College recruiting for girls—timelines? Consultants? Websites?
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Anonymous
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I hear a million different stories from a million different people, so i was hoping to crowdsource the rumors. I have a DD playing DA/ECNL who is interested in playing D1 soccer, probably not top 15 but viable for top 50. She is a freshman this year. I have no idea how to help her with this process, and the coaches at the club are helpful but focused on the girls in prime recruiting season and the ‘stars.’ And before the board jumps in, I am planning to sit down with them towards the end of the fall season, once she’s performed in a few games, to have a real conversation about what she’s thinking and what they can do to assist, but I wanted to get a little more info from the crowd first.
I felt like I had a better handle on the process prior to the NCAA rule changes, but now I’m just lost. How much should she be actively doing at this point? Should she be emailing coaches already, even though they can’t email her back? Going to ID camps this winter to get on radar? Taking SATs for an academic baseline? If it’s true that you will be contacted on Sep 1 of your junior year if you have a real chance, how do you actually get on those lists with the prohibition on unofficial visits and contact back from the coach? Is that true? Are the verbal commitments for the class of 2021 and 2022 listed on TopDrawerSoccer invalid now that the rules changed, or are there really girls making verbal commitments as freshmen and sophomores despite the NCAA rule change? How does that work? And is there a recruiting consultant out there who could actually help us navigate this process rather than being a huge waste of money? |
Anonymous
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The process changes little. You can email coaches but they cannot respond, same as before. If they are interested they can contact your DA/ECNL coach to setup a time for your DD to call.
Coaches cannot talk recruiting IN PERSON if you come to campus for an unofficial or for a camp. They can still talk over the phone. D1 schools are still recruiting Freshman and Sophmores. Many top programs will complete the 2022 class long before junior year. Your DDs official visit can now occur junior year to meet players and attend practices and see a game most likely after she has committed. Reach out to coaches now. Email and then follow up with phone call. If they are interested they will let your club coach know. Reach out to 30 programs - 10 reach schools, 10 likely and 10 safe and start there. |
Anonymous
Are you saying that the year can talk to you over the phone? Like if my DD calls and they answer, can she have a conversation with them? |
Anonymous
Correct. The only change was to not allow in person contact until September 1 of junior year. That date is actually moved up from September 1 of senior year. Before then phone contact is allowed but the coach cannot email, text, phone or otherwise make contact directly to the student. If you call them, they can talk. |
Anonymous
| So do coaches and prospective players “meet” on campus and walk just talking to each other via cellphones? |
Anonymous
LOL. The new NCAA rules are supposed to take the pressure off student being pressured and hounded to commit. Recruiting is now more at your pace. But top programs are highly competitive and still busy to find the best players as early as they can. Only softball shutdown the recruiting process by not allowing contact through clubs or HS on behalf of the student. If your DD is a freshman and a top 20 school is interested - you probably already know by now. Your DD would be the best player on her club. A college coach or several would have seen her play this past year and have contacted your club by now. There are many 2021 commits already at the top 20. But don’t panic, just start the process of reaching out and see the level of interest if you want to commit now. Talk to your DA or ECNL club. They can answer your questions. |
Anonymous
| If nothing really changed, then this in person thing actually makes the process harder. I thought the idea was to give girls more time to figure things out. How many freshman and sophmores are truly ready for a decision like that, even if they are straight up ballers? |
Anonymous
| Getting a full ride to Stanford, UVA, Duke, UNC is an easy decision for many in 9th or 10th grade. Those are ones deciding early. Most everyone else has more time to decide. |
Anonymous
| Holy shit things have changed since I was recruited 20 years ago. |
Anonymous
Maybe it is; maybe it isn't. What if you have competing offers from more than one? What if one doesn't have as good an engineering program? |
Anonymous
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unless your kid is not on a team that plays in showcase tournaments there is no need to use a recruiting service. Most coaches at that level know the routine and the recruiting services are just sales people who market the entire roster they buy from clubs or are in partnerships.
I am sure we all get the same email around every tournament that coaches are looking at you, make it easy for them to find your etc etc. There is very little money out there for soccer scholarships, most teams split them between several players to make school more affordable. Don't plan on any money but plan on using the soccer as a leg up to get into a higher level school academically. |
Anonymous
| The nice thing about girls soccer and recruiting is that you really do start to focus on colleges at a pretty young age. That helped with my younger kids who were not playing at my daughter's level. It got us talkig and thinking about colleges when they got to high school We made (and now make) time to check out some schools of potential interest. And, frankly, with my daughter I did most of the |
Anonymous
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Her is a good way to gauge where your daughter should play.
Read the bios of the players at the schools she thinks she can play at, if her bio reads about the same then contact them. It is a lot like selling a home, most people think their house is worth more than it actually is, most parents think their kids are better than others but in reality, it all comes out in the wash and they end up where they should be. From a Stanford Player High School/Club A 2016 graduate of Sacred Heart Preparatory in Atherton, California Captained high school team in 2014-15 and 2015-16 Two-time Central Coast Section (CCS) champion (2013-14, 2014-15) CCS runner-up in 2015-16 Two-time West Bay Athletic League champion (2013-14, 2014-15) Two-time Sacred Heart Preparatory Most Valuable Player (2013-14, 2014-15) Two-time West Bay Athletic League Most Valuable Midfielder (2013-14, 2014-15) San Mateo Daily Journal Girls’ Soccer Player of the Year in 2014-15 Two-time first-team All-WBAL (2013-14, 2014-15) Earned Sacred Heart Preparatory Senior Athlete of Distinction honor in 2015-16 Played club soccer for the De Anza Force 98G Blue ECNL ECNL National Champions in 2013 Two-time ECNL Nationals, 3rd place (2014, 2015) Four-time ECNL Northwest Conference Champions (2013-16) Donosti Cup Champions in 2013 Five-time NorCal State Cup Champions (2012-16) Two-time Mustang Stampede Champions (2012, 2013) Nike National Training Camp ID2/ECNL: 2014 – named to the Best XI Team Gatorade Player of the Year Candidate in 2014-2015 TopDrawerSoccer IMG Academy Ranking: No. 5 overall, No. 3 midfielder, No. 1 regional (Northern California and Hawaii); five-star rating From A UVA Player PREP & CLUB • Scored 53 goals, added 17 assists and 123 points as a senior • Conference Player of the Year from Riverdale Kingsbridge • Region I ODP Player • Competed with the New Jersey Stallions club • Two-time National Premiere League National Champions • Also competed in track and set the school record in the 4x800 relay |
Anonymous
| OP here. thanks for all of the input. I think I have a good handle on where my daughter could slot into college play in terms of talent and resume which is why we're looking from teens and below on the soccer ranking front. she's not a UVA or Stanford player. she is, however, very interested in continuing to play soccer as well as going to a good academic school. she doesn't know what to say to college coaches in an email or phone call to them right now, when she barely knows who she is herself and doesn't have high school grades yet or any of those things. so maybe my real question is whether letting this settle for a while, and waiting until late spring or even early fall of sophomore year for her to start making direct coach contacts would shut her out from opportunities at schools that are 15 and below on the NCAA D1 ranking charts. it's probably obvious that my family and my inner circle have no experience with this college athlete thing whatsoever so I do appreciate the responses. |
Anonymous
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My DD is still muddling through the process. Anyone having recruitment success they'd like to share? I'm still confused on the new rules. I feel like I've read over and over about what to do, and yet, the new rules seem to make it harder, not easier to communicate with coaches. Everyone seems to agree, the changes are more cosmetic than real.
I'd like tips, if anyone else also going through the process wouldn't mind sharing. |