With Over 100K Followers, Coach Mike Silzer Took His Troy High School Girls Team To New Heights
Troy Girls Soccer claims to be the #1 high school soccer social media in the world! Located in Fullerton, CA this public high school girls soccer program is on its way to becoming a household name in the soccer community.
Southern California’s Troy High School girls’ team from Fullerton, CA ranks in social media as the #1 High School soccer team in the world.
7.5 million LIKES is a really, really big number — and that is how many likes Troy Girls Soccer has earned with 100,000 followers on TikTok and nearly 50,000 followers on Instagram. And, yes, the players get recognized when they are off the field.
For a team of young women, this is an influential and visible achievement. Many people do not realize the power of social media. This is a great example of one coach who made a huge difference by doing what he can to help his team.
Coach Mike Silzer is responsible for this astounding accomplishment.
A coach for CDA Slammers FC & Slammers FC as well as the Troy Girls squad, Silzer kicked off Troy Girls Soccer’s TikTok one year ago and launched social media on Facebook and Instagram five years ago. Silzer has built Troy Girls Soccer into one of the most recognized teams in the USA.
“The intent was to control the narrative and bring exposure to the program and the players who were looking to play soccer in college,” said Silzer. “It evolved into being a global example for any other high school, college, club, or soccer organization.”
“Averaging over a million views a week, Troy Girls Soccer is a high school girls soccer program blazing the way for what is possible on social media,” said Silzer.
“My hope is to inspire others to use social media in a positive way to promote the beautiful game,” said Silzer.
“If one public high school girls’ soccer program could have a social media presence this strong, then anyone can!”
Mike Silzer, youth soccer coach for Troy High School and Slammers FC
Troy Girls Soccer is a CIF Div 1 program accustomed to success on the field. The program is on a six-year streak of winning the league and is a consistent force in Div 1 playoffs. “In addition, the program is known for having one of the nicest natural grass fields that competes with any D1 College playing surface,” said Silzer.
If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to increase visibility for your soccer program, stepping up your social media presence is essential?
In a youth soccer landscape, exposure for players who are looking to advance to the next level is essential. Silzer said, “It is important to control the narrative. As a coach, you are the best person to share information about your soccer team or club.”
Mike Silzer is a self-taught social media guru and his niche is soccer.
“In 2021, if you are a player, your social media is your brand! If your goal is to play college soccer, your social media should reflect this goal,” said Silzer. “Your social media gives you an edge in the recruiting process. When our players go and try out at different colleges, many coaches are already familiar with them after having seen them on social media.”
“Last year a couple of our players were flying out of state and a girl approached them and said ‘You look really familiar … are you on Troy Girls Soccer?’ and my players said yes!”
Many youth soccer clubs are not leveraging the power of social media and few coaches are using Instagram or TikTok to the best of their capabilities. Social media is an unstoppable force and a powerful influencer not to be dismissed as part of an overall plan to help players reach their goals.
“Many coaches are concerned about giving out too much information on their methodology,” said Silzer. “There is a balance between giving away all your secrets and sharing what you are passionate about and how you help develop players.”
We asked for tips and advice on how to grow a youth soccer team or club’s social media presence:
Here are tips and advice from Head Coach Mike Silzer to improve a youth soccer organization’s social media:
- Social media is open house that is 24/7 365 days a year! Having a strong and vibrant presence makes a difference
- Show what makes you unique
- Show your personality or your players’ personality
- Show or teach a skill: dribbling skills, finishing techniques, ball mastery training, practice and game highlights, motivational content from a team talk … Show what you do with your team
- Show that nutrition or hydration is important
- Show how fitness and recovery fits into your program
- Show how you use sports psychology and mental strength training
- Most of all, show your players’ love of the game and their passion
- Show off individual player highlights in training and/or games
- Video is king, but short-form video is already the future for social media
- And, I believe educational content is going to be the hottest content to hit the algorithms in 2021
Still looking for ideas for your soccer social media?
Silzer recommends to post images and videos of players having fun.
Show faces, smiles, happy teammates, etc. You don’t have to showcase the best soccer players to show this content. Remember to make sure you post images of everyone to keep the momentum going and build pride.
Remember that building an audience requires ‘real’ content so include bloopers, funny moments as well as great accomplishments. Looking for an idea? Ask players what music they listen to get pumped up before a mathc and than have the players lip sync to the song, or have them pick a fun song and lip sync.
“There is no shortcut, it takes time and effort to be successful on social media,” said Silzer. “We started a zero, if we can do it anyone can!”
Silzer also directs and manages International Soccer Academy‘s TikTok and has grown it from scratch to over 10K in ten weeks. International Soccer Academy is an authentic and proven pathway to becoming a professional soccer player and provides real opportunities for elite, talented youth soccer players. In their inaugural session in the fall of 2020, International Soccer Academy arranged for seven trials at pro soccer clubs in the Bundesliga and La Liga. One of the collegiate youth soccer players participating became a prof, signing his first professional soccer contract. Read: 19-YEAR-OLD CREIGHTON BRAUN SIGNS PRO CONTRACT WITH EUROPEAN CLUB
If anyone has questions or needs a consult, please email Mike Silzer.
