Duke Women's Soccer

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you know the family it was Duke or bust. They are an alumni family and huge fans as well as being a very nice family.

We had a family on our daughters club team that was so NICE. They were alumni of an ACC school and huge fans and dreamed of their daughter going there and playing. Their daughter was a very good player and a very hard worker and a great student. She never got a sniff from that ACC school. I wonder what the difference might have been?

I just watched a D1 college game last night. Is apparent some Coaches want big, strong, fast and physical players. They won't even look as speedy, small, technical players. There were very few technical skills on display at that game last night. Hard to survive as a technical player when you are going to get ran over by a mac truck on game day. I think that might be a non-starter for some D1 schools.

In college soccer the coach has a lot of control over the types of players on the team because they bring in fresh recruits every year. They can choose the ones to match their preferred playing style. Yes, for many D1 teams that means big, strong, fast, physical players. There are some teams that go against that trend but until there are some successful D1 teams built from technical players it won't change. Teams will follow and try to copy the successful ones and it goes in cycles. Like in basketball teams went away from bigs in favor of 3 point specialists for a while but now it has swung back somewhat. The best approach is to do your research and know which D1 programs seek technical players and play that style. They do exist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you know the family it was Duke or bust. They are an alumni family and huge fans as well as being a very nice family.

We had a family on our daughters club team that was so NICE. They were alumni of an ACC school and huge fans and dreamed of their daughter going there and playing. Their daughter was a very good player and a very hard worker and a great student. She never got a sniff from that ACC school. I wonder what the difference might have been?

I just watched a D1 college game last night. Is apparent some Coaches want big, strong, fast and physical players. They won't even look as speedy, small, technical players. There were very few technical skills on display at that game last night. Hard to survive as a technical player when you are going to get ran over by a mac truck on game day. I think that might be a non-starter for some D1 schools.

In college soccer the coach has a lot of control over the types of players on the team because they bring in fresh recruits every year. They can choose the ones to match their preferred playing style. Yes, for many D1 teams that means big, strong, fast, physical players. There are some teams that go against that trend but until there are some successful D1 teams built from technical players it won't change. Teams will follow and try to copy the successful ones and it goes in cycles. Like in basketball teams went away from bigs in favor of 3 point specialists for a while but now it has swung back somewhat. The best approach is to do your research and know which D1 programs seek technical players and play that style. They do exist.

Size matters! I've noticed it by conference. SEC is just huge and fast across the board but not particularly quick/skilled, decent though. Big Ten is a mixed bag with large back lines and some very good teams. Big12 seems like a wrestling match to me with little skill. ACC seems to be a mix of very good players with a lot of speed and skill but not dependent on size. This is a generalization and certainly not totally accurate. I have also noticed in the last few years the teams in the mid majors have really dropped off in level. The Ivy League is really weak. Big East is just bad now. Patriot used to be a much better conference. And some of these other leagues like CAA, ASUN, A10 are hard to watch thought the effort is there for sure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you know the family it was Duke or bust. They are an alumni family and huge fans as well as being a very nice family.

We had a family on our daughters club team that was so NICE. They were alumni of an ACC school and huge fans and dreamed of their daughter going there and playing. Their daughter was a very good player and a very hard worker and a great student. She never got a sniff from that ACC school. I wonder what the difference might have been?

I just watched a D1 college game last night. Is apparent some Coaches want big, strong, fast and physical players. They won't even look as speedy, small, technical players. There were very few technical skills on display at that game last night. Hard to survive as a technical player when you are going to get ran over by a mac truck on game day. I think that might be a non-starter for some D1 schools.

In college soccer the coach has a lot of control over the types of players on the team because they bring in fresh recruits every year. They can choose the ones to match their preferred playing style. Yes, for many D1 teams that means big, strong, fast, physical players. There are some teams that go against that trend but until there are some successful D1 teams built from technical players it won't change. Teams will follow and try to copy the successful ones and it goes in cycles. Like in basketball teams went away from bigs in favor of 3 point specialists for a while but now it has swung back somewhat. The best approach is to do your research and know which D1 programs seek technical players and play that style. They do exist.

Size matters! I've noticed it by conference. SEC is just huge and fast across the board but not particularly quick/skilled, decent though. Big Ten is a mixed bag with large back lines and some very good teams. Big12 seems like a wrestling match to me with little skill. ACC seems to be a mix of very good players with a lot of speed and skill but not dependent on size. This is a generalization and certainly not totally accurate. I have also noticed in the last few years the teams in the mid majors have really dropped off in level. The Ivy League is really weak. Big East is just bad now. Patriot used to be a much better conference. And some of these other leagues like CAA, ASUN, A10 are hard to watch thought the effort is there for sure.

