Reply to If your kid got recruited at a top school for sports, how did the process go?

Forum Index » College and University Discussion

Reply to "If your kid got recruited at a top school for sports, how did the process go?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My kid is still in middle school, and I know it’s way too early to predict, but I’d like to keep doors open and I’m curious.

How does this work?  Are there steps you took in 9th and 10th to get coaches attention?   Camps? Social media? Reaching out directly?

Kid is a soccer GK if that makes a difference. [/quote]

My son is playing is playing soccer in the Ivy League beginning this Fall.  While there may be different paths / approaches to getting there, I'm happy to share his experience.

High level, by the time my son hit 9th grade, he was playing in the US Soccer Development Academy (DA) league followed by the MLS Next academy system (when the DA went away).  So, from a soccer standpoint, he playing against what is generally regarded as top competition from a pretty early age.  The DA was fantastic because, 2x a year, there was a college showcase that attracted 100+ coaches from all of the top soccer programs, including top D3 academic schools and all Ivy schools.  This is the first year of MLSNext, but I understand the showcase in June will be similar.  If you were a starter with your team at this level, you're going to get a lot of eyes on you just through league play and the showcases.  All matches are videotaped and my son developed highlight videos that he began sharing with coaches his sophomore year just to get noticed (he did so by sending them emails with video links).  In his email communications, my son would also send the coaches his soccer schedule, including for showcases.

I also think playing for the right club is important.  His club is highly reputable among top soccer programs and, consequently, certain coaches are respected and pretty well-connected.

From an academic standpoint, my son never took his foot off the gas in the classroom despite his desire to play at the college level.  His grades and test scores made him a very competitive applicant at the best schools in the country.  I only say this because there are a number of very talented soccer players out there that don't invest enough time in their studies and they didn't get recruited as a result.   So, hitting the books and being the best one can be in the classroom is equally important to excelling on the field, particularly for top academic schools...who, by their own admission, are generally looking for scholar-athletes.  As with anything, there may be exceptions (e.g., your son or daughter plays at the US National team level).

If you get noticed by a coach, and there's strong interest there, they will generally contact you beginning your junior year and, generally, ask your son / daughter to make a recruiting visit.  My son made four or five visits before COVID hit and had several offers by Spring of his junior year.

Generally, schools will preclear you academically / with admissions before making an offer.  However, until your son and daughter formally goes through the admissions process in the Fall of your senior year, I personally wouldn't get too comfortable with a commitment received prior to that.  But, that's just me given how conservative I am.   My son is wired the same way, which was good because it played into staying focused in and out of the classroom.

My only other piece of advice here is to be patient with the process and be eyes wide open to how competitive it actually is.  There may stops and starts with various coaches, though I think you can ultimately determine who may be stringing you along vs. who is not.  Also, college soccer ID camps are generally regarded as a waste of time and $ as nearly all recruiting gets done by coaches coming to games and showcases.   My son attended only ID camps but they didn't amount to anything for him; all of his offers came from programs that watched him play at his matches.

Hope this helps and best of luck.

[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics