College Recruiting Tips For Soccer

Athletic Recruits
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<p>Tyberius, I think it will usually depend upon how long the coach was able to observe (for example, only ten minutes one game versus two full halves). Also it might depend upon whether the head coach (or lead recruiting coach) watches your son versus an assistant with less pull. In the case of a short observation or the head coach/recruiting assistant not seeing your son, he likely will be asked to go to the school’s ID camp so they can fully evaluate him.</p>

<p>This is based on my experience with two sons, but I suppose some coaches may be more casual in their approach or quicker to evaluate and decide.</p>

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<p>Off topic but really cool to see the username of the person above! </p>

<p>I’m kind of stuck because my team went to tournaments that weren’t attended by any of the schools I’m interested in and my family is quickly running out of money for camps. What else can I do to get noticed by coaches that can’t see me play? My dad has been taping my games but honestly he isn’t the best and not much of the footage is acceptable. The money issue comes up again when talking about professional filters…</p>

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<p>everton17 - a few questions occur to me:</p>

<p>1) what year in school are you?</p>

<p>2) how much contact have you had with the coaches at the schools you’re interested in? Both by email and by phone.</p>

<p>3) It sounds like you’ve participated in some ID camps. How many have you attended? Did the coaches of the schools that put on the camps know why you were there? Did the coaches express any interest in you?</p>

<p>The answers to those questions may be helpful to those of us who would like to give you advice.</p>

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<p>Rising senior, class of 2014</p>

<p>One of my top schools I visited and met with the coach and stuff was going well but then that coach left for another job and the new one won’t reply at all… One of my sort of safety/match schools is going well, they’ve seen me play, I’ve visited twice and met coach and assistant. But other schools just don’t seem to reply to me at all except occasionally a month later sending generic emails about expensive camps.
This year I’ve been to one 1 day camp at the safety/match school and that obviously went well. Definitely doing at least 2 more later this year and possibly more. Hard to fit them in to a busy schedule!
Sorry if this all sounds stupid haha, obviously my first time and my parents have never gone through this with another child either so we are all learninf</p>

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<p>Sorry - one more question that I should have asked before. When did you start the process of contacting coaches, playing in showcases, etc.?</p>

<p>For the coaches that aren’t responding, I would recommend that you start calling them. You may get their voice mail. I believe they should be able to call you once a week (including returning a voice mail) after July 1, so in just a couple of days (it’s been a year and a half since my daughter completed the process and the rules do change from time to time, but I think I have the date right). If they don’t call you back, though, keep trying. </p>

<p>When you speak with them, tell them that you’re interested in playing for them. Ask them what stage their recruiting process is at for 2014 recruits. Don’t be afraid to ask them if they have received your emails, what their thinking is regarding you, where you might fall on their recruiting list, etc. It might make sense for you too to take a look at the schools’ current rosters, plus their 2014 recruits (there are lists on the ESPN rise sites and if you are a girl, you can search on “women’s college soccer recruiting spreadsheet” - none of these lists are complete, but they can give you a sense of where schools are in the process - don’t let anything you learn keep you from calling the coaches, though). Looking at that information in combination (pay attention to who the upperclassmen on the roster is so you’ll get an idea of which positions they might be trying to fill; then look at the recruiting lists to see how far along they are in filling those positions).</p>

<p>What division are the schools you are looking at in - D1, D2, D3, NAIA, etc.? I’m not sure if you’re a guy or a girl. I only have a daughter, so all of our experience is on the girls side. For the most part, most of the top D1 schools are pretty much finished with their 2014 recruiting, but it’s not unheard of for there to be exceptions. One of my daughter’s friends, a 2013 GK, just committed to a D1 school at the end of her senior year about a month ago. Other divisions tend to recruit later in the process, i think.</p>

<p>You also should ask some people - who have seen you play, have a fair amount of experience with college soccer (either coaching at that level or in helping soccer players be recruited), and who you can trust to be completely honest - to tell you if your target schools are appropriate for your skill level. Also, are your grades strong enough to be accepted at the schools you’re targeting? Sorry for the hard questions, but it’s possible that you’re overreaching (that might be one explanation for what you’re experiencing, but it certainly is not the only explanation - it’s certainly not uncommon for coaches not to return emails for a long time and then suddenly become interested).</p>

