playing sports in college
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Anonymous
| I am the same poster who just posted the question about naviance, but I didn't want to take away from that topic/question so I am posting this separately. I am helping a friend's son with his college applications, as his mother is not from the U.S. and did not go to college and does not understand the process at all. The son is a rising senior in high school. Her son has been doing all research into colleges on his own thus far but in a recent conversation it became clear to me that he is very overwhelmed himself and doesn't seem to be getting a ton of guidance from his school counselor. He is a very good soccer player and plays on his varsity high school team and for a private soccer club, however I don't think he is a top recruit. He very much wants to play soccer in college, so his college focus has been on a small private college that invited him to attend a soccer camp last summer, and again this summer. While the camp seems to be selective, it is not like only 10 kids were invited, many kids are going. So it is not clear to me if he is being "recruited," or if the coach just has a general interest in him along with many other kids. Also since the college is private, it is expensive and his mother could not afford an expensive college without a lot of financial aid. Again, it is not clear to me if he would get any special consideration in that regard because of soccer. So while I know my question here is very general, I wondered if anyone could give me guidance on how I can figure out what level of interest this college has in this person, and assuming it is general, then I want to encourage him to look at a number of other colleges but I know he will want to know if he can play soccer at them and I have no idea how to figure that out. Thank you for any help. |
Anonymous
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Have the student contact all the coaches via email with a tape comprised of highlights from his games. His friends and assistant coaches can help him develop the video clip. It is fine if his varsity coach sends the same tape with an email. Find colleges where their financial aid philosophy is "meets all demonstrated need" and cross reference with the soccer list.
The end result might include an athletic scholarship (partial to full) or preferred walk-on status (try's out for team, no scholarship but could boost his application) or admission to a college with a great financial package and the opportunity to play club soccer or a great financial package somewhere he will find a new passion. Please don't expect the coaches to do all the work. The teenager must get busy with his tape and emails and keep his grades up while studying for the SAT or ACT. Good luck, you have your work cut out for you. P.S. The coaches will want to know the parent's financial status sooner rather than later. |
Anonymous
| I think it's be fairly obvious if he were being recruited. Although I don't think coaches can directly call the students until senior year. Go through his club team, not HS, unless they are natl champs or something. I wouldn't expect much money from a non D1 school and I wouldn't expect much money unless they fly him out on a recruiting trip in the winter. Doesn't the kid speak English well enough? Can he ask his coaches, peers, school counselor??? |
Anonymous
| This is not OP, but I have a similar question - let me know if I should start another thread. I'm helping a young woman from outside the US look into US colleges where she could play basketball. I found several sites that invite students to post videos and highlights. Are these sites really used by coaches? Are they legit or just a waste of time? I helped her craft an email to her target school coaches and she's already sent that out. We've also found the recruiting questionnaire/form available on most college websites. Is there anything else she should do? Thanks! |
Anonymous
| OP here - thanks for the info. I admit I still don't really understand how I can help this kid figure out which soccer teams he may be a good fit for - he has gotten letters from a wide range of colleges, but I kind of figure those letters are like the letters you used to get from colleges after taking the SAT, most of which usually don't mean much and/or were from colleges that were a cakewalk for you to get into. But I will think about all of your advice, esp poster 19:47. To poster 19:52, I think you do not have any understanding of what it is like to be raised in a home/family where no one has go e to college or is from the U.S. |
Anonymous
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OP, parent of a high-level club soccer player here, also entering his senior year of high school. You may be able to get a sense of the level this kid currently plays at by looking at the team rankings on gotsoccer.com - look for his age, state and then find his club. It's an imperfect ranking system for sure, but it's widely used as a SWAG to figure out how competitive a team really is. If it's highly ranked and plays in elite tournaments (Bethesda, Disney, Jefferson Cup/APC, Potomac Memorial Day) and does well in their State Cup, then he will likely get more interest from coaches. Also, his team should know which tournaments they will play in this year, and the tournament web sites will have a list of college coaches who are scheduled to attend for recruiting purposes. The player should contact coaches of schools he's interested in, let them know when/where his team is playing, and include a profile that lists grades, accomplishments, etc. Only D-I and D-II schools offer athletic scholarships, and D-I schools only offer the equivalent of 9.9 scholarships, which they split up among the players (so - less than 10 full rides divided among 25-30 players...this is not a great way to pay for college unless you are a top 100 player, and he'd know if he is). D-II may offer slightly more scholarships. There is no athletic money at D-III schools, though there may be need-based and merit money available. Club soccer is available at every school, and can be a really fun, competitive way to stay in the game in college. (Note though, at top soccer schools, club soccer is extremely competitive and you have to try out. Those players can be better than varsity players at less-competitive schools.)
