A distant soccer adventure

Chance Me / Match Me!
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<p>Hi there. I'm a guy who's just turned 19 and is about four weeks from graduating from the Swedish equivalent of high school. (TL;DR? Scroll down to the last few paragraphs, that's the important stuff)</p>

<p>I've been playing soccer for quite some time now. I won't bore you with details about my strengths and weaknesses, nor will I babble about my career. All you got to know is that I'm competitive and I'm sure I wouldn't make a fool of myself trying what I'm about to tell you.</p>

<p>There's a few things that shaped my view on american culture and mentality. I spent a week in Denmark playing in a tournament. We were neighbors to an american soccer club, became friends and visited each others games. </p>

<p>The never give up-attitude and squeezing every last bit of juice out of your body for that challenge or run was something that appealed to me. They didn't always win, but they were pretty ****ed off when they didn't. I don't see that when I play soccer. People accept losses. Coaches, teammates, spectators. Sometimes I do it too. And I hate myself when doing so. </p>

<p>You've probably guessed where I'm going. Yeah, I'd really like to play soccer while studying in the US. </p>

<p>There are quite a few options. There are several organized events all over Europe where you're promised coaches will be watching you. Some will even edit a video for you. </p>

<p>I don't rule that out. I think these general try-outs are great and give players amazing opportunity. But it feels a bit shallow. You've got to be realistic. A poor first impression, whether it's a touch, a pass or a weak tackle and you could spill $300 down the drain.</p>

<p>Here's to my plan; Go to the US, fit as many walk-on try-outs in as possible, travel across the country, do my best & hope for the best. </p>

<p>What do you think? Is this even possible? Is there even such a thing as a walk-on tryout for college schools? From my vague google-ing experience it seems like being enrolled is more or less a necessity. What I'm looking for is advice. Some guidance. What do I google, who do I e-mail.</p>

<p>Thanks for taking your time to read. And if the post is in the wrong section feel free to move it.</p>

<p>Philip</p>

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<p>If you want a shot at anything resembling a walk-on tryout, you might want to be competitive for admission without having to rely on the sport. So what kind of grades or SAT scores, or even extracurriculars (on top of soccer!) do you have?</p>

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<p>Yeah, ofcourse. I’ve averaged 16.5-17 out of 20 during my first two years, which I guess roughly resembles a 4,125-4,25 GPA if it’s even convertible. I’ve been a member of the student council during these three years, started up an ice hockey club and raised money for a UN charity. Every year I teach soccer to small kids for my club and referee my teams’ indoor junior tournament. In Sweden my extracurriculars would be good, but probably because they aren’t considered when applying to Swedish colleges. In the US they’d have better competition.</p>

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<p>My son just finished up the whole process and will play for a D2 school next year. We learned a lot when going thru this process, but I am still not even close to being an expert! The one thing we did hear from several coaches is that the true “walk-on try-out” doesn’t happen so much any more due to liability. Many schools now require a huge amount of paperwork in order to let a player try-out with a team. I know that for my son, we had to turn in a physical form signed by his Dr., a proof of medical insurance form, and several liability releases. All paper-work had to be turned in ahead of time so that their athletic staff could review and approve it. It was not complicated, but they were very strict about it being correctly done. </p>

<p>I agree with you about the ID camps being hit or miss. They can easily run $500 or more per session, and often there are so many participants that it is really hard to stand out even if you are a really good player. We did not find them very useful unless that coach was already talking to my son as a serious recruit. As a US resident, the best recruiting tool my son found was to play in elite club tournaments where a lot of college coaches attend- Surf Cup, Dallas Cup, etc. That is not an option for you and makes it a bit more difficult. I would say the most important thing for you to have is a recent highlight video. Several coaches told us that they do not even look at e-mails unless there is a video attached. We did our own and it seemed to do the trick. YOur video should be about 5 minutes long, and should include the best of the best clips. Every clip should show the beginning and end of the play- in other words, if you have an assist be sure to continue the clip until the ball actually hits the net-don’t just end it as soon as you pass off the ball. </p>

<p>The next most important thing is for you to come up with a list of schools that are good fits for you academically and financially, and who have men’s soccer teams. Given your distance and the difficulty getting seen by US coaches, you might look at D3 teams. My son was recruited by several D3 coaches strictly from his video. They were able to see him play much later in the process, but one school offered him a spot without ever seeing him play live. This would be much less likely to happen with a D1 school. Also, it is amazing how much these coaches talk to each other and how many contacts they have around the world. Put the word out to coaches who know you to let them know you would like to play in the US- they may know someone here who could help you out. Since soccer has not been as popular in the US as elsewhere, many of the college coaches here are from Europe and you might find a coach there knows a coach here…</p>

<p>Once you have a video and a list, start e-mailing coaches, and calling if you can. Be very familiar with each program- type of school, make-up of team, background of coach, style of play, etc.-all info can be obtained from their web-sites. Always include a picture of yourself so they can connect with a face and always include your video- a link to YouTube is fine. Keep it short-wow them with your soccer experience and your academics. If you don’t hear back, be persistent about writing again. My son really wanted the school where he ended up and was extremely persistant, to the point that we thought he might be annoying the coach. It paid off when the coach saw him at a tournament and knew who he was. </p>

<p>This is a difficult process and you are starting a bit late. It was hard enough being here in the US and I can’t imagine doing it from Sweden. Another option is to come here and play for a community college and then transfer to a university after 2 years, however it is fairly expensive to attend a CC as an international. Some of the community colleges in So. California field amazing teams and you would then be more available for university coaches to see you. Best of luck!</p>

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<p>You also might repost this on the “Athletic Recruit” forum- there are a lot of very knowledgable people there!</p>