Am I being recruited?

Athletic Recruits
1

Hi guys,

I am a high school senior hoping to play d3 college soccer. To expand on the question a bit, I can’t tell if college coaches are trying to recruit me to play for them or just get me to attend the school.

I went to an ID camp for NYU (d3) after being personally invited by the assistant coach (not one of those mass emails). The camp went as well as it could have; I definitely felt I was one of the top players there.

After the camp, I emailed the assistant coach to thank him for inviting me- he told me he was very impressed with my ability and then asked where nyu fit into my overall college search. I told him nyu was one of my top choices. He told me to keep him updated on my progress and that another coach would send me some specific feedback (every player at the camp received this.)

Another assistant coach emailed me a few days later, and told me this (quote):
“The entire staff identified you as a player and student who would have an immediate positive impact both on and off the field and represent our team and university with class.”

Now maybe I’m reading way too far into this. The quote above could easily be interpreted as, “we’d love to have you on the team.” But it worries me that they didn’t outright say that; Sarah Lawrence college offered me a spot after a week of correspondence and watching me play.

Nor has nyu invited me on campus to meet the coaches personally, while Sarah Lawrence has twice.
With it already being senior year, shouldn’t these schools be finishing up their recruiting soon?

Any opinions on whether or not I’m actually being recruited? Do you guys have any recommendations on what the next step should be?

Thanks in advance!

2

I’d recommend asking the coach your questions directly. I’d ask “will you support my application?” and be prepared to respond to them asking “are we your first choice?” or “will you apply ED?”

3

Coaches are used to this drill, they do it every year. It’s much harder on players and their families who are likely only ever doing it once.

It sounds like you haven’t heard directly from the Head Coach yet. At least in our small sample of D3 soccer recruiting, the conversation about whether player was being offered a roster spot always came from the head coach, not assistants.

If you haven’t communicated with the head coach at all, email/call her to ask if you could schedule time to talk by phone about where you stand in their recruiting plans. Then, ask her specifically, where do you stand in her recruiting plans, where does she see you fitting in on the team; are there “tryouts” for recruited players, are recruits ever cut? Ask about support for admissions, where do you stand in terms of stats of recruits in the past, how often/what percentage of players with your stats have been denied?

NYU is notoriously bad on financial aid, so applying ED there, as a recruited athlete, is something to sit down with your parents to talk carefully about. While financial aid not working out is a reason to decline ED offer of admission, for a recruited athlete, the risk is that, by the time you find out it won’t work financially and won’t be attending NYU, coaches at most other competitive programs have filled their roster spots and are no longer looking for players so your recruiting options have shrunk considerably.

NYU plays in a conference which involves a lot of travel – schools like Chicago, Wash U in St Louis, Case Western, Brandeis. While those are great schools to be competing against, it does mean that the travel for away games is more time-consuming and exhausting. Also, the home fields are in Riverdale – essentially, the Bronx. Have you thought about what that would mean for your day-to-day schedule? Very different than trotting out of the dorm onto the practice field at another school.

Sounds like you had a great camp, congratulations, that is a great feeling!

4

Sherpa and Midwestmom, Thanks for the answers.

5

Did your situation change? I am interested in knowing what happened?

6

@skondragunta
Well, the coach basically told me that they never did “recruits” in the first place; they invite ~40 or so to tryout for the team (including last years team members) and cut from there down to 25-28. Nobody is guaranteed a spot on the team.

7

@kgooner Glad you got clarification about NYU’s recruiting process – that is a tough process for the players, you’ve got to want to be at NYU, with the possibility of playing really just a side note.

8

Great advice given above. Academics first. Hopefully you can find a college that you want and where you can play. ED support is a once-in-a-lifetime deal. Be cautious, but when you find a match, push hard for coach’s support. Oldest son gave up his favorite sport but caught on with another sport at the club level and is happy. Glad he chose academics first.

9

Academics first. It’s all about exposing yourself kid. They are not the only school out there let’s say they are full for your position now what? Try looking at other schools and making an effort to reach them through a recruiting service. If you are looking for exposure check out UnderRecruited.com