Anonymous wrote:The whole college sports landscape is blowing up and IMO, it's not necessarily for the better.

There are no guardrails, limits, etc in place for any of the NIL funds and the "settlement" with the implementation of roster limits is just throwing things sideways.

Louisville in men's hoops this year pumped in $7.5M into transfers, etc and went just to the top of the ACC. Good for them, I guess?

Heck, you have more limits with newly drafted professional NFL players than you do with college kids in terms of salary limits, time at a club, etc.

On top of that, now there is discussion of eliminating red-shirts, etc and implementing a 5 in 5 system (5 years of playing in 5 years of school) just further erodes incoming players securing spots - the non-unicorn 2026 girls in soccer are getting crushed between roster limits, the transfer portal, etc.

More and more players are dropping from D1 mid majors to D2 and D3. While that pulls those programs higher, it pushes those that would have played D2 and D3 out.

Now, all of that being said, my DD is a 2027 and is now actively involved now in all this stuff so it will be interesting to see what happens with her friends that are 2026s and what comes once her official window opens in June.

Good luck to all.

I totally agree.

NCAA is pi$$ing on our heads and telling us that it's raining.

By limiting rosters to 28 but allowing D1 colleges to give unlimited scholarships, it hurts the number of players but gives none of the benefits. Colleges are not going to give more scholarships to soccer programs. I've heard multiple college coaches state that their budgets are not changing for soccer. There is no extra scholarship money because, in most cases, colleges do not make a profit from soccer. In fact, the coaches stated they don't want to have extra scholarships. If they did have 28 full scholarships to hand out, that puts pressure on them to win the national championship every year; and if they didn't win the national championship, they lose their jobs.

Plus if you look at roster sizes between professional sports teams and D1 programs, it's ridiculous:

- NFL roster size: 69 total (53 active, 16 practice squad) / D1 Football: 105 players
- NBA roster: 15 total / D1 Basketball: 15 players
- MLB roster: 26 total / D1 Baseball: 34 players
- NHL roster: 23 total / D1 Hockey: 26 players
- MLS roster: 30 total / D1 Soccer: 28 players

So of the 5 major sports, Soccer is the only one with less rostered players.

So all the NCAA has done is limit the number of American players that will get to experience to play college soccer at the D1 level. And it really makes no sense especially with the fact that it is the fastest growing sports in the country of these 5.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The whole college sports landscape is blowing up and IMO, it's not necessarily for the better.

There are no guardrails, limits, etc in place for any of the NIL funds and the "settlement" with the implementation of roster limits is just throwing things sideways.

Louisville in men's hoops this year pumped in $7.5M into transfers, etc and went just to the top of the ACC. Good for them, I guess?

Heck, you have more limits with newly drafted professional NFL players than you do with college kids in terms of salary limits, time at a club, etc.

On top of that, now there is discussion of eliminating red-shirts, etc and implementing a 5 in 5 system (5 years of playing in 5 years of school) just further erodes incoming players securing spots - the non-unicorn 2026 girls in soccer are getting crushed between roster limits, the transfer portal, etc.

More and more players are dropping from D1 mid majors to D2 and D3. While that pulls those programs higher, it pushes those that would have played D2 and D3 out.

Now, all of that being said, my DD is a 2027 and is now actively involved now in all this stuff so it will be interesting to see what happens with her friends that are 2026s and what comes once her official window opens in June.

Good luck to all.

Watching both women’s and men’s college soccer the thing that amazed me was how low level college soccer is. There is little pressure to win and the game is slow. In the professional leagues they would have cut/not offer contracts to 99% of the players by this age.

Yes that’s why they are in college. Because college is where people go to get educated. It is not a pre-professional soccer league. The best soccer players with hopes of going pro do not go to college. College soccer is the end of a youth soccer career not the start of a professional one.

This is certainly true in the men's game, though not necessarily in the women's in the U.S. The majority of American women coming into, and already rostered, in the NWSL played college soccer. This may change but that change hasn't yet occurred.

How many college women players go pro each year. 16 max? Out of probably 2000 graduating players. Meaning 99% of college players do not go pro. And with more high school age players signing with pro teams and international players those odds are getting even smaller. College soccer is the end of the road my friend. A handful of exceptions does not change it.

