My Daughter just committed to a major D1 University - As Me Anything
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Anonymous
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She recently committed to an awesome school. The road to get there was was filled with many ups and downs (and a lot of travel).
She is a defender and is blessed with size (5'9) and speed. She was never known as a technical player but is extremely physical. Every few years since early middle school she bounced up to a better team finally playing for the one of the top teams in the area. Here is my advice; Get your daughter playing against boys at an early age. It makes a huge difference in speed of play and the level of physicality. Get a dedicated trainer for speed and agility as early as possible. I think this is more important than a soccer trainer. If coaches see that she can really move and has adequate athleticism they will take a long look. Get fast, get strong, get quick!!! Don't be a helicopter parent!!!! If she does not want to workout regularly then that is her loss. If she is not all in then it wont happen for her. You can't force the issue and you damn sure can't live vicariously through your kid. And by the way, STOP yelling and screaming on the sidelines. They already have too much pressure from coaches, teammates and themselves. Don't make soccer everything in your life. Go get some ice cream!! Don't ever go to a general open tryout. Call the coach for the team you are interested in and see if they will let you come for a practice. Try to separate yourself by being really good at one thing. Great left foot, super athlete, dynamic in the box, exceptional 1v1 defender, very physical, technically excellent. Be good at a lot but be great at one thing. And remember that 'going hard all the time' is a skill. I have seen a ton of girls with great skills who just don't go hard enough. Do whatever you have to do to get on a ECNL team. Not ECNL RL, and not GA. Your odds of playing in college drastically go up. Even if you are riding the bench for an ECNL team its probably better than being on an ECNL RL or GA team. There are only a few decent GA teams in the area. Look at Arlington, NVA, Maryland United, Union, Bethesda (although I don't recommend Bethesda to anyone..very toxic). I'm sure there are a few others. The absolute most important aspect of getting recruited is to play well at ECNL showcase events. Either showcase events or ECNL playoffs. Typically there will be coaches from tons of D1 and D3 schools wrapped around the field at all games. Most coaches DO NOT attend regular season ECNL games (they are busy in their own season). Its all about the showcase events. If you are playing ECNL, try your best to skip the ID Camps. It is a money grab plain and simple. Colleges use these ID camps to pay their assistance coaches. We got bamboozled in to going to way too many. Most were a complete waste of time and money. The only good part was that she was able to see the schools and from there narrow her focus on what type of school she really wanted. High school soccer does not matter. My daughter is not playing high school because her club season and school season are at the same time. Over use is a real thing. Its not worth it. No one gets recruited from playing high school soccer. Its extremely rare. Really solid highlight videos and good communication with coaches before and after showcase events is key. Letting coaches know where and when you are playing is important. Using a platform like Sports Recruit makes it very easy to email coaches and create a profile. Developing a plan and getting your name out there with Instagram and X (Twitter) is a vital piece to the puzzle. Posting highlights and just being active on social media goes a long way. Highlights videos should be short (like 2 minutes max) and should have your absolute best stuff in the beginning of the video. If your daughter does put herself in a position to be recruited, remember that most girls DO NOT go to their #1 choice. That's pretty much left for USWNT players and the absolute highest level girls. My daughter lucked up and is going to a school she really likes and is a perfect fit for her style of play (but it wasn't her #1 choice). Fit and a great college coaching staff is of upmost importance. I am willing to answer any questions. |
Anonymous
| This is great stuff. Thanks a lot. |
Anonymous
| What age did you get serious about recruiting? |
Anonymous
| She is a rising junior so I would say we got serious about recruiting going in to 9th grade. Getting her name out there early and understanding the landscape of the recruiting process. It is important to ask questions to parents whose kids are already committed. Everyone's road is different but there are some general things most need to do |
Anonymous
She is a rising junior so I would say we got serious about recruiting going in to 9th grade. Getting her name out there early and understanding the landscape of the recruiting process. It is important to ask questions to parents whose kids are already committed. Everyone's road is different but there are some general things most need to do |
Anonymous
| Did the club do the heavy lifting when reaching out to schools? Or does the athlete/parent have to? |
Anonymous
| How much did her club coach help during recruiting? Talking to colleges, promoting her, etc. |
Anonymous
| Does being on a winning team matter or just any ECNL team as long as you are at the showcases? |
Anonymous
Her club coach is well connected to many college coaches but the college she chose reached out to her directly right after the recruiting window opened up (June 15th). They eventually spoke to him only really to ask about her personality and they wanted to know the type of family we are. Schools just don't recruit the player but the whole family as well (dogs included..haha). That's why I said in the post to not be a jerk on the sidelines. College coaches see that behavior. |
Anonymous
Thats a double edge sword. A winning team will get more spotlight on them. They will play better teams in the playoffs and at showcase events so coaches will gravitate to those games more. There is a hierarchy at showcase events. If you are playing low ranked teams less coaches will see you play. I can honestly tell you that I have witnessed over 125 coaches at our games. We probably averaged around 80-90 coaches at all of out showcase/playoff games. A non winning team might have 15-30 coaches watching which is still great. Maybe more D3s versus D1s |
Anonymous
Her coach was extremely helpful but the athlete/parent has to do most of the work. Colleges will reach out to the coach before the recruitment window opens (June 15th) to show interest and ask questions (like grades, personality, good teammate). I would get a solid list of schools (realistic schools...not FSU or UNC) and start emailing them. Like maybe 30-40 schools. Follow them on X and Instagram. Stay very consistent. Most schools get a million emails. You have to figure out creative ways (with email) to be different and break through all the noise they get |
Anonymous
| Thanks for this info. Any speed and agility coaches/programs that you recommend? |
Anonymous
I can recommend Healthy Baller (numerous locations in the area) and Chris Paul (Showtime Fitness) 240-791-6195. He is located in the Silver Spring area. I have known Chris for over a decade. He is exceptional with track speed and quickness. Just remember that building speed is not an overnight process. Most kids dont even now how to run properly so that has to be taught even before they can build strength and quickness. The biomechanics of sprinting is an art. There a tons of other trainers in the area but these are the ones we used. If you are a YouTube type person then I would look at Pierre's Elite Performance and also Overtime Athletes. |
Anonymous
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Interesting that you call out getting on an ECNL team + specifically call out not playing on a GA team.
That's kind of a wide statement. If you're kid plays on one of the top GA teams it's light years better than an average ECNL team. It's also interesting that you say that your kid isn't specifically skilled but that she is aggressive, big, and fast. Do you think with college rosters going down to 28 that coaches will have to move to more skilled play? Or will they just keep focusing on the infinite subs game? |
Anonymous
I will retract my ECNL/GA statement. There are just way more ECNL teams in the area so your odds on getting on one of those teams are better. ECNL girls make up approximately 75% of D1 college teams. The top GA teams are exceptional but there are not that many of them especially in the DMV. I think the new 28 rosters spots is school specific on what they deem as most important. Having an athlete who can play multiple positions is important. Aggressive, big and fast doesn't always work for some programs. Some want highly skilled. That's a hard question to answer. A highly skilled team will beat a super athletic team most of the time. |