Hello Guys, Im currently 18 years old (will turn 19 this Nov) and Im in the last year of my high school (Outside of USA) and I just came to know about the NCAA Soccer recruitment. I got really interested in joining a Ncaa college to play soccer. Is it too late to contact coaches now or should I give it a go ?
My plan is to give ACT this December and start contacting coaches right away, so I can join a college in fall 2020. Is this possible?
How good is your soccer club? Is it ranked nationally? Are you ranked regionally, nationally? Do you have a good video showing you in games (passes, etc) AND outside of games (technique)? Do you have stats (speed etc)?
Did your senior year start in February March 2019, or in September 2018?
The soccer club I currently play in competes at the regional level and yes I am working on making a video I just need some more of my game footage will get that soon.
My senior year started in sept 2018.
Is your club ranked top 5 regionally? Are you ranked?
yh its ranked but not in top 5 and I’m not ranked also.
Dude I appreciate u trying to help but I just wanted to know that if its too late to contact coaches in the end of your senior year. and if this plan is applicable, give ACT this December and start contacting coaches right away, so I can join a college in fall 2020.
Your plan is only practical if you’re a strong soccer player - recruited players are usually ranked. So you need to ascertain your rank regionally-nationally.
Yes you can contact coaches but you need to take the ACT first: for D2 because otherwise you don’t qualify, for D3 because you need to meet the college’s academic qualifications.
(D1 is done recruiting in your age group they’re looking at class of 2022-2023 now)
Your calendar should be : act in June or July, contact coaches in July or August, discussions September-November. Apply ED or by December 1st. If that fails, apply for January 1st.
OK Thank you for the help brother.
one more thing, do u apply to colleges first or contact the coaches first?
Contact the coaches before you apply.
The order:
1° register today for the next SAT or ACT (June or July) and prep for those tests (because there are hard scores you need to reach) + create a good video showing your skills. Hint: how to function as part of a team/group of players is as important as your ability to shine on your own. Create an email address you’ll use for college correspondence only (the email should be serious, don’t try to be funny with it). You CAN fill out some “request info forms” on college websites, checking (ticking) that you are interested in varsity soccer + everything else. Do watch games from each college’s championship. Watch D2, D3, NAIA, NJCAA games.
2° once you have your results and your video, contact the coaches, introducing name, position, GPA, any exam results (highlight the A’s or the distinctions), ACT/SAT score, athletic stats, link to video. Don’t forget to thank them for their time and close politely.
3° after you’ve talked with coaches at several colleges, decide which team seems the best fit and apply ED. If that’s not possible, keep talking till you have an email (written) statement from coaches. ONLY apply once you have that statement. Do NOT commit to anything until you have a scholarship offer (D2) or a commitment from the coach to support your application (D3).
Thank You bro this is great help.
I have a few thoughts.
One, it is not too late to contact coaches for 2020.
Do you already know about the levels of college soccer (D1, D2, D3)? They have different timelines and requirements. Happy to expand on this if you would like.
Are you looking for a scholarship/financial aid?
I am a little confused about "soccer rankings " of players. There are websites in the US that rank teams and individual players, but they are notoriously inaccurate and I don’t think college coaches pay much attention to them. If you play for the youth academy of a professional club that’s what a coach would value.
There are people who place international kids at US schools (for a fee) so if you need help you can always hire one of them.
I agree that you want to focus on both getting the requirements done for college application, like the ACT, and start reaching out to coaches. If at all possible, you should try to take the ACT before December – June may work if you are generally a good standardized test taker – since coaches will want to know what your test scores are to know if you will be accepted by the college academically. At the same time, put together a soccer resume – a single page document which includes information about your academic and soccer achievements – high school curriculum, grades etc., as well as soccer team, position, achievements, height, weight, right or left foot dominant, etc. Then, communicate with coaches both by filling out recruiting questionnaire on the specific team’s website (often under “Recruiting” or “More”), and emailing the head coach AND assistant coaches with a short, introductory email, identifying much of the same info as in your soccer resume – what year you are, country, high school, academic interests, why you are interested in the their college and soccer program. Second paragraph of the email (still short_ identifies the key information about you a a player. It is important to include all the assistant coaches on the email because they are usually the ones responsible for initial recruiting communication. Video – only need 3-7 minutes, highlighting specific skills (depending on your position), no flashy graphics or music, the most important part is that coaches have a way to know which player is you, you can use imovie or other techniques to add an arrow above yourself at the beginning of the play etc. You can add to your video once you have more film, but it’s probably worth it to have 3-5 min now that you can send out. It is important to know sooner rather than later whether coaches might be interested.
D1 is probably wrapping up decisions about recruiting for the class entering Fall '20. D2 is probably still recruiting and D3 is generally still pretty open at this point, with few definite decisions having been made at D3. D2 Men’s Soccer programs are sometimes not as strong academic programs as you might find at D1 and D3 programs. D3 Men’s Soccer is unpredictable in the sense that some of the strongest teams are not the best academic schools – Messiah and, more recently, Calvin College, are two excellent Men’s Soccer programs at small Christian colleges. To get a sense of D3 Men’s soccer rankings, you can look for “Massey D3 soccer rankings” – people will argue about whether one college really should be ranked ahead of another, the rankings are helpful in identifying “tiers” of programs. I agree that individual player rankings are not particularly important in college soccer. Sure, if a guy is the national Gatorade Player of the Year, that matters, but other than that, not so much. Another way to learn about D3 soccer generally is to go to the “d3boards” and find the Men’s Soccer board – there is lots of activity in season about the different athletic D3 athletic conferences and individual coaching, playing and results at specific colleges. Good luck, and check back here as you move through the process – we have all relied on the experiences of others who have gone through it before us to make our own way!