Bloor's Blog 

 

OUR VERY OWN TED SHARES 4 LIFE LESSONS FROM BEING A PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALLER  

 

1. Hard Work: All coaches and managers will say to you the term “hard-working” in some way shape or form. Think about your current career and ask yourself AM I DOING ENOUGH? Then remember enough is not going to get you a career in football you need to be doing more than the next person and the next etc. A big thing when you are young is that you think about others whether that be team-mates, friends or opposition what you need to remember is that football is a team game but you are self-employed and you are all on your own individual journey so forget about others as your team mate isn’t going to earn you a new contract this isn’t my opinion this is a fact. This isn't to say football are the only way to learn how to work hard work, but it's a great start. In football, you can earn a name for yourself by outworking your teammates. Remember hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard. 

 

2. Becoming Disciplined: From the countless gym and football sessions, to all the early morning starts, to the focus required to keep your school work at an elite level, You needed discipline for every aspect of the sport. In addition you need to be disciplined as you become older there will be lots of distractions along your journey but you need to have a tunnel vision and leave certain distractions behind. Always make sure you’re on time and presentable all these pointers we will give you are free so it’s up to you as an individual if you want to incorporate them into your life. Suffer the pain of discipline or suffer the pain of regret  

 

 

3. Power Of Practise: Football requires a variety of different practices. We lift weights, train technique, run sprints and practice until our legs and lungs are burning, because of this all this practise we improve however only if we are practising it correctly, remember practice doesn’t make perfect, practise makes permanent, only perfect practice makes perfect. Many of you will have goals and aspirations in life and football but don't know how to reach them. You will search for quick answers on the internet and social media and you might try to avoid the part where you pay your dues. Football will teach you how to put in the time and learn to improve your skills, always think when you’re not practising someone else in the world is and they are getting ahead of you! 

 

4. How To Sacrifice: To get to a professional level you won’t have a typical childhood experience. Many of your mornings should be starting early and finishing late trying to study keeping my grades at a high level because you need to have a PLAN B and to stay playing at an elite level making sure I was getting in extra practise and that over a number of years builds up and makes you better. You also will have to sacrifice extra time with your friends and family because you want to get to the next level, and that goal will require extra practise. You will learn to sacrifice that “normal” experience for something great, a chance to play professional football. Just 0.014% percent of academy football players go on to play in the premier league and 1% make it as a professional and I was one of them. That was and honour for me because I was willing to sacrifice.