A D3 coach we spoke to about recruiting said their Club team is similar to a high school team in quality of play, but they range… a bigger student population at a D1 school will result in a stronger player pool for the Club team since they’re basically the JV team of college.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Based on what I know from other sports...the club team still has a coach and practices and travels for competitions. But it would not be as rigorous a commitment as playing for the official college program.

That is accurate. Spouse was recruited by both the ACC schools in Virginia for soccer but opted not to play and to play club instead and attended one of the schools. Wanted the big school college experience but was burned out by soccer after HS. Nephew chose another ACC school and to play club for same reason despite D1 and D3 soccer offers.

The PP that quotes the Instagram post is spot on.

understand that making the club team is not guaranteed and can be very difficult and competitive at some schools!

Anonymous wrote:Based on what I know from other sports...the club team still has a coach and practices and travels for competitions. But it would not be as rigorous a commitment as playing for the official college program.

That is accurate. Spouse was recruited by both the ACC schools in Virginia for soccer but opted not to play and to play club instead and attended one of the schools. Wanted the big school college experience but was burned out by soccer after HS. Nephew chose another ACC school and to play club for same reason despite D1 and D3 soccer offers.

The PP that quotes the Instagram post is spot on.

Anonymous wrote:can someone tell a newbie ( I have a younger child) what club soccer is? Are they not actually on the team or is this a separate team at the school that plays different teams?

It's a student organization of "normal students" who form a team and play the sport. The team is run by students and plays against other universities club teams. It is completely separate from the university sponsored, professionally coached team. At large D1 schools the level is usually pretty good - often there will be at least a few players who likely could have played for a D3 first team.

Based on what I know from other sports...the club team still has a coach and practices and travels for competitions. But it would not be as rigorous a commitment as playing for the official college program.

Anonymous wrote:can someone tell a newbie ( I have a younger child) what club soccer is? Are they not actually on the team or is this a separate team at the school that plays different teams?

Rather than be recruited to play for the soccer program of the college or university...they try out for the club team when they get to campus and they compete against other club teams.

can someone tell a newbie ( I have a younger child) what club soccer is? Are they not actually on the team or is this a separate team at the school that plays different teams?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you have a similar kid? Our kid wants to attend a big school, strong academics, big football/basketball games, team spirit, rah rah rah! We think she is good enough to play D3 (coaches have reached out during soph year). We are following her lead, but still want her to keep her options open. She says she is perfectly happy trying out for the club team at a big school. Are any of your kids on the same boat? She is a junior now and her team is scheduled to play in a many showcases this year. We are worried she might change her mind when it’s too late.

OP please let your kid take the lead on this.

They are telling you they are done with the pressure. Just stop. Who gives a crap if they play Div 3. Club teams are more than fine.

Signed Parents of students who played Division 1, and some that played club at big schools.

The only people that give crap about women's college soccer from D1 down through D2, D3, and club are the players, staff and families involved with the team until maybe the final tournament if the year.

Listen to what your kid want. Some are choosing for soccer, some for money, some for access to academics, some for a combination and it is all good. Good luck!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you have a similar kid? Our kid wants to attend a big school, strong academics, big football/basketball games, team spirit, rah rah rah! We think she is good enough to play D3 (coaches have reached out during soph year). We are following her lead, but still want her to keep her options open. She says she is perfectly happy trying out for the club team at a big school. Are any of your kids on the same boat? She is a junior now and her team is scheduled to play in a many showcases this year. We are worried she might change her mind when it’s too late.

OP please let your kid take the lead on this.

They are telling you they are done with the pressure. Just stop. Who gives a crap if they play Div 3. Club teams are more than fine.

Signed Parents of students who played Division 1, and some that played club at big schools.

I don't read into this that she is done with pressure. I read that she is more interested in choosing a school period than choosing a soccer program at a school. And fwiw, DIII does not necessarily equate to less pressure. The most competitive DIII's are every bit as pressure packed as DI's. The primary difference is the "official" time commitment in the spring.

With regard to letting your kid take the lead, by all means. However, in this COVID affected recruiting environment, there is a real danger of 17 year olds narrowing their field too early .... before they're smart enough to know what they really like.

Anonymous wrote:Do you have a similar kid? Our kid wants to attend a big school, strong academics, big football/basketball games, team spirit, rah rah rah! We think she is good enough to play D3 (coaches have reached out during soph year). We are following her lead, but still want her to keep her options open. She says she is perfectly happy trying out for the club team at a big school. Are any of your kids on the same boat? She is a junior now and her team is scheduled to play in a many showcases this year. We are worried she might change her mind when it’s too late.

I would go so far as to say that this is a pretty common scenario. On my DD's team, I would say that most girls are attracted to the big football school thing. It sure sounds like fun to me. And truth be told, the majority would be better suited to the DIII competitive level than DI. There is pretty significant overlap between competitive DIII and low to mid-major DI though.

I would encourage juniors to keep as many options open as possible, for as long as possible. It is hard to be so certain about what campus life is like until you've been able to visit. Make as many visits (informally) as you can while you're showcasing to form those opinions My experience is that these girls are fickle. They think they know what they want, but when they find a good match, you may be surprised by what they choose.

Anonymous wrote:Do you have a similar kid? Our kid wants to attend a big school, strong academics, big football/basketball games, team spirit, rah rah rah! We think she is good enough to play D3 (coaches have reached out during soph year). We are following her lead, but still want her to keep her options open. She says she is perfectly happy trying out for the club team at a big school. Are any of your kids on the same boat? She is a junior now and her team is scheduled to play in a many showcases this year. We are worried she might change her mind when it’s too late.

OP please let your kid take the lead on this.

They are telling you they are done with the pressure. Just stop. Who gives a crap if they play Div 3. Club teams are more than fine.

Signed Parents of students who played Division 1, and some that played club at big schools.

Different sport but yes have experienced this same issue. Daughter was contacted by many D1s but they did not make offers. She’s decided just to go with the school of her choice, instead. Sport is not as important to her. It would have been had the right schools called, but they didn’t.

Anonymous wrote:Do you have a similar kid? Our kid wants to attend a big school, strong academics, big football/basketball games, team spirit, rah rah rah! We think she is good enough to play D3 (coaches have reached out during soph year). We are following her lead, but still want her to keep her options open. She says she is perfectly happy trying out for the club team at a big school. Are any of your kids on the same boat? She is a junior now and her team is scheduled to play in a many showcases this year. We are worried she might change her mind when it’s too late.

Saw a quote today on a soccer insta account: ..."when looking at schools, ask yourself, if you got hurt the first day of preseason would you still want to be there?..." If she is saying she would be happy on a club team at a big D1 school, then I'd say you should encourage that. Club teams at UVA & VTech still travel and play pretty decent soccer, in some cases similar or better than small D3 schools. Also in terms of timing, D3 programs will still be filling some slots senior year. There are no athletic scholarships for D3 so it's not as important with the NLI process.

Do you have a similar kid? Our kid wants to attend a big school, strong academics, big football/basketball games, team spirit, rah rah rah! We think she is good enough to play D3 (coaches have reached out during soph year). We are following her lead, but still want her to keep her options open. She says she is perfectly happy trying out for the club team at a big school. Are any of your kids on the same boat? She is a junior now and her team is scheduled to play in a many showcases this year. We are worried she might change her mind when it’s too late.