Anonymous wrote:

NOVASoccerCoach wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What does a girl's soccer player outside of ECNL/DA have to do to get recruited by a top 25 women's soccer program? It seems like few programs recruit at the non-ECNL/DA showcases. I know ID camps help but even those camps, ECNL/DA players get more attention. It seems like even the top non-ECNL/DA clubs don't have high placement at top schools.

Girls usually no. Boys it depends.

Coach, what is the ultimatum age for a girl to join ECNL? Also, what is the latest age should a girl join ECNL?

Not the coach, but if a kid isn't playing ECNL at U13, it will get harder each year to break in to a team. It can certainly happen, but they would need to be able to play well at the faster pace that you typically see in ECNL (or GDA at U14). The kids that are on these teams are not sitting idle--they are working hard to improve as well. Also--if your kid wants to try out for an ECNL/GDA team, don't just show up at the scheduled tryouts--teams are often set by then. Have your kid go and train with the team and get feedback from the coach. You'll probably be able to tell yourself where they stack up.

Anonymous wrote:

NOVASoccerCoach wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What does a girl's soccer player outside of ECNL/DA have to do to get recruited by a top 25 women's soccer program? It seems like few programs recruit at the non-ECNL/DA showcases. I know ID camps help but even those camps, ECNL/DA players get more attention. It seems like even the top non-ECNL/DA clubs don't have high placement at top schools.

Girls usually no. Boys it depends.

Coach, what is the ultimatum age for a girl to join ECNL? Also, what is the latest age should a girl join ECNL?

If they can play at that level, I wouldn't say there's any "latest age"

Earlier the better obviously

NOVASoccerCoach wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What does a girl's soccer player outside of ECNL/DA have to do to get recruited by a top 25 women's soccer program? It seems like few programs recruit at the non-ECNL/DA showcases. I know ID camps help but even those camps, ECNL/DA players get more attention. It seems like even the top non-ECNL/DA clubs don't have high placement at top schools.

Girls usually no. Boys it depends.

Coach, what is the ultimatum age for a girl to join ECNL? Also, what is the latest age should a girl join ECNL?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know several players that did their own contacting of college coaches and got spots on rosters. If you sit and wait to be noticed, probably not. If you make effort and contact the coaches of the schools you are thinking of---yes, you have opportunities. It happens a lot more than the posters of DCUM would like to believe.

This is 100% true. My daughter has attended many soccer camps and just this past summer the UVA coach told them they did not need to play for the top teams to get a look. If you make it your business to contact the schools to let them know you are interested in playing for them, they will follow up. He also gave the example of a current player on his roster that played Rec. She contacted them, they saw her and gave her a chance.

UVA also recruits for practice squads. There are girls on that team that have been told they will never play a D1 game.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know several players that did their own contacting of college coaches and got spots on rosters. If you sit and wait to be noticed, probably not. If you make effort and contact the coaches of the schools you are thinking of---yes, you have opportunities. It happens a lot more than the posters of DCUM would like to believe.

This is 100% true. My daughter has attended many soccer camps and just this past summer the UVA coach told them they did not need to play for the top teams to get a look. If you make it your business to contact the schools to let them know you are interested in playing for them, they will follow up. He also gave the example of a current player on his roster that played Rec. She contacted them, they saw her and gave her a chance.

They say that so people keep paying for their camps

Anonymous wrote:I know several players that did their own contacting of college coaches and got spots on rosters. If you sit and wait to be noticed, probably not. If you make effort and contact the coaches of the schools you are thinking of---yes, you have opportunities. It happens a lot more than the posters of DCUM would like to believe.

This is 100% true. My daughter has attended many soccer camps and just this past summer the UVA coach told them they did not need to play for the top teams to get a look. If you make it your business to contact the schools to let them know you are interested in playing for them, they will follow up. He also gave the example of a current player on his roster that played Rec. She contacted them, they saw her and gave her a chance.