There is a useful thread on College Confidential - http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/athletic-recruits/1291234-college-recruiting-tips-for-soccer.html Video highlights are helpful but not essential if he's playing in tournaments and getting seen. If not, then they are essential. HTH. |
Anonymous
Actually my parents didn't go to college and I played sports in college but whatever. |
Anonymous
Anonymous
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kids are invited to camps often to give the coaches some personal time with theplayers that is not agianst ncaa rules.
It is an open camp but they do invite kids to attend at their own expense. If schools have not asked him to take an offical visit beofre netering his seniopr year he is not on the radar screen. For soccer, kids are playing in tournaments where college coaches attend. If he got just one letter of interest he will probalby have to walk on somewhere but even if he makes it, a small school has such a small budget he will be paying his own way. |
Anonymous
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d1 schools will have 12.5 scholarships for the soccer team. The coach will figure out how to apportion the money for the team so it is unlikely that every person in the team will get a free ride. The money is also done year to year so it is not guaranteed for the four years.
Full ride for entire team is for basketball and football only. There is very little money for d3 sports. Given mire in the form of financial aid. |
Anonymous
| Op here. Thank you for all of this very useful information! |
Anonymous
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D-I schools have 9.9 scholarships for soccer for men, and 14 for women. D-II has fewer than that. PP is correct that scholarships are year to year. D-III sports by their definition have no athletic scholarships; aid is merit or need-based.
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Anonymous
If he is smart, poor and Hispanic ( or something else) ... coaches will love him because he can get a good student, on financial aid (does not count against his scholarships) and helps with diversity. |
Anonymous
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He really needs to talk to the club soccer coach, or if it's a big club the age group director or boys director might be a good resource. Our soccer club did an info session on college recruiting.
The best D1 schools are largely drawing from the academy programs at this point, or a few of the top national teams. GotSoccer will tell you the rank of his team. However I know plenty of kids on high ranked teams that didn't get any interest from colleges. If he is recruitable he needs to go on college websites and fill out the recruiting forms. Coaches are pretty good about replying. If he's interested in D1 he also needs to do the NCAA eligibility application which requires SATs and a transcript. D1 schools will prescreen kids with the admissions office before inviting them for a visit. D3 sometimes do. You need to move really fast - much of the soccer recruiting is done junior year, a little will be done early in the fall. If he's doing D3 he will need to apply ED (by Nov 15) - coaches won't support candidates who don't make the school their first choice. |
Anonymous
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Everyone in this area plays on a travel team, it's an epidemic. If he isn't a national or regional pool player or playing on an Academy team he is not going to get scholarship money. If he is looking at small (assuming DIII) schools there is no scholarship money to be had, just possibly an admissions hook. Camps are how college coaches make money, so I wouldn't read too much into that. He really needs to focus on where he can get in and what the financial burden will be. There will be soccer wherever he goes - be it varsity, club, or intramural - all with the same result - he will be doing something else (not soccer) when he graduates.
No reason for this young man to cause his family (or himself) financial hardship chasing an opportunity to maybe play DIII ball. |