Soccer Recruiting

<p>Hello everyone... i am an international student and would like to be recruited to a college soccer team and i am looking for some advice cause i do not really know how everything works there. I have been playing soccer since i was 11 in different clubs and i am now 19, unfortunatly i donot have any highlights of myself. so what would you guy suggest?</p>

<p>Hi Gbriel:</p>

<p>I don’t know anything about international recruiting, but I know some things about recruiting here in the states. Have you been in touch with any College Coaches here in the U.S.? If not, are they any U.S. Coaches your Team Coach can put you in touch with here? Get your Coach to help market your skills here in the U.S. If you’re not actively in the recruiting process yet, I’d recommend creating a profile with one of the Internet recruiting services which would allow you to download photos, stats, academic information, contact info, and your Coach(es) recommendations. (Popular U.S. recruiting website: berecruited.com ).</p>

<p>Send a “link” to your recruiting profile to any Schools here in the U.S. you might be interested in attending attention of that School(s) Recruiting Coordinator(s). Remember to update your information frequently, whenever your Soccer stats or your GPA improve. Since you don’t have any highlight films, do you have any newspaper articles discussing your stats? Do you have any recent newspaper articles wherein the article(s) mention your specific contributions to the match(es)? Visit the collegiate websites of every school you’re interested in, and complete their on-line Prospective Recruit Questionnaires found on their Athletic websites. *Those Prospective Recruit Questionnaires are routinely reviewed by the Coaches and Recruiting Coordinators at the individual colleges/universities.</p>

<p>Visit: [url=&lt;a href=“http://www.eligibilitycenter.org%5DRedirecting%5B/url”&gt;http://www.eligibilitycenter.org]Redirecting[/url</a>] to register for the NCAA Eligibility Center, if you’re at all interested in attempting to compete at the NCAA Division 1 or Division 2 levels. Get your Coach involved in assisting you in contacting Schools/Programs wherein he/she feels you’d be a good fit. Have your Coach send letters of recommendation to interested programs illustrating your academic standing and athletic abilities. Make certain you timely apply to schools you’re interested, and submit the appropriate test scores and transcripts. </p>

<p>Follow up with any/all Coaches who may contact you and show interest in your abilities.</p>

<p>Much success !</p>

<p>wow man I really appreciate you reply… thanks for the time and effort you have invested for this issue. The information is like UNBELIEVABLY helpful. I’ll get down to work right away man and see how it evaluates. If you mind, I have a another couple of questions… I am like really curious what’s the level of Division 1 soccer over there could you tell me anything about it? and in case and I get recruited can i get into school immediately or I’ll have to wait for some time to enroll.</p>

<p>And also if I enroll as a normal student can i still join the school soccer team?</p>

<p>Recruiting goes “hand-in-hand” with projected/confirmed acceptance into a college or university. At the NCAA Division 1 or Division 2 level, some recruited athletes here in the states sign what is called a NLI (National Letter of Intent) which affirms their recruited status, and yet the athlete must still be accepted into the specific college/university in question. The individual Admissions Departments of Colleges/Universities, are soley responsible for determining whether or not a student-athlete will be accepted into their university. When you visit the collegiate websites of the schools you’re interested in, check the sub section: “International Students”. That will give you a fuller understanding of the academic requirements for International applicants at each of the universities to which you apply. </p>

<p>You cannot begin your collegiate athletic career without first applying and being “admitted” into a college or university. Determine what academic documents you’ll need to submit in your application (relative to your International status) and be sure to make copies of all correspondences forwarded. Ask your current Coach to help you nagivate and respond to all correspondences and communications from interested Coaches. </p>

<p>I do not have any direct knowledge of the required level of play of NCAA Division 1 or Division 2 Soccer players. NCAA Division 3 does not require NCAA Eligibility Center clearance. NCAA Division 3 schools do not offer athletic scholarships (merit scholarships are offered to students who qualify), but keep in mind that NCAA Division 3 is another NCAA division wherein collegiate Soccer opportunities are possible. When you visit the athletic websites of the universities, read the mini bios of the athletes in question and that might give you some basic insight in regards to their prior/current athletic accomplishments, conference accolades and School related awards. </p>

