of fashion websites, magazines and the attention surrounding football stars and their lifestyles – including, of course, what they are wearing.

How much then, if at all, do football stars influence men’s fashion? In the case of the most famous of all sport-related clothes horses, David Beckham, whose footballing success has been at the very least, matched by commercial appeal – quite a lot. Beckham has it seems been one of the few footballers to truly influence fashion in general – let alone men’s fashion.

From his Mohawk in 2002, adopted by millions around the world, to being the first men’s sports star to adorn the cover of leading women’s magazine, Marie Claire – how much of this is down to sporting prowess? How much is down to “just being a footballer?” There are dozens, if not hundreds of famous footballers, after all. Can you honestly say that many of those influence fashion as easily?

However, in general, for footballers with considerably less ability and commercial appeal than the David Beckhams and the Cristiano Ronaldos of this world, their influence on fashion isn’t very clear. Ergo, since not every footballer has the appeal as David Beckham, it can’t surely be said that all footballers in general have a positive influence on men fashion.

Author: Shannon Holland