As players reach the age for possible college and professional recruitment, one question most likely runs through their minds: ‘How are coaches judging me when I’m on the field?’

That’s a very good question.  With so many great players out there, it seems impossible for coaches to be able to differentiate between those they want to recruit, and those they don’t – especially after only watching players for one or two games.  But the truth is, coaches are looking for distinct aspects in a player that helps them determine potential and promise.

When players are watched at a young age, up to around 15 years old, they should be evaluated primarily on their technical ability.  Most importantly, coaches look to see how a player is on the ball.  They assess dribbling technique, first touch, distribution, shooting and the other technical facets of a young soccer player.  Coaches want to see that a young player has a solid technical base that will allow them to grow into a more rounded player after further development.  Young players are not necessarily judged on how many goals they score or the amount of assists they tally up in a tournament, they are noticed for their overall technique and their standard of technical play.  By no means should it be thought that goals and assists are not impressive, but the results themselves are not of vital importance for a younger player, it is how he/she achieves them – it is not if he/she scores, but how he/she scores.

When you reach the older level, and players begin to enter the college age group, the judgment of players becomes much more comprehensive.  Once a player reaches this older age, coaches are no longer simply looking for how a player is on the ball; they are interested in a player’s movement off the ball as well.  They assess a player’s technical ability along with his understanding of a position on the field – the runs he makes, his defensive marking, his disciplined positioning.

But most importantly, older players are evaluated based on one chief aspect of the game: final decision.  Final decision is defined as the final choice a player makes with his/her possession of the ball on the field.  This choice needs to be the most intelligent, most effective, most efficient decision possible.  Granted, no player can make the best final decision every play, but coaches are looking for players who can consistently make good use of the ball.  The results of a player’s decisions on the ball are imperative.

What’s significant is no longer how a player scores, but if a player scores. Older players are being judged on whether the majority of their final decisions are vitally impacting the game.

Finally, a key ingredient that defines a valuable player, which coaches are always assessing, is attitude on the field.  Attitude is a broad word, but when discussing it in terms of a player’s presence on the field, a more apposite word is communication.

A player’s communication on the field is almost as important as his/her physical performance.  Since physical talent is so abundant, especially amongst the older, more experienced players, communication is an item of the game that enables players to stand out on the field, and consequently inclines coaches to notice their presence.

In terms of communication, a good rule of thumb is the louder the better.  There have been an innumerable amount of goals that have been scored, and mistakes that have been avoided, due to good communication.  Whether it is telling someone they have pressure, or giving a teammate a compliment after a nice shot, coaches want to see that a player has the confidence and maturity to give other players information on the field.

Throughout a 90-minute game, a player touches the ball for an average of only 2 minutes – this hardly seems like enough time to impress anybody.  But as stated before, the other 88 minutes are equally important.  Of course, coaches are judging a player’s time on the ball, but through exercising smart movement off the ball and revealing a mature attitude on the field, players can employ the entire length of a game to impress spectators.

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