<p>Those are just some thoughts. </p>

<p>If you can’t afford a lot more camps and your team is not going to tournaments where your target schools’ coaches are attending, you can try to guest-play at those tournaments.</p>

<p>Hope that helps.</p>

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<p>Sorry - one more question that I should have asked before. When did you start the process of contacting coaches, playing in showcases, etc.?</p>

<p>For the coaches that aren’t responding, I would recommend that you start calling them. You may get their voice mail. I believe they should be able to call you once a week (including returning a voice mail) after July 1, so in just a couple of days (it’s been a year and a half since my daughter completed the process and the rules do change from time to time). If they don’t call you back, though, keep trying. </p>

<p>When you speak with them, tell them that you’re interested in playing for them. Ask them what stage their recruiting process is at for 2014 recruits. Don’t be afraid to ask them if they have received your emails, what their thinking is regarding you, where you might fall on their recruiting list, etc. It might make sense for you too to take a look at the schools’ current rosters, plus their 2014 recruits (there are lists on the ESPN rise sites and if you are a girl, you can search on “women’s college soccer recruiting spreadsheet” - none of these lists are complete, but they can give you a sense of where schools are in the process - don’t let anything you learn keep you from calling the coaches, though). Looking at that information in combination (pay attention to who the upperclassmen on the roster is so you’ll get an idea of which positions they might be trying to fill; then look at the recruiting lists to see how far along they are in filling those positions).</p>

<p>I’m not sure if you’re a guy or a girl. I only have a daughter, so all of our experience is on the girls side. For the most part, most of the top D1 schools are pretty much finished with their 2014 recruiting, but it’s not unheard of for there to be exceptions. One of my daughter’s friends, a 2013 GK, just committed to a D1 school at the end of her senior year about a month ago.</p>

<p>You also should ask some people - who have seen you play, have a fair amount of experience with college soccer (either coaching at that level or in helping soccer players be recruited), and who you can trust to be completely honest - to tell you if your target schools are appropriate for your skill level. Also, are your grades strong enough to be accepted at the schools you’re targeting? Sorry for the hard questions, but it’s possible that you’re overreaching.</p>

<p>Those are just some thoughts. </p>

<p>If you can’t afford a lot more camps and your team is not going to tournaments where your target schools’ coaches are attending, you can try to guest-play at those tournaments.</p>

<p>Hope that helps.</p>

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<p>Oh and by the way - none of this sounds stupid. We were new to the process when we first started too. It’s a maze and can be very bewildering. But you’ve come to one of the best places on the web for answers - the folks here at CC have lots of experience between them and are very happy to give you advice.</p>

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<p>I’m a guy looking at D3 with the possible exception of ivies. 3.96 uw gpa, top 5%, top classes and all that… Problem is my first sitting for the sat was March and I got a 2050. Fairly confident I can increase that to 2250+ by October judging by practice tests, but not certain. So I’m not sure if academically I’m ivies caliber so I haven’t been talking to the coaches because I wasn’t sure… I’ve been looking at some of the weaker soccer ivy programs because I know I can’t make the stronger ones, may be over reaching on the weaker ones also like you said. Problem is the weaker soccer programs usually coincide with lower admission rates and higher academic standard that I’m not sure I can match haha</p>

<p>First dabble in to all of this was last summer as a sophomore, went to a couple camps and emailed coaches, but I don’t think any were very interested or even went to watch me because of my age. This year before tournaments I’ve emailed coaches but often they don’t reply. </p>

<p>How do I go about trying to guest play for a team? Although should’ve tried this earlier because the season is starting to wind down soon. My team is by far the best in my area, with the exception of the academy, so I’m not sure if other teams are even doing worthwhile tournaments.</p>

<p>Kind of a disjointed reply, oh well :stuck_out_tongue: Thanks for all the help and everything! I feel like I’ve forgotten to answer some of your questions though haha</p>

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<p>everton17 - our family’s experience is at the D1 level (not Ivies) so I may not have a lot more to say than I have already. Hopefully, there will be some folks monitoring this thread who have experience with Ivy recruiting and recruiting at the D3 level. They may be able to give you a better idea of the normal timeline and how what you’re experiencing now (apparently lack of interest from coaches) might fit into that timeline.</p>

