Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:While the information above is helpful, I think one piece is missing. Most players and parents have a poor understanding of a players skill and the level of competition across the US. Parents need to be honest with themselves when it comes to college and college soccer. Most schools average about 7 recruits per year. If your targeted school list includes UVA, FSU, UNC, Stanford, The Ivies, etc…your player better be a top player in the nation. I’ve seen way too many kids want to play at a popular, well ranked, USNWR school where they don’t have a chance of making the team. These kids either need to expand their search later in the recruitment process or simply don’t play in college.

I think most kids who get recruited to play at UNC, FSU, Stanford or another top ranked soccer school are fairly realistic about the odds of playing time—all the ones I know, anyway. Ivy soccer is a significantly lower level though—very few of the top players in the nation who choose not to go pro out of HS will choose an Ivy if they have the chance to play at a school that has a perennial NCAA tournament team. Ivies are a great fit for good players who are great students. Our area sends plenty of kids to Ivies every year.

Ivy soccer is not that much lower. Most of the teams will have USNT camps, be highly rated. Take a look at the Harvard roster.

Anonymous wrote:What about the D-1 recruiting restrictions that went into effect a couple of years ago. I thought the player could not talk to the coach until the end of junior year?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:While the information above is helpful, I think one piece is missing. Most players and parents have a poor understanding of a players skill and the level of competition across the US. Parents need to be honest with themselves when it comes to college and college soccer. Most schools average about 7 recruits per year. If your targeted school list includes UVA, FSU, UNC, Stanford, The Ivies, etc…your player better be a top player in the nation. I’ve seen way too many kids want to play at a popular, well ranked, USNWR school where they don’t have a chance of making the team. These kids either need to expand their search later in the recruitment process or simply don’t play in college.

I think most kids who get recruited to play at UNC, FSU, Stanford or another top ranked soccer school are fairly realistic about the odds of playing time—all the ones I know, anyway. Ivy soccer is a significantly lower level though—very few of the top players in the nation who choose not to go pro out of HS will choose an Ivy if they have the chance to play at a school that has a perennial NCAA tournament team. Ivies are a great fit for good players who are great students. Our area sends plenty of kids to Ivies every year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:While the information above is helpful, I think one piece is missing. Most players and parents have a poor understanding of a players skill and the level of competition across the US. Parents need to be honest with themselves when it comes to college and college soccer. Most schools average about 7 recruits per year. If your targeted school list includes UVA, FSU, UNC, Stanford, The Ivies, etc…your player better be a top player in the nation.

Hold your hosses, dude. The top players in the nation go pro. Top players in this area can realistically target these schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:While the information above is helpful, I think one piece is missing. Most players and parents have a poor understanding of a players skill and the level of competition across the US. Parents need to be honest with themselves when it comes to college and college soccer. Most schools average about 7 recruits per year. If your targeted school list includes UVA, FSU, UNC, Stanford, The Ivies, etc…your player better be a top player in the nation.

Hold your hosses, dude. The top players in the nation go pro. Top players in this area can realistically target these schools.

Anonymous wrote:While the information above is helpful, I think one piece is missing. Most players and parents have a poor understanding of a players skill and the level of competition across the US. Parents need to be honest with themselves when it comes to college and college soccer. Most schools average about 7 recruits per year. If your targeted school list includes UVA, FSU, UNC, Stanford, The Ivies, etc…your player better be a top player in the nation. I’ve seen way too many kids want to play at a popular, well ranked, USNWR school where they don’t have a chance of making the team. These kids either need to expand their search later in the recruitment process or simply don’t play in college.

Anonymous wrote:While the information above is helpful, I think one piece is missing. Most players and parents have a poor understanding of a players skill and the level of competition across the US. Parents need to be honest with themselves when it comes to college and college soccer. Most schools average about 7 recruits per year. If your targeted school list includes UVA, FSU, UNC, Stanford, The Ivies, etc…your player better be a top player in the nation.

Anonymous wrote:Freshman year, kids who may want to play in college start to think about the types of schools they might want to look at, learn a little about the recruiting process from their club, and get familiar with how to build a highlight reel. Also good to make sure they understand what they have to do academically to align with their target schools.

Sophomore year, player starts email outreach to target schools with highlight videos. They should start to look more carefully at style of play at target schools and discuss with club coach what strategy will be for those schools. Touch base with college coaches at top target schools on somewhat regular basis, not just the day before a showcase when hundreds of other kids are doing the same thing. Start to tour schools and attend ID camps to narrow list. Work hard to maintain good grades and to build other aspects of college application besides soccer (leadership, service, etc.). Start to think through/practice calls or meetings with college coaches.

