Pitch Your Skills

Pitch Your Skills: football trial days in front of professional scouts

Pitch Your Skills is a British initiative that organises football trial days with scouts from professional clubs in attendance. Its proposition is to put aspiring professional footballers in front of club recruiters ranging from the Premier League to non-league. The company presents itself as a business with over ten years of activity and with the stated aim of giving trial opportunities to players seeking to make the step up to professional football.

How the scouting process works

The Pitch Your Skills model is built around three steps that the organisation itself describes on its website. The first is to register free of charge and select the position the applicant plays in. The second is to attend the assigned trial day, which takes place with scouts present. The third is activated only if the player is selected: the organisation contacts them to pass on the scout's feedback and the next steps to follow.

The company stresses that its role is to provide trial opportunities with scouts from professional clubs, not to guarantee a contract. The process is designed for participants to compete in an environment observed by recruiters.

Origin of the project and working philosophy

According to its own account, the project was born after organising several football tournaments in which talent was spotted, but without a structured programme to develop it. Its founders, from a sporting background, say they understand the competitiveness of the market and how difficult it is to be seen by scouts, given that there are many teams and few scouts to cover matches.

The organisation states that it maintains ongoing relationships with scouts and gives clear instructions to participants during the day to maximise their chances. It also states that it seeks to recreate the experience of an academy footballer and that it keeps in touch with players after the trial to offer advice, seeing the day as the start of a journey rather than an end in itself.

Programmes and activities

The Pitch Your Skills offering includes several lines of activity visible on its website:

• Trial days (showcases) with scouts from professional clubs.
• Five-day residential camp in the United Kingdom.
• PYS Technical Hub, a technical training space.
• Success story content and a blog about the scouting process.

The company publishes available dates and locations for its trial days and allows places to be booked through its website. It also shares galleries from previous activities and videos of past showcases.

Participant profile

The service is aimed at footballers looking for a professional opportunity and who want to be seen by scouts. The organisation emphasises that participants must select their position when registering and that the day takes place with recruiters watching. The proposition combines the trial itself with a formative experience designed to prepare the player for the environment of a professional academy.

Venues and locations

St Paul's Sports Ground venue: St Paul's Sports Ground, Salter Road, Rotherhithe, London SE16 5EF

Main office: PitchYourSkills, 124 City Road, London, EC1V 2NX · Email: admin@pitchyourskills.co.uk