That wasn't the point that was made. The original comment was, "The best soccer players with hopes of going pro do not go to college." For men, that is almost always correct. The large majority of women, especially American women, in the NWSL play collegiate soccer. Fact. This may change.

I do not disagree the vast majority of women playing soccer for a college or university will not play professionally.

I would change that to do not have the ability to play professionally. Any girl/woman who has the potential to play professionally should leave ECNL/USTravel soccer by 13-14 years old and never play in college. Staying in the system puts the player too far behind developmentally.

Maybe in 2035 this will be true for women but not now and not for another decade.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The whole college sports landscape is blowing up and IMO, it's not necessarily for the better.

There are no guardrails, limits, etc in place for any of the NIL funds and the "settlement" with the implementation of roster limits is just throwing things sideways.

Louisville in men's hoops this year pumped in $7.5M into transfers, etc and went just to the top of the ACC. Good for them, I guess?

Heck, you have more limits with newly drafted professional NFL players than you do with college kids in terms of salary limits, time at a club, etc.

On top of that, now there is discussion of eliminating red-shirts, etc and implementing a 5 in 5 system (5 years of playing in 5 years of school) just further erodes incoming players securing spots - the non-unicorn 2026 girls in soccer are getting crushed between roster limits, the transfer portal, etc.

More and more players are dropping from D1 mid majors to D2 and D3. While that pulls those programs higher, it pushes those that would have played D2 and D3 out.

Now, all of that being said, my DD is a 2027 and is now actively involved now in all this stuff so it will be interesting to see what happens with her friends that are 2026s and what comes once her official window opens in June.

Good luck to all.

Watching both women’s and men’s college soccer the thing that amazed me was how low level college soccer is. There is little pressure to win and the game is slow. In the professional leagues they would have cut/not offer contracts to 99% of the players by this age.

Yes that’s why they are in college. Because college is where people go to get educated. It is not a pre-professional soccer league. The best soccer players with hopes of going pro do not go to college. College soccer is the end of a youth soccer career not the start of a professional one.

This is certainly true in the men's game, though not necessarily in the women's in the U.S. The majority of American women coming into, and already rostered, in the NWSL played college soccer. This may change but that change hasn't yet occurred.

How many college women players go pro each year. 16 max? Out of probably 2000 graduating players. Meaning 99% of college players do not go pro. And with more high school age players signing with pro teams and international players those odds are getting even smaller. College soccer is the end of the road my friend. A handful of exceptions does not change it.

That wasn't the point that was made. The original comment was, "The best soccer players with hopes of going pro do not go to college." For men, that is almost always correct. The large majority of women, especially American women, in the NWSL play collegiate soccer. Fact. This may change.

I do not disagree the vast majority of women playing soccer for a college or university will not play professionally.

I would change that to do not have the ability to play professionally. Any girl/woman who has the potential to play professionally should leave ECNL/USTravel soccer by 13-14 years old and never play in college. Staying in the system puts the player too far behind developmentally.

That's quite a stretch. I see where you are coming from, but there are plenty of late developers out there. 13/14 is far too young to make that assessment.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The whole college sports landscape is blowing up and IMO, it's not necessarily for the better.

There are no guardrails, limits, etc in place for any of the NIL funds and the "settlement" with the implementation of roster limits is just throwing things sideways.

Louisville in men's hoops this year pumped in $7.5M into transfers, etc and went just to the top of the ACC. Good for them, I guess?

Heck, you have more limits with newly drafted professional NFL players than you do with college kids in terms of salary limits, time at a club, etc.

On top of that, now there is discussion of eliminating red-shirts, etc and implementing a 5 in 5 system (5 years of playing in 5 years of school) just further erodes incoming players securing spots - the non-unicorn 2026 girls in soccer are getting crushed between roster limits, the transfer portal, etc.

More and more players are dropping from D1 mid majors to D2 and D3. While that pulls those programs higher, it pushes those that would have played D2 and D3 out.

Now, all of that being said, my DD is a 2027 and is now actively involved now in all this stuff so it will be interesting to see what happens with her friends that are 2026s and what comes once her official window opens in June.