<p>Good luck to you !</p>

<p>Thank very much again lilmama you really helped. And i have a few back up schools which i will surely get into but the thing is that they are division III. Now, my question is will I still be able to be recruited by a Division I team being enrolled in a Divsion III school?
Thank you so very much in advance. I truly appreciate your assistance. This really eases on me and makes the whole process much easier. To be short <em>YOU ROCK</em></p>

<p>Gbriel – Sorry if I missed a “clue” but it’s not evident from your screen name whether you are male or female. That will affect how many D-1 schools might be on your list. For example, in Texas, there are only two D-1 schools with men’s soccer – SMU and Houston Baptist. But there are many more than that with women’s soccer. This is due to various things, but mainly due to schools being required to have certain “equivalent” sports for women. In Texas, the larger universities have football teams for men and women’s soccer teams for women. So, the short answer is, if you are female, you may have more places to play.</p>

<p>Either way, you really need to look up the NCAA’s eligibility center (which was formerly known as the NCAA clearinghouse) which is where you must register to have your eligibility checked – your high school grades, amateur status, etc. You also need to look up the NCAA Guide for Student Athletes for 2011-2012, which gives you all the academic and other requirements for D-1, D-2, and D-3 schools, as well as some recruiting information.</p>

<p>If you are at one school, I think the only way you can transfer to a D-1 school is to sit out a year. I believe Lilmama was mentioning D-3 schools as another avenue for you to play competitively, get a good education, but not be at one of the “world famous” schools. D-3 schools aren’t really a “training ground” for D-1 schools. They are their own separate and sometimes even higher quality schools and teams. Look up Trinity University in San Antonio, for example. A very high quality D-3 school with an outstanding men’s soccer team. </p>

<p>Good luck with your search.</p>

<p>Thanks for your reply and concern. In fact I am a man, I assume you could guess that because I believe my language is quiet the opposite of that of a woman =]. So If I got you right, If I enrolled this year into a D-III school I have no chances to transfer to a D-I later? Because I have noticed that I could transfer to Michigan even as a second sem. Freshman.</p>

<p>Yes, you can transfer from one school to another at any time . . . well, between semesters or at whatever time the school would accept a transfer. But whether you will still be ATHLETICALLY eligible in your sport is another matter. That’s why you need to check out the NCAA regulations before you pick a school.</p>

<p>GOTCHA!!! thanks mate…</p>

<p>In regards to our conversations I have found some extremely useful material according the transfering stuff. So the material are from a NCAA guide book named transfer 101, it includes many useful stuff and answer to many of question. So if anyone of you guys has any question or doubt I sincerely recommend to have a look on the book. </p>

<p>@cgpm59 I have found that it is possible to transfer from a Division III to a Division I or II school, and still be eligible to play. You just have to complete the following procedures.</p>

<p>As written in the book “NCAA Transfer 101”: Generally, if you are enrolled as a full-time student at an NCAA or National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA)
four-year school and you want to transfer to a different NCAA school to play, your current school’s athletics director must give
written permission-to-contact to the new coach or member of the athletics staff before you or your parents can talk with one
of them. That is called having a permission-to-contact letter.
You may write to any NCAA school saying that you are interested in transferring, but the new coach must not discuss transfer
opportunities with you unless he or she has received written permission-to-contact from your current school.
If your current school does not give you written permission-to-contact, another school cannot contact you and encourage you to transfer. This does not preclude you from transferring; however, if the new school is in Division I or II, you cannot
receive an athletics scholarship until you have attended the new school for one academic year.
Also, if your current school officials deny your request to permit another institution to contact you about transferring, they
must tell you in writing that you have a right to appeal the decision. In that instance, a panel of individuals from your current
school who are not involved in athletics will conduct a hearing to decide the issue.</p>