This page is for members of the Total Soccer Show Scouting Network. The FAQ is designed to offer some tips for successful scouting.

—Tell me the basics ... how does this work again?

We have assigned you a talented young soccer player to scout. We're asking you to keep track of him/her and keep us updated with any developments. So you send us information about your player, and we include that information in our Scouting Network updates on the show. If you haven't yet joined and would like to do so, please visit the JOIN page.

—What's the best way to find this information?

1. Search for your player's name on Twitter. Then click “Latest” from the tabs at the top. You'll be amazed at how many stories and rumors and video clips this will reveal.

2. If possible, watch highlights of your player's games and let us know what you see. For example, search YouTube and you should find edited highlights of your player's team's games every weekend. Big clubs (e.g., Man Utd, Ajax) will also post footage of reserves and youth team games. Those highlights are gold.

3. Search Google News to see if your players has been written about for any reason. We even recommend setting up a Google Alert for your player's name

If your player is playing in a country where you don't speak the language, use Google Translate to automatically translate news sources.

—Where do I send my reports?

Please use the REPORT page to send us reports.

—What sort of information are you looking for?

Goals, assists, transfer rumors, loans, praise from coaches, international call-ups (any level), good performances, media coverage (e.g. World Soccer magazine features your player), and so on.

If anyone puts together a new highlight video of your player — there are often posted to Twitter — please watch and tell us what you see.

If your player scores a goal or an assist or pulls off a great bit of skill, we definitely want to hear about that. If you can include a video link, that's even better. 

We're also interested in random funny things, e.g., if your player writes a particularly funny tweet.

And we also need the bad news, e.g,  injuries, getting dropped, being caught smoking. 

—What are you NOT looking for?

We don't need the player's history. We're interested in what your player is doing right now.

Also, being part of the scouting network means you are helping us produce content for the show. So send us the type of content that our listeners will want to hear. If your player played 73 minutes in a 0-0 draw and wasn't involved in anything noteworthy ... think about whether or not you'd care to hear that discussed on a soccer show. 

—How long should these reports be?

Shorter is better. Give us the headline. If he/she scored, lead with that. We get a lot of scouting reports, so we really just need the key information.

—What if I forget to send anything for a while?

It’s fine! Just start fresh and send us some recent news. Please DON’T send us “here’s a six-month catch-up” report, because most of that will be old news.

Thanks, and happy scouting!