Get where you are coming from and the conference summaries are pretty accurate as well from what I have seen. DD just went through the recruiting process so we watched a lot of women's college soccer. There are of course outliers everywhere - Xavier always seems to put a good team together. Memphis is doing well this year as well. ACC still has the panache to draw top end talent across the board. We will see where things are headed as well with the NextGen report that was published and the continuing changing landscape with finances due to the NCAA settlement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you know the family it was Duke or bust. They are an alumni family and huge fans as well as being a very nice family.

We had a family on our daughters club team that was so NICE. They were alumni of an ACC school and huge fans and dreamed of their daughter going there and playing. Their daughter was a very good player and a very hard worker and a great student. She never got a sniff from that ACC school. I wonder what the difference might have been?

I just watched a D1 college game last night. Is apparent some Coaches want big, strong, fast and physical players. They won't even look as speedy, small, technical players. There were very few technical skills on display at that game last night. Hard to survive as a technical player when you are going to get ran over by a mac truck on game day. I think that might be a non-starter for some D1 schools.

This is why most college grad soccer players end up at USL now NWSL. They just can't compete. Sure.. you are on a "pro" team but there are less fans than the college games and the skill level is atrocious. Recently most D1 college grad soccer players - even the ones that have played every minute of every game at Duke or UVA can't make the cut at the real pros. Play soccer in college for the current college benefits - get a degree and move on. Playing in USL is just not worth the 35K salary. Take a look at how many academy players there are. Take a look at how many of the college super stars are now NOT getting National team callups, not playing any minutes and not making a living wage.

[Anonymous]

Crazy world. Is not it. When soccer relies is big, fast and less technical skills. What kind of soccer is this? lol.

[Anonymous]

Watch the top D3 teams - kids that aren’t as big and fast as the D1 players, but very technical. Some of these teams play beautiful soccer!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Watch the top D3 teams - kids that aren’t as big and fast as the D1 players, but very technical. Some of these teams play beautiful soccer!

There are quite a few D3 kids on USL teams along with the Duke and UVA and North Carolina players. So.... there's that's data.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Crazy world. Is not it. When soccer relies is big, fast and less technical skills. What kind of soccer is this? lol.

😆 look at the VT team and latest results. Many of the players can’t connect a good pass, receive the ball, move-pass-connect, no IQ. I bet the coach was impressed with the big and fast recruits whose lack of skill is showing up on TV.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Watch the top D3 teams - kids that aren’t as big and fast as the D1 players, but very technical. Some of these teams play beautiful soccer!

There are quite a few D3 kids on USL teams along with the Duke and UVA and North Carolina players. So.... there's that's data.

From what D3 schools? Men or women?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://goduke.com/news/2025/7/13/womens-soccer-the-bonds-behind-a-shared-love-for-the-game

Context for those who want to use their trust furnd to train with OL. Nice puff piece for Duke soccer. Seriously though,well done FVU these connections are what makes a club stand out from the rest

Nothing wrong with being a nepo baby. It has its perks. Player with the same last name At Duke has played a whole 5 games in her career.

So Mary Long goes to Duke and is a sub as a freshman, leaves to go pro with KC which her parents own and gets called into U20 camp. Man that was easy. I watched her play a half last week and she was the worst player on the field. Perks indeed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://goduke.com/news/2025/7/13/womens-soccer-the-bonds-behind-a-shared-love-for-the-game

Context for those who want to use their trust furnd to train with OL. Nice puff piece for Duke soccer. Seriously though,well done FVU these connections are what makes a club stand out from the rest

Nothing wrong with being a nepo baby. It has its perks. Player with the same last name At Duke has played a whole 5 games in her career.

So Mary Long goes to Duke and is a sub as a freshman, leaves to go pro with KC which her parents own and gets called into U20 camp. Man that was easy. I watched her play a half last week and she was the worst player on the field. Perks indeed.

Imagine gong to the 2019 Women's World Cup as a middle school aged kid and saying, "Mom and Dad, I want to do this!!"

"Sure honey. We can do that!" Then buying a women’s teams. Wild, man.

[Anonymous]

Do you think Chloe ricketts is any good? I saw her play before she went pro. She was only special because she played on a boys team. Some kids are really good at marketing themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you think Chloe ricketts is any good? I saw her play before she went pro. She was only special because she played on a boys team. Some kids are really good at marketing themselves.

Chloe Ricketts is a publicity stunt gone wrong. Now the league is just trying to do right by her because she is a kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you think Chloe ricketts is any good? I saw her play before she went pro. She was only special because she played on a boys team. Some kids are really good at marketing themselves.

Chloe Ricketts is a publicity stunt gone wrong. Now the league is just trying to do right by her because she is a kid.

Her parents are to blame. She was always a publicity stunt and her parents did that.

[Anonymous]

Just watched a USL game. It was the e definition of kick and run. DC power goal was literally an un aimed boot to no one from a defender and the other players raced each other to catch up to the ball. One FWD got a lucky toe there first ! My 12 yr old plays better.