<p>I plan on trying out for my Division III college soccer team if I get accepted. I have a very simple yet complex question that I can’t answer because I don’t have the information to make the decision.</p>
<p>Is it worth it ?</p>
<li>I like playing soccer.</li>
<li>I can live WITHOUT soccer.</li>
<li>IF I decided to play how much of commitment would it be?
a. Do I have to travel out of state much?
b. How do classes fit in if I do?
c. Soccer? School? Social Life? and Sleep? is it possible to have all four?</li>
</ol>
<p>I know I can always play “intramural soccer” but I don’t know if the feeling is the same as a real varsity game…</p>
<p>Some of it depends on how good you are. It’s a lot of fun to play for the varsity team. However, it’s not very much fun to be the 22nd-25th guy on the roster and rarely get minutes. It’s less fun to be that guy and still put in the same time commitment. </p>
<p>The time commitment for an average DIII program is a couple hours of practice a day, with a game each day of the weekends, in addition to any trainer time or captain’s practice. Some coaches are reasonable about other interests, some aren’t. Depending on the league your school is in, you’ll probably travel by bus about half the weekends.</p>
<p>As far as academics and social life goes, you’ll have to sacrifice a little bit in both of those departments- usually athletes take a lighter course load during the term they have their season, and drop off the social radar until the season ends. Your mileage may vary with the specific program, but a varsity sport takes up a large part of your college life. Your social scene is pretty much the soccer team for the season. Off-season gives you your life back to some extent.</p>
<p>I’d say give it a try- everyone is technically a walk-on at a DIII school, and the worst thing that can happen is you don’t like it and walk away. I did a year riding the bench for a DIII squad, then got cut at the end of my Freshman year after some prospects the coach had his eye on had committed. My experience wasn’t great, but a lot of the guys on the team really liked it, and they were for the most part nice to me. </p>
<p>Try it and see if you like it/can still make grades/still enjoy the game/have enough time to do everything you want to in college.</p>
<p>Also, I found a good compromise between the feel of a varsity game and the flexibility of intramurals was club sports. You still play other schools, but the coaches know that school comes first and don’t hold it against you if you can’t make every practice.</p>
<p>My daughter plays for a nationally ranked DIII team. It does take up a lot of her time but she still managed to work, make Dean’s List, date and play several times a week. She did travel out of state quite a few times and not just on the weekends. She has been to Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, California, Missouri and Indiana that I can remember! Her coach was strict about class attendance and had mandatory study tables twice a week. Unfortunately he left the program this year and she is reassessing her options for next year. There can be lots of off season training and a spring playing schedule. You must have a love for the game to keep playing.</p>
<p>Depending on how good you are, I am sure that coaches at schools you are interested in will be happy to have you stop by when you visit your schools of interest and they can answer your questions as they relate to the specific college. I think every D-3 school is different. Call up the coach and ask when try-outs are and then see if you can get other questions answered at the same time.</p>
<p>Our club has been pushing for D1 soccer for months and months and everyone seeks a verbal commitment at this point. However, despite some D1AA bites, our daughter wants a top level academic experience, probably in DIII.</p>
<p>So in DIII, first, what is the standard schedule for when the schools get serious and second, although they’re interested in grades, how do schools confirm their commitement to a player? Do they do verbal commitments a la D1?</p>
<p>No, DIII cannot give verbal commitments. There is no formal recruiting, or recruiting trips for DIII. (The coach can ask her to make an unofficial visit though-on your dime.) The coach can encourage your D to apply, and say she would have a spot on the team if accepted. </p>
<p>The NCAA handbook has all the details of the processes, and is the best source for answers to your questions. It’s downloadable at their website.</p>
<p>Not sure what you mean by “no formal recruiting” at DIII, fauve. Our D1 was pursued by many DIII soccer coaches. Emails, letters, phone calls, coaches coming to watch her play club and HS games. I would call that recruiting. She was invited to many campuses and spent the night with teams but the only thing paid for was lunch…through admissions office. Admissions always met with her and she was told admissions would not be a problem. She was a very good HS student with a high GPA and above average ACT.</p>
<p>Yeah, I was thinking that, too. My son’s school sends a lot of kids to NESCAC schools. There are frequently coaches who come to the games and it is always announced in advance which schools the boys have “committed” too even though there isn’t a formal LOI. Even at the club level, I have seen several DIII coaches. Just this past summer, coaches from Bowdoin, Skidmore, and Colby came to watch one boy that I know. There were others; I am just friends with the boy’s mom who was being recruited by these schools. And they did contact him the very next day saying things like, we really want you for our program and inviting him to come for a visit.</p>
<p>I don’t know. I still think there are loopholes. My son has several kids on his team who are already committed to schools, from major DI to NESCAC. It is even formally announced. I know they say they don’t, insist even, but…they do.</p>
<p>One way that highly-selective LACs nail down recruits is by insisting that they apply ED in order to get the coaches support. In any event, many recruits make informal commitments to coaches early and most are honorable enough to honor those commitments.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the insights! This all helps. Daughter has passed on several strong interests in DI and has some DIII options that “aren’t quite right.” She’s a high school senior, so it’s too late for checking more D1 options, but it seems that D3’s on a much later informal schedule. That’s my question about DIII schedules; at this point some say their finished and others seem to be taking much more time…leading up to Early Decision.</p>
<p>Also, are there any good college showcase tournaments in the next couple months for a girl playing catch up, searching for just the right fit?</p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestions! We were at CASL last year; it was great. Amazing numbers of coaches. I will check out DII. The hardest thing is just for her to get seen at this point.</p>
<p>Are all DI schools solid in their recruits at this time? We had some missed opportunities early this year because of communication issues.</p>
<p>Bounder - do you have any film of your D that you could send to coaches of schools she likes? That’s what my D did because she couldn’t make it to the big tournaments this year. It worked just fine. It might be a bit late now, depending on the school, but it’s a more direct way of getting recruited by the coaches she is actually interested in - as opposed to waiting for a showcase and hoping the right coaches come.</p>
<p>Not all DI schools are done but most are. If she is a phenomenal player she could get picked up as a recruited walk on. Things happen, girls and some coaches change their mind either before signing or after. My D2 signed last February with a class of 10, 1 was a recruited walk on. Two of the scholarship signers backed out before the season started. The walk on is now a starter on the team. Nothing is written in stone…NLI signing date for soccer is Feb. 3. Good Luck!</p>
<p>If by a top level academic experience you mean a highly selective school, there are none in DII. The most selective is Bentley, which is a very solid business school, but is nowhere near as selective as (for example) the top or mid-NESCACs.</p>