Good luck to all.

Watching both women’s and men’s college soccer the thing that amazed me was how low level college soccer is. There is little pressure to win and the game is slow. In the professional leagues they would have cut/not offer contracts to 99% of the players by this age.

Yes that’s why they are in college. Because college is where people go to get educated. It is not a pre-professional soccer league. The best soccer players with hopes of going pro do not go to college. College soccer is the end of a youth soccer career not the start of a professional one.

This is certainly true in the men's game, though not necessarily in the women's in the U.S. The majority of American women coming into, and already rostered, in the NWSL played college soccer. This may change but that change hasn't yet occurred.

How many college women players go pro each year. 16 max? Out of probably 2000 graduating players. Meaning 99% of college players do not go pro. And with more high school age players signing with pro teams and international players those odds are getting even smaller. College soccer is the end of the road my friend. A handful of exceptions does not change it.

That wasn't the point that was made. The original comment was, "The best soccer players with hopes of going pro do not go to college." For men, that is almost always correct. The large majority of women, especially American women, in the NWSL play collegiate soccer. Fact. This may change.

I do not disagree the vast majority of women playing soccer for a college or university will not play professionally.

I would change that to do not have the ability to play professionally. Any girl/woman who has the potential to play professionally should leave ECNL/USTravel soccer by 13-14 years old and never play in college. Staying in the system puts the player too far behind developmentally.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The whole college sports landscape is blowing up and IMO, it's not necessarily for the better.

There are no guardrails, limits, etc in place for any of the NIL funds and the "settlement" with the implementation of roster limits is just throwing things sideways.

Louisville in men's hoops this year pumped in $7.5M into transfers, etc and went just to the top of the ACC. Good for them, I guess?

Heck, you have more limits with newly drafted professional NFL players than you do with college kids in terms of salary limits, time at a club, etc.

On top of that, now there is discussion of eliminating red-shirts, etc and implementing a 5 in 5 system (5 years of playing in 5 years of school) just further erodes incoming players securing spots - the non-unicorn 2026 girls in soccer are getting crushed between roster limits, the transfer portal, etc.

More and more players are dropping from D1 mid majors to D2 and D3. While that pulls those programs higher, it pushes those that would have played D2 and D3 out.

Now, all of that being said, my DD is a 2027 and is now actively involved now in all this stuff so it will be interesting to see what happens with her friends that are 2026s and what comes once her official window opens in June.

Good luck to all.

Watching both women’s and men’s college soccer the thing that amazed me was how low level college soccer is. There is little pressure to win and the game is slow. In the professional leagues they would have cut/not offer contracts to 99% of the players by this age.

Yes that’s why they are in college. Because college is where people go to get educated. It is not a pre-professional soccer league. The best soccer players with hopes of going pro do not go to college. College soccer is the end of a youth soccer career not the start of a professional one.

This is certainly true in the men's game, though not necessarily in the women's in the U.S. The majority of American women coming into, and already rostered, in the NWSL played college soccer. This may change but that change hasn't yet occurred.

How many college women players go pro each year. 16 max? Out of probably 2000 graduating players. Meaning 99% of college players do not go pro. And with more high school age players signing with pro teams and international players those odds are getting even smaller. College soccer is the end of the road my friend. A handful of exceptions does not change it.

That wasn't the point that was made. The original comment was, "The best soccer players with hopes of going pro do not go to college." For men, that is almost always correct. The large majority of women, especially American women, in the NWSL play collegiate soccer. Fact. This may change.

I do not disagree the vast majority of women playing soccer for a college or university will not play professionally.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The whole college sports landscape is blowing up and IMO, it's not necessarily for the better.

There are no guardrails, limits, etc in place for any of the NIL funds and the "settlement" with the implementation of roster limits is just throwing things sideways.

Louisville in men's hoops this year pumped in $7.5M into transfers, etc and went just to the top of the ACC. Good for them, I guess?

Heck, you have more limits with newly drafted professional NFL players than you do with college kids in terms of salary limits, time at a club, etc.

On top of that, now there is discussion of eliminating red-shirts, etc and implementing a 5 in 5 system (5 years of playing in 5 years of school) just further erodes incoming players securing spots - the non-unicorn 2026 girls in soccer are getting crushed between roster limits, the transfer portal, etc.