<p>The good thing - I think - is that you seem to be getting interest from one of your safety schools. How do you think that school fits with your academic goals? Do you like the general school environment (school size, urban vs. suburban, weather, etc.)?</p>

<p>Regarding guest-playing, I think what you need to do is find out what showcases the coaches at your target schools will be attending (phone calls can help you with that). Then visit the websites of those showcases. See if they have a guest-player request form you can fill out. If not (and maybe even if you do fill out the form), contact the tournament director and tell him/her you are looking for a guest-playing opportunity. Our daughter didn’t go that route when she guest-played (she had teams asking her to play for them), but I know of at least one of her friends who was able to guest-play at Surf Cup by being more proactive (filling out the form on the website/contacting the tournament director).</p>

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<p>What was her standardized test scores?</p>

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<p>stevelm - I’m guessing you’re asking me about my daughter’s scores. If so, she scored a 1910 (620 Math, 620 Reading, 670 Writing) on the SAT and a 26 (31 Math, 22 Reading, 27 English, 24 Science) on the ACT. Both of those scores were on her first and only attempts for each test. When we looked at the scores that were received by those accepted to her school of choice, we felt they were high enough for her to be admitted (which turned out to be the case). </p>

<p>She was working very hard as a full IB student and we decided as a family that it wasn’t necessary to take the tests again seeing that her GPA was high (4.81 weighted overall, 5.0 weighted in her 2 years in the IB program).</p>

<p>Hope that helps.</p>

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<p>Keeperdad,
This has been very valuable information. We are new to this whole arena and to this forum. We have a daughter who is going to be a junior and wants to attend a small school possibly DII or DIII- her coach feels like she is good enough to play for a smaller DI program-not one of the tops-but she is only interested in very small schools so it is somewhat limiting. She is very quiet and I am wondering if you would mind sharing the question list-I think it would be very helpful.</p>

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<p>Hi dddad9799. I believe that we’re not allowed to post links to non-authoritative websites. But I can send you a PM with the information - look for it in the next couple of minutes.</p>

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<p>Thank you so much. I also really appreciate the information about staying on the same team. Our daughter is captain of her team and very loyal. The last two years she was asked by two different teams (one ECNL) to come. She just felt she couldn’t leave her team-loves her team, etc. We felt that if that was her value we needed to applaud it. Some have told us we are crazy-we hope not. She probably will end up playing on a DIII team is my guess-wants a small school and we really want a school that is the right fit so hoping we made the right choice. How different is the DIII recruiting process from that of DI?</p>

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<p>I don’t know that much about D3 recruiting - I’ve heard that there are some differences, but we only have the one daughter and she was determined to play D1 so we never got very far down the road with the D3 schools that expressed interest. I’m pretty sure there are others on the forum who have experience with D3 recruiting - hopefully, they’ll chime in and be able to answer that question.</p>

<p>With regard to loyalty to your club, my impression is that the majority of families take what I call a “volume approach” - attend as many major college showcases as possible and depend on the volume of college coaches watching to ensure that the player receives recruiting attention from some of those coaches. If that’s the approach you’re going to take, then it makes a certain amount of sense that you have to play for a club that sends its teams to all the major showcases, because that’s where large volumes of college coaches come to watch. Many of the families I speak with never even think about any other way to be recruited than the traditional route - play for an ECNL club or a super team, participate in showcases from a very early age - every year, multiple showcases, lots of travel, etc., etc. They believe what they are told - often by coaches and families from those ECNL or super teams - that the only way to be recruited is to be part of one of those teams and attend all the major showcases. </p>

<p>Every club that tried to recruit our daughter told us emphatically that they were infinitely better positioned to help our daughter be seen by college coaches than the club she was playing with at the time. Their coaches were long-time friends with every D1 college coach in the country. They went to the very best showcases every year. The level of competition they played against every week would make our daughter a much better player. If our daughter played for them, she could expect to be seen by hundreds of college coaches. The club she was playing for at the time couldn’t begin to equal their level of prestige and recognition in the eyes of college coaches. Etc., etc., etc. Obviously, I’m being a bit facetious, but I’m sure you get my point.</p>

