<p>Hi everyone,</p>
<p>S is HS freshman with excellent shot at playing college soccer. I have NO experience with athletic recruitment and have no idea where to turn. I know only that a parent cannot be passive, ie, has to take an active role in getting the child recruited.</p>
<p>Having said that, I need some help-- where do we start?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>This is a great forum…so spend some time here…</p>
<p>You have several years to go–and there are others better suited to help…
also–be prepared you student might not want to play at the collegiate level in 4 years…</p>
<p>FWIW</p>
<p>Go to the NCAA clearing house and read that…
Talk to you studnt’s coaches about summer training/play
Consider during sophmore spring break year a trip to look at schools–just a passing through–and that will help you consider what types of schools/team/type of play your student really wants to commit to…
Grades count!
Test Scores count!</p>
<p>Good luck</p>
<p>Quick question</p>
<p>Who told you parents have to be active in the recruitment process?</p>
<p>Cause, and maybe this is just me, I didnt want my parents in there too much. This is a contract between the athlete and the school, and I dont feel that parents have too big a role in that besides guidance and support on the sidelines, not the main game.</p>
<p>Parents shouldn’t run the show, and I know this may upset you, but they actually should be involved in giving you guidance in the most important decision of your life, plus give perspective and make sure you aren’t getting mislead by your naive enthusiasm.
If the coaches were all your age, it would be fine.
The main game is you, but all great athletes have trainers and your parents are life trainers.</p>
<p>and ^^ the OP’s son is just a freshman, so there won’t be a lot of coach contact this year anyway (or next, I would guess.) It’s fine to help your son get a feel for where he wants to be and what he wants to be doing.</p>
<p>I have NO experience with soccer but I hear the parents who do talk about “college showcases” and camps and ODP and travel teams, etc. Maybe someone with some soccer knowledge can chime in a little more. But from friends in my area, it seems like you need more than just a few lucky goals at a high school game; and I know these practices, showcases, travel teams, etc, take a LOT of parent commitment as well.</p>
<p>Once the athlete hits senior year, it’s fine to back off and let him deal with the coaches. For now, just let him enjoy it! </p>
<p>And as fogfog said - remember to keep the grades up!</p>
<p>Right, you are so much more recruitable with excellent grades!</p>
<p>We have been very involved with our son’s recruiting. He will make the decision but we are talking him through the choices. Some coaches even explicitly want the parents involved. They may have to deal with them for four years and they want to see what they are getting into. Sort of like the first visit to the inlaws. In any case’ a parent may feel more at ease to ask the tough questions.</p>
<p>Being on the “right” team is the best thing your son can do right now. Rankings are never the most important things, but it’s how many get into the tournaments that get you a look in your sophomore or junior year. I assume he is playing division 1 U-15, but I forget where you are in California.</p>
<p>N. Cal U-15
[Team</a> Rankings Results](<a href=“GotSoccer Rankings”>GotSoccer Rankings)
S.Cal U-15
[Team</a> Rankings Results](<a href=“GotSoccer Rankings”>GotSoccer Rankings)</p>
<p>i agree with thatguy100. not only was i not involved, i didn’t even know it was going on until it was practically over. such as my d saying, “do i need finaid or should i accept an athletic scholarship?”</p>
<p>my reply: to what school are we taking about? boy was i surprised when she told me the name of the school. that’s how far down the recruiting path she had gone before we “got involved”</p>
<p>Asking why parents should be involved in an athlete’s pursuit of a college to play at is sort of like asking why a lawyer should be involved in a legal proceeding - I would hope that I could provide some measure of value in providing guidance based on years of life experience in evaluation, negotiation and decision.</p>
<p>What Thrill said!</p>
<p>Of course you’ll want to be involved - to the extent of asking your son or daughter questions, suggesting questions they may want to ask the coaches, preparing financial paperwork, etc. What you do not want to do is be the parent asking all the questions to the coach while S or D sits quietly in the background.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone. (shrinkrap I will PM you)</p>
<p>When I said parents need to be involved, I didn’t mean talk to the college coaches. I meant more along the lines of helping your kid decide where he wants to go to school, video-ing him on the field (coaches want recruitment videos, right?), those kinds of things. More a support role. In other words, I have the impression that if I just backed off, did absolutely nothing, not even talked to my S about playing college soccer, nothing would happen. I’ve been told that coaches go to tournaments (and I mean <em>top</em> tournaments, not the local “Halloween Smash”) with a list of players they want to look at; they don’t just blindly show up and say to themselves, hey that number 5 looks pretty good-- wonder who he is. So, somehow I’ve gotta help my son get on that list!</p>
<p>@shrinkrap-- can’t PM you till you clear some messages. Thx.</p>
<p>I can tell you that sometimes a coach will show up to look at a specific player … and see someone else. And four years later, when the kid had finished freshman season as a recruited athlete on his team the coach was still talking about it! </p>
<p>Specifically, my son went out on an unofficial summer visit to a big name school. One of the kids on the team was from our home town, had played with our son at the youth level, and had been coached by my H. The family moved, before high school, to a non-hotbed area and the kid was a standout as a high school freshman. The coach saw him as a sophomore and started a dialogue. It helped that the family had an alumni connection, the kid had great grades and would have been a worthy applicant for this school without the sports. </p>
<p>Just one anecdote.</p>
<p>Cleared!..BTW, I learned about this “right team” thing, from my son and his peers. Could have been one of their parents, but those kids knew which teams/clubs went to the “right” tournaments, and went to tryouts together. I didn’t really realize what was happening until I get an email from son’s new coach-to-be, offering him a spot on a team with practice 60 miles away…I thought that was CRAZY and posted about it on CC, but learned a lot. Still not sure if the outcome was worth it, but no regrets.</p>
<p>If it’s not possible to play on a team that goes to the top tournaments, be a guest player.</p>
<p>@soccertrack-- to be a guest player, the team you’re guesting on has to “know” you, so to some extent you have to have an established reputation in your region, or at least in your local area. Not as easy as it sounds, unfortunately.</p>
<p>No, it’s not easy. But if it’s your only choice, then go for it. Most college showcases have guest player lists you can register for. A team that needs a player at your position will call. If none do, you haven’t lost anything.</p>
<p>If your player is not on his ODP regional team and doesn’t play on a team that is in a regional premier league or near the top at the best tournaments, he has a lot of work to do to get the attention of college coaches.</p>
<p>When he knows what his top choice college matches are, one of the best ways is to attend their summer camps.</p>
<p>@soccertrack, I didn’t know about college showcases having a guest player list, so thanks for that. Will look into it. S is on a good regional team (premier level) and is on callback list for ODP state pool. Keeping fingers crossed.</p>