What Makes a Player Right for Queen City Mutiny?

Queen City Mutiny is always on the look out for talented players who can contribute to a team to make it better. Our club helps players to learn, grow, and perform as elite soccer players. Here’s what we look for in our young athletes. 

A recent blog addressed what makes our club distinct. To provide an overview of what it takes to play for Mutiny, we’ve also added some input from current players on what they think it means to be a part of QCM. 

One thing the majority of our players (if not all) have in common is their desire to play top-level quality soccer. They have raw talent and the ambition to achieve. This means they are actively trying to get better, which helps them to thrive in an environment where everyone is working hard.

A good Mutiny player shows respect for the club and their intensity shows they really want to play, says Kiernan Crenshaw, a 2006 DA player. Instead of just playing games at practice and kicking the ball around, the coaches and other players are all “putting a lot into the games and the practices.”

QCM Player Profile

To succeed at Mutiny, the player needs physical strength and coordination and technical skill on the ball. What do we mean by that? Well, technical prowess includes passing, dribbling, receiving the ball, shooting, heading (when old enough), as well as defending in one-on-one situations and to cut off opposing players’ opportunities to receive the ball.

At the same time, a Mutiny player is expected to demonstrate a thoughtful understanding of the game. This might show in the player’s cognitive ability to:

•       Anticipate passes or where the ball will go

•       Predict actions quickly

•       Recognize and utilize advantages in high-stress situations

•       See several plays ahead

•       Change direction easily.

“We do a style of play that is passing and we set up in a formation where everybody would touch the ball,” said Eli Costales, a 2010 team player. “It’s really awesome training.”

As technical director Jose Jimenez explains it, “as a club we do not encourage the players to play only passes…we do, however, encourage our players to make the right decisions in favor of the team.”

Being a part of QCM also takes hard work. As Eli put it, “they’re a little strict, and I like that because they want to make us better.”

Emotionally, Mutiny players have the will to win, but are willing to put the team first. That’s not just about working hard and being a team player, said Caleb Starkey, a 2008 player, but also about being encouraging.

This means having a “good attitude when the other team scores a goal or you don’t get the ball,” said Logan Williams from our ’07 team. The talk in practice and during the game isn’t about cutting down teammates, but “giving instructions and helping each other out by telling people not what to do, but how to do it.”

Listening to that kind of input from teammates (or even the coach) can require humility. But that’s part of what it takes to get better.

Jimenez sees it it terms of “reciprocal learning.” He said, “being a great individual player might get you noticed and even some distance down the path of development, but we believe being an important part of the ‘whole’ will get your child much further down the path of player development.”

Ultimately, Mutiny players want to improve, win, and be the best. They respect their club and each other, and by working hard with our coaches and their teammates they see great success in their physical, cognitive, emotional, and technical growth. Talent may get them noticed, but it’s all of these attributes together that will see them finding their place on the soccer pitches of their future dreams.  

QCM’s DA and Pre DA tryouts are scheduled for Saturday, March 23, 2019and May 11th from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at 11401 Old Ardrey Kell Road Charlotte, NC, 28277.  Tryouts are open to players born between 2005-2012 to join our US Soccer Development Academy, Pre-DA team, or QCM Academy.