Anonymous wrote:Yes, the other avenue includes playing for a top Non-ECNL/DA Club/Team along with High School and ODP.

Although this route is not recruited as much and is reserved for much smaller schools.

I have personally spoken with multiple D1 womens' coaches including Mt. St. Mary's, George Washington, and Virginia Tech.

As for Top 25 teams, this alternate route is likely not recruited unless the parent puts in a lot of footwork but will still be overlooked.

Nobody is getting recruited for D1 playing for their high school team. Waste of their time going to those games.

Anonymous wrote:What does a girl's soccer player outside of ECNL/DA have to do to get recruited by a top 25 women's soccer program? It seems like few programs recruit at the non-ECNL/DA showcases. I know ID camps help but even those camps, ECNL/DA players get more attention. It seems like even the top non-ECNL/DA clubs don't have high placement at top schools.

Girls usually no. Boys it depends.

Anonymous wrote:I know several players that did their own contacting of college coaches and got spots on rosters. If you sit and wait to be noticed, probably not. If you make effort and contact the coaches of the schools you are thinking of---yes, you have opportunities. It happens a lot more than the posters of DCUM would like to believe.

Are you saying these kids got spots on top 25 D1 rosters? I would indeed be very surprised to hear that happens with any frequency. I’m much more familiar with boys’ soccer, and there are a few powerhouse USYSA national league teams around here that place players at top programs, but that doesn’t seem to be the case for non-ECNL or DA girls.

The massive explosion in ECNL/DA teams over recent years is going to make it harder for players not in those leagues to get good looks. There are currently more teams in ECNL/DA from the DMV than there were in WAGS Div 1 before this regionalization so the talent is more spread out and the competition level is significantly lower and there just isn't so much college-bound talent in leagues below that for recruiters to watch. We had to pull my daughter out of ECNL for budget reasons (before there was GDA) and she was still able to get seen and recruited to D1 through national league, Jeff Cup, region 1 and other events but so much has changed in the short time since then I'm not sure if that would be feasible now. Even then she was looking at lower D1, not top 25.

Anonymous wrote:I know several players that did their own contacting of college coaches and got spots on rosters. If you sit and wait to be noticed, probably not. If you make effort and contact the coaches of the schools you are thinking of---yes, you have opportunities. It happens a lot more than the posters of DCUM would like to believe.

On the boys side yes, players can do legwork and get spots on less competitive programs. Probably only an admission boost- not likely to get $. On the girls side the landscape is still shifting. Within a year or two, the pathway to D1 will be ECNL or DA, unless you are in a region that doesn’t have one of those programs. Recruiting has a lot to do with the individual’s local soccer oltions, wherever the top competitive play is in your DC region is where coaches will be looking to recruit.

I know several players that did their own contacting of college coaches and got spots on rosters. If you sit and wait to be noticed, probably not. If you make effort and contact the coaches of the schools you are thinking of---yes, you have opportunities. It happens a lot more than the posters of DCUM would like to believe.

Only 10 D1 coaches on the list for WAGS next weekend. Before ECNL/DA, there would have been over 100. Makes it very tough to stand out if you’re not ECNL/DA. ODP/ID camps will help, but it’s a tough path.

Yes, the other avenue includes playing for a top Non-ECNL/DA Club/Team along with High School and ODP.

Although this route is not recruited as much and is reserved for much smaller schools.

I have personally spoken with multiple D1 womens' coaches including Mt. St. Mary's, George Washington, and Virginia Tech.

As for Top 25 teams, this alternate route is likely not recruited unless the parent puts in a lot of footwork but will still be overlooked.

What does a girl's soccer player outside of ECNL/DA have to do to get recruited by a top 25 women's soccer program? It seems like few programs recruit at the non-ECNL/DA showcases. I know ID camps help but even those camps, ECNL/DA players get more attention. It seems like even the top non-ECNL/DA clubs don't have high placement at top schools.