Junior year - summer before, attend ID camps at target schools and continue to reach out, engage. Have club coach reach out to college coaches at target schools after camps or showcases to get feedback (if college coaches haven't already reached out to them or player). Phone calls with coaches and official visits can occur. Player should have a good list of questions ready for calls/visits that show he or she has researched team. Ask about roster management, academic support, culture, travel policies, how they would bring value to program, and any limitations on major (e.g., some D1 programs won't accommodate nursing students and STEM majors whose practicals or labs conflict with practice or midweek travel). By junior year, should have a good idea what programs/schools are interested and start to narrow focus. Take SAT or ACT in fall to get baseline, and repeat in spring. Keep up good grades and other activities.

Senior year - if not yet committed, keep up outreach, college visits, ID camps, etc. and consider whether walk-on or college club soccer are good back-up plans.

Overall - encourage your kid to choose the right college with or without soccer. i.e., the fabled broken leg test. Would you still love this school if you couldn't play soccer? Keep college soccer in perspective - very very few kids will play past college, but what you do academically will impact the rest of your life. Also, coaches come and go, so don't choose a school just for a coach unless other aspects of the school are the right fit. Don't discount D3...could be an opportunity to be an impact player and get a nudge into an academically strong school.

This process will look different is your kid is a very top recruit/USNT material but for most ECNL travel players, it's a process of the player seeking out the right fit and getting in front of the right coaches, so IMO ID camps are vital to this. In ID camps, you get to interact with the coaching staff, be on campus, and get direct feedback. Important at ID camps for players to be "on" both on the field as well as during warm-ups, check-in, water breaks, etc.

DS is going to a small college combine and one college ID camp for a dream school he has. We got him started this year, but he’s a rising 9th grader. We just want him to feel comfortable enough that way when he’s in 10th and 11th grade he won’t be nervous or have jitters at combines and ID camps.

Anonymous wrote:Freshman year, kids who may want to play in college start to think about the types of schools they might want to look at, learn a little about the recruiting process from their club, and get familiar with how to build a highlight reel. Also good to make sure they understand what they have to do academically to align with their target schools.

Sophomore year, player starts email outreach to target schools with highlight videos. They should start to look more carefully at style of play at target schools and discuss with club coach what strategy will be for those schools. Touch base with college coaches at top target schools on somewhat regular basis, not just the day before a showcase when hundreds of other kids are doing the same thing. Start to tour schools and attend ID camps to narrow list. Work hard to maintain good grades and to build other aspects of college application besides soccer (leadership, service, etc.). Start to think through/practice calls or meetings with college coaches.

Junior year - summer before, attend ID camps at target schools and continue to reach out, engage. Have club coach reach out to college coaches at target schools after camps or showcases to get feedback (if college coaches haven't already reached out to them or player). Phone calls with coaches and official visits can occur. Player should have a good list of questions ready for calls/visits that show he or she has researched team. Ask about roster management, academic support, culture, travel policies, how they would bring value to program, and any limitations on major (e.g., some D1 programs won't accommodate nursing students and STEM majors whose practicals or labs conflict with practice or midweek travel). By junior year, should have a good idea what programs/schools are interested and start to narrow focus. Take SAT or ACT in fall to get baseline, and repeat in spring. Keep up good grades and other activities.

Senior year - if not yet committed, keep up outreach, college visits, ID camps, etc. and consider whether walk-on or college club soccer are good back-up plans.

Overall - encourage your kid to choose the right college with or without soccer. i.e., the fabled broken leg test. Would you still love this school if you couldn't play soccer? Keep college soccer in perspective - very very few kids will play past college, but what you do academically will impact the rest of your life. Also, coaches come and go, so don't choose a school just for a coach unless other aspects of the school are the right fit. Don't discount D3...could be an opportunity to be an impact player and get a nudge into an academically strong school.

This process will look different is your kid is a very top recruit/USNT material but for most ECNL travel players, it's a process of the player seeking out the right fit and getting in front of the right coaches, so IMO ID camps are vital to this. In ID camps, you get to interact with the coaching staff, be on campus, and get direct feedback. Important at ID camps for players to be "on" both on the field as well as during warm-ups, check-in, water breaks, etc.

Anonymous wrote:If your kid is a top 100 player, do the grades need to match the academic profile of the school?

Anonymous wrote:If your kid is a top 100 player, do the grades need to match the academic profile of the school?