More and more players are dropping from D1 mid majors to D2 and D3. While that pulls those programs higher, it pushes those that would have played D2 and D3 out.

Now, all of that being said, my DD is a 2027 and is now actively involved now in all this stuff so it will be interesting to see what happens with her friends that are 2026s and what comes once her official window opens in June.

Good luck to all.

Watching both women’s and men’s college soccer the thing that amazed me was how low level college soccer is. There is little pressure to win and the game is slow. In the professional leagues they would have cut/not offer contracts to 99% of the players by this age.

Yes that’s why they are in college. Because college is where people go to get educated. It is not a pre-professional soccer league. The best soccer players with hopes of going pro do not go to college. College soccer is the end of a youth soccer career not the start of a professional one.

This is certainly true in the men's game, though not necessarily in the women's in the U.S. The majority of American women coming into, and already rostered, in the NWSL played college soccer. This may change but that change hasn't yet occurred.

How many college women players go pro each year. 16 max? Out of probably 2000 graduating players. Meaning 99% of college players do not go pro. And with more high school age players signing with pro teams and international players those odds are getting even smaller. College soccer is the end of the road my friend. A handful of exceptions does not change it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD had the choice of UChicago, Wash U, Emory, Carnegie Mellon and Wesleyan from playing ECNL soccer. Yes, all D3, and yes, all worth the effort.

not worth the effort. at all.

You would be wrong. Those are lottery pick schools. Meaning if you are fully qualified with scores, grades, ECs, and recs you maybe a 1 in 4 chance of getting in. Soccer puts you in before the lottery takes place.

You have absolutely no understanding of how college admissions actually works.

What do you think is wrong with the above?

If you are not a top ECNL player meaning first or second team, and your DD has a GPA below 3.75, take any P4 schoools off your list, then take any good academic D1 Schools off your list. Also, take any good academic schools off your list in D3 as well.

Nobody talks about how important grades are for college. If your DD is dead even with another player, the college coach is going to take the player with the higher GPA every time.

GPA is a tiebreaker at highly sought after schools.

Financial Aid isn't talked about enough either IMO, probably because our area demographics. Many families cannot afford Private Out-of-State Univerities even with the small scholarship help. The new rules may help but that part is very complicated as we still have Leagues deciding to opt in or opt out.

Anyways, I'm in the boat of going Top Academic D3 instead of Mid Major, Middle Academics D1. You know she's not going to play pro but at least you know she'll help more people and make more money as a Lawyer rather than a professional soccer player.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The whole college sports landscape is blowing up and IMO, it's not necessarily for the better.

There are no guardrails, limits, etc in place for any of the NIL funds and the "settlement" with the implementation of roster limits is just throwing things sideways.

Louisville in men's hoops this year pumped in $7.5M into transfers, etc and went just to the top of the ACC. Good for them, I guess?

Heck, you have more limits with newly drafted professional NFL players than you do with college kids in terms of salary limits, time at a club, etc.

On top of that, now there is discussion of eliminating red-shirts, etc and implementing a 5 in 5 system (5 years of playing in 5 years of school) just further erodes incoming players securing spots - the non-unicorn 2026 girls in soccer are getting crushed between roster limits, the transfer portal, etc.

More and more players are dropping from D1 mid majors to D2 and D3. While that pulls those programs higher, it pushes those that would have played D2 and D3 out.

Now, all of that being said, my DD is a 2027 and is now actively involved now in all this stuff so it will be interesting to see what happens with her friends that are 2026s and what comes once her official window opens in June.

Good luck to all.

Watching both women’s and men’s college soccer the thing that amazed me was how low level college soccer is. There is little pressure to win and the game is slow. In the professional leagues they would have cut/not offer contracts to 99% of the players by this age.

Yes that’s why they are in college. Because college is where people go to get educated. It is not a pre-professional soccer league. The best soccer players with hopes of going pro do not go to college. College soccer is the end of a youth soccer career not the start of a professional one.

This is certainly true in the men's game, though not necessarily in the women's in the U.S. The majority of American women coming into, and already rostered, in the