Looking for help advice in regards to playing in college (D3)
Hi all, I am a junior in high school who has tentatively thought about trying to play D3 soccer. I’m Canadian, so i’m not particularly familiar with the whole process or the level of D3. I play div 1 in Bristish-Columbia, and have been told I could comfortably play metro (the next level up), but unfortunately it is a pretty serious commute to the nearest metro club. I have settled for being one of the stronger players in my division and trying to get experience as a key player at this level. I captain both my varsity and div 1 team; my div 1 team has placed in top 4 in provincials.
Ive watched some footage on youtube and while the level looks good, it looks playable to me, but of course it’s really difficult to tell. I guess what I’m wondering is the best way to contact people and whether anyone can describe the level in D3. For example, I’ve thought about Carleton College, in Minnesota which has a D3 program and only 2500 students. I imagine it can’t be all that competitive and that I should be at the required level, but I just don’t know. I’m very tired as i’m writing this, so if anything isn’t clear or is missing let me know. I can describe myself as a player and so on more if it helps.
TLDR; Canadian high schooler who has played at a decent, but not exceptional, level, wondering about the feasibility of playing D3.
Ok a few things to consider , what are your grades? Do you need aid for school, in the US d3 schools CAN NOT give money for sports, only D1 and some d2 can. Could you as a student get into Carlton? Maybe if you are very good at soccer that will help you get in but it sounds like you will not have a lot of tape to show coaches nor will you go to the matches that they recruit from. You could take a clinic at Carlton over the summer < you would pay for this, it is usually coached by the HC and some of their staff and they could get to see you play. Send us more info
Thanks for taking the time to reply. My grades are excellent. We don’t do gpa but I’ve only had one B and that was freshman year. We don’t do GPA but I think that would be a 3.95 or so if I lee it up. We don’t do class rank either but i’m in the top tier at my school. I’m doing SAT prep but haven’t taken them yet. I would want financial aid, but would hope to qualify for that academically and not have to bring in soccer into that equation. And you’re right, I don’t have a lot of tape and doubt I’ll be in the area for tournaments and matches. I plan to reach out to coaches at schools Im interested in and see what they say, but i’m not getting my hopes too high considering they won’t know me. Do you know about walK ons? do schools tend to have open tryouts? and if so, what is the actual level of those teams? thank you! let me know if you need any additional info.
There are hundreds of D3 schools that have soccer teams, and they don’t always match up that the best academic schools have the most competitive soccer programs. You have to look for an academic fit and then see if the soccer program is a match. There are some that have walk ons or try outs, but not all programs do.
I think at the d3level almost all schools have tryouts for walk ons. The better programs have preferred walk ons, kids who the coaches have spoken with who they may want to play but do not want to use up a spot for getting into the school. I would make a list of schools you may be interested in and you tube their games and see if you think you can play at that level, if so contact the coach. You may need to go to the NCAA website or google d3 NCAA recruiting to get more info. There is also another thread here about d3 soccer ( you can click on my name and look in my replies to find it, I know I commented on it) I would also ask your coach if he has sent any players to the US , he or she may be able to give you some schools who have traveled to your neck of the woods or they may have some contacts.
Thanks. I’ll email the schools i’m interested in and see if they have tryouts considering I only have a few video clips and won’t be a local doing camps and so on.
For prospective students who are interested in D3 men’s soccer programs but who (A) don’t have much of an opportunity to get in front of coaches because they don’t play for a very visible club team, (B) don’t have much of video record to share with coaches, and (C) aren’t sure how they stack up compared to other prospective D3 players, the best path forward IMO is to seek out and attend a few on-campus prospect/ID clinics, with a focus on schools that you have decided that you already like from a non-athletics perspective.
I stress: not the big ID camps/clinics that are attended by hundreds of players and many coaches and that often last several days. I’m talking about the significantly less expensive one-day or half-day clinics that are held periodically on the campuses of individual schools and that are administered solely by that school’s coaching staff. Since you used Hamilton as an example, here’s a link to one of their one-day prospect clinics: https://athletics.hamilton.edu/information/MenSocClinic072520.pdf
What’s good about these one-day clinics:
Players get a long, hard, thoughtful look from the coaching staff (especially useful for players who otherwise can't get seen and assessed by coaches)
It's a two-way street: You can also assess the coaches and how they run things!
You can see how you compare to other prospective players who are specifically targeting a D3 level of play
Much less expensive than a big, multi-coach prospect clinic that's held at a non-campus "neutral" site, and it's less of a waste of money/time even if you don't like the outcome of the bullet points above, because....
You get to visit the campus, see the facilities (academic and athletic), and see what you think about it -- because that's what really matters
Heck, you'll get a day of high-level training from real coaches, which will make you a better player regardless of what your aspirations are.
What’s not good about these one-day clinics:
Not all D3 schools offer them
Even the schools that do offer one-day prospect clinics don't do them very often -- usually one to three times a year
Although they're cheaper than big, meat-market clinics, these one-day clinics do still cost some money...usually $100-200, these days I think
I can’t stress enough how important it is to do research first and decide what types of schools you’re interested in before you do anything else in your quest to play college athletics.
Most D3 programs end up with three or four types of students in each incoming class:
Recruits who were targeted and actively recruited by the coaching staff for a relatively long period of time, and who the coaching staff wants so much that they are given an “offer” at some point in the recruiting process (essentially an informally guaranteed roster spot, and often preferential admissions as well if it’s needed).
Recruits who are known to the coaching staff and have been favorably assessed and maybe even actively recruited, but who fall a shade below the category above. They might get a late “offer” depending on how that school’s class is shaping up. At a selective school, players in this category might be told by the coaches that they have a spot in the roster if they get in on their own.
Players who are known to the coaching staff and have been favorably assessed, but who weren’t actively recruited. Players in this category never get an “offer,” but they’re often told that if they get in, they’ll get an opportunity to participate in pre-season practices alongside the other recruits and, if they stand out, earn a roster spot (or get cut). Some folks might call this category “preferred walk-on.”
True walk-ons. These are players who either aren’t really known to the coaching staff, or who’ve been assessed and rated as on the bubble. If you’re in the former category, you might be able to contact coaches and convince the staff (via videos, the testimony of club/HS coaches, and/or pedigree) that you’re good enough to merit participating in pre-season practices alongside other recruits and, if you stand out, earn a roster spot (or get cut). True walk-ons are actually much more rare than most people think, and some programs don’t do it at all.