Anonymous wrote:is it possible to play soccer at the collegiate level (d2 d3) if you end up playing soccer just for your high school? our son likes to play multiple sports and got burned out on year round travel soccer, so he's dialed it back to just playing for his school. now he's thinking he may really want to play in college. he knows he's missed the D1 boat since he's been out of "elite" soccer for awhile, but we were wondering whether he should consider committing to travel soccer again or if he could just play for his school and continue playing other sports and doing other school activities.

If your son is going to play HS only then you will need to do College ID camps for the schools he is interested in. Unless the College is nearby there is almost zero chance a college coach is coming to a HS game to scout him. You can seek out some guesting opportunities with a club team at a showcase or two.

The key is to get a college coach to actually see your son play.

Anonymous wrote:Why does he want to play D1?

it doesn't say he wants to play D1. it says he realizes he probably missed that boat.

If you just played for your high school, lower to mid-D3 is realistic. Very bottom of D2 might be the equivalent. It also depends on the school.

You have to find out how players are recruited into the program. Coaches of competitive lower division programs do their recruiting but still have open tryouts for 2 days in the fall.

So you could have 20-30 players trying out as "walk ons" for 2 spots. Some schools do not even hold tryouts as they only take players they have scouted/recruited and or you have to be invited to try outs.

Private schools - better chance because people go there for the academics or for whatever the school offers that's worth paying for. Especially if it's in a rural area or outside a major metro area that lacks soccer talent.

Big D3 public schools could have a large population of players who want to walk on every year. Some of these players could have played in college but chose not to as freshman for whatever reason.

When you get to college, you can always play men's club soccer, which still has some great players who just didn't want to play in college, or went to a big school for the academics where you have to be youth national team material just to play there. University of Maryland is a good example of this.

College soccer is intense, and there is always pressure to perform at every practice, every training session, etc. Everyone is hungry to play, and teams carry 25-30 players in some cases.

But, with smaller D3 schools where coaches have a hard time recruiting players, or small private schools... different environment. It depends on what you want.

Why does he want to play D1?

thanks a lot. that's super helpful.

Yes, Most people think all the teams are made up of super stars but once you get past the starters, most are either club players that burned out, club players that stopped playing at that level like your son.

The best way to see if he is a fit is to go to the schools he is looking at and look at the bios of the soccer players. you will see some top bios and some of kids who just played high school or lower tier club during high school.

If he isn't able to play for the school the club soccer at some schools is actually better than the schools team because it is full of burned out club players who didn't want to play for the school.

This is also the case at some D1 schools so don't sell yourself short just because it is D1

is it possible to play soccer at the collegiate level (d2 d3) if you end up playing soccer just for your high school? our son likes to play multiple sports and got burned out on year round travel soccer, so he's dialed it back to just playing for his school. now he's thinking he may really want to play in college. he knows he's missed the D1 boat since he's been out of "elite" soccer for awhile, but we were wondering whether he should consider committing to travel soccer again or if he could just play for his school and continue playing other sports and doing other school activities.