<p>But it’s not true that the volume approach is the only way. If you use a targeted approach in which you choose certain schools to pursue and do everything you can to make sure your player is seen by the coaches of those schools, then the number of college coaches that see you play is largely irrelevant. The question is not how many college coaches see you play, but whether or not the coaches of your target schools see you play. Instead of a strategy of going where the most college coaches are, your strategy is refined to find ways to play in front of the coaches at your target schools. They may or may not go to large showcases. They may or may not attend ECNL events. They may or may not participate in ODP, ID2, and/or Market Training Center events. They may or may not use ID camps in their recruiting process. When you use a targeted approach, you find out where the coaches of your target schools will be and then do everything you can to be seen by them at those events.</p>

<p>In our daughter’s case, the coach of her top choice saw her play at a minor showcase, at an ODP camp, at numerous Market Training Center events, and at a scrimmage. He also received input from the coaches of the club she played from the time she was 9 years old through when she was 18. While her club coaches were not anywhere near as vocal about their connections in the soccer world as the coaches of other teams trying to recruit her, the reality is that her club coaches included a former member of the senior women’s national team, a former member of the U-21 women’s national team, two former NCAA D1 national champions on the women’s side, two D1 players on the men’s side, and two former assistant coaches at the school she will play for in the fall. Even though they were not vocal, they were very well connected. And their connections in the soccer world were vital to our success.</p>

<p>I would encourage you to be very intentional about the strategy you formulate - based on your unique circumstances and your daughter’s educational goals - and then work that strategy relentlessly.</p>

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<p>KeeperDad, you’ve provided a great forum here. I’ve gone through the process with my oldest, but with a focus on D3 (really only NESCAC). I found your advice pretty much right on for that process, too. This is a site that’s helpful for girls who are pursuing soccer at high academic colleges and universities: EliteCollegeSports.com.</p>

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<p>Keeper Dad,</p>

<p>Your tips on this post are extremely helpful. As a parent of a D who is just starting the process ('16 grad) I want to thank you. My D is also very shy and I would appreciate it if you could PM me the list of questions for coaches that you mentioned in previous posts. She has not made calls yet, but will be starting next week. In last 3 weeks she has attended two camps (multiple coaches) and 2 ID clinics. Any guidance to what she should be asking will be much appreciated.</p>

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<p>^^^cgcparent- My son had a hard time making those initial calls, and he is pretty outgoing. I really sympathize with your daughter if she is on the shy side- it must be so intimidating! I know I would have had a very hard time at that age. One thing my son’s club did that seemed to help some of the boys is that they set up mock coach interviews. Parents acted as coaches and we did role playing to give the kids an idea of what kind of things coaches might say. The kids who had already been thru the process helped by giving input as to what kind of conversations they had been thru. My son was already a senior so it didn’t help him out, but the younger kids seemed to benefit. One thing that did help my son was to go thru questions he thought were important and to write down his responses before making any calls. He also always had a printed profile in front of him during calls. One thing that you might pass on to your daughter, is that overall, my son found he didn’t have to generate the conversation. Once he introduced himself to a coach, he found for the most part that they would fill in the gaps with questions and comments. He lost his nervousness pretty quickly in the whole process because he found that probably 80% of coaches were very nice, and seemed genuinely interested in talking to him, even if they were maybe not interested in him as an athlete. Of course there are always a few that were not as nice, but in general, most were very receptive. He did always send an e-mail with picture and video as well as his background to the head and assistant coaches at each school he called prior to making that initial call. Then he would wait a few days and follow up with a call. It is really tough to make that first call, but does get easier!</p>

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<p>great list of tips here, Thanks!</p>

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<p>Thanks so much takeitallin! That’s a great idea and I will speak to her coach. I like the idea of having her profile in front of her when she calls. That will definitely help. Can you give me some suggestions as to what she might say when she first calls? I guess I am wondering if she needs specific reason to call other than This is ____ and I am very interested in your college and your soccer program, attended your id clinic, etc. My D has been emailing to let coaches know what tournaments she is attending and just general updates. She always puts her picture at top of the email. Any other helpful hints will be greatly appreciated.</p>