Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m looking for a realistic outlook for DD, if she has any shot at playing D1. She’s on a solid 08 ECNL team, doesn’t start but easily could if favoritism wasn’t a factor. Coach says she should start, but only puts her in starting spots when there’s an injury. She’s versatile and plays almost every position. At showcases she plays about half or more of the game, but doesn’t start unless there’s an injury. She really wants to play D1, does she have a chance? I wonder if we should we start shopping for a new club that will give her a starting spot or just stick it out a couple more years.

The club, league, and other players starting over her literally have NOTHING to do with college recruiting. Hate to break it to your DD, but only something like 6% of student athletes go on to play in college - at ANY level. Best advice I was given when we started the college scouting process, pick around 30 schools at each Division (NAIA, D1-D3), go on virtual tours of the colleges she's interested in, make a ton of game tape (we record every game and send to college coaches weekly to keep on their radar), and make sure your social media profiles are clean and up to date. This book was extremely useful for us as a guide for recruiting: https://rlopezcoaching.com/looking-for-a-full-ride/. It's a long and time consuming process so make sure she's ready to carve out time to draft emails and communicate with coaches regularly when she's eligible. Good luck!

Coach here,

Didn't check out the link, but most of this is good advice. Most colleges have camps that they use as recruiting tools/informal tryouts. The best thing I can say is make it easy for the school/coach you are interested in to see you. Contact them (contact rules are crazy, less complicated if YOU/Your Child reaches out.) Make videos, attend camps if possible, research the school/team/coach. Making D1 is tough. Needing an athletic scholarship to do so is even harder. A lot more money in academics, so keep those grades up.

I wouldn't worry at all about starting vs. not starting, especially in a showcase where coaches SHOULD be trying to play everyone a good amount of time. I would even let your coach know if you DD has a coach coming to watch her for a particular match, if you know in advance. Just make sure the coaches you're interested know your game schedule, jersey # etc... but anything you can do to make their life easier (like going to them/their camp etc.) goes a long way. If you're good enough, they'll want you. If you won't cost them scholarship money, even more so.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hate parents like you.

Favoritism LOL every single team has that your kid is not good enough.

Move your kid they will get the same play time.

Signed mother of 4 division one players. Even one walk on.

Cringe.

So bad.

Anonymous wrote:I hate parents like you.

Favoritism LOL every single team has that your kid is not good enough.

Move your kid they will get the same play time.

Signed mother of 4 division one players. Even one walk on.

Cringe.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you PPs who provided actual advice. She’s an excellent student at a top HS, 4.2 GPA. Not necessarily looking for an athletic scholarship and not looking to play beyond college, but she does want to play at a D1 level and I know there are levels of D1. I agree she will have some decisions to make starting next year I think when the recruiting process heats up. My preference is D3 at an excellent school vs. D1 at an ok school. We will see!

Sounds identical to my DD (class of 2025). Definitely a process but one she's enjoying. Best of luck to you.

Same with mine! But 2024. All worked out well.

Anonymous wrote:Thank you PPs who provided actual advice. She’s an excellent student at a top HS, 4.2 GPA. Not necessarily looking for an athletic scholarship and not looking to play beyond college, but she does want to play at a D1 level and I know there are levels of D1. I agree she will have some decisions to make starting next year I think when the recruiting process heats up. My preference is D3 at an excellent school vs. D1 at an ok school. We will see!

Sounds identical to my DD (class of 2025). Definitely a process but one she's enjoying. Best of luck to you.

Thank you PPs who provided actual advice. She’s an excellent student at a top HS, 4.2 GPA. Not necessarily looking for an athletic scholarship and not looking to play beyond college, but she does want to play at a D1 level and I know there are levels of D1. I agree she will have some decisions to make starting next year I think when the recruiting process heats up. My preference is D3 at an excellent school vs. D1 at an ok school. We will see!

1) I would not switch teams.

2) I would encourage her to continue to dream.

3) Ultimately she/you may need to make some tough decisions.

4) Very few female soccer players get full scholarships. There are a lot of schools out there. If she is a decent student, a top D3 school may end up being a better academic fit than some random D1 program.

5) In the end D3 may be a better fit for her. Most of the ECNL players that grew up playing with my daughter ended up going this route.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m looking for a realistic outlook for DD, if she has any shot at playing D1. She’s on a solid 08 ECNL team, doesn’t start but easily could if favoritism wasn’t a factor. Coach says she should start, but only puts her in starting spots when there’s an injury. She’s versatile and plays almost every position. At showcases she plays about half or more of the game, but doesn’t start unless there’s an injury. She really wants to play D1, does she have a chance? I wonder if we should we start shopping for a new club that will give her a starting spot or just stick it out a couple more years.

If her team is of playoff quality, she will be fine. If she is on a mid-tier team, she should look.

Curious about your reasoning about team quality. Is it because college coaches use it as a measuring stick - non-starter on good team isn’t good enough but good player on bad team isn’t their fault they are on a bad team? Or would a college coach make their own assessment and think they are finding a diamond in the rough

In my experience with my older DD, and from conversation's that I have had with college coaches, they aren't really looking at whether or not she started a specific game. They are looking to evaluate her during the time that she is on the field. And the better the team that she is on, the more looks she will get and the better the roster is. College coaches would rather take a kid from a winning team over a team with a poor record because winning is ultimately what the college game is about.

This was just my experience. I think it also depends on the level of D1 she is looking to attain.

lol College is not about winning. Just go look at the record and the number of years the coaches have been hang on. Starting matters. For college better to start on a non winning team vs sitting on the bench on a top of the table team.

OP there are a boatload of D1 teams looking for players. Not being a starter will make it harder but it is not really that hard to play soccer at a D1 coming from an ECNL team. The women’s soccer program at the vast majority of schools are just an afterthought. Be willing to be a walk on, target 10-15 schools and follow up on any interest from the coach. Most likely will not make a P5, Ivy League or highly selective school but that still leaves over 200 d1 schools. They carry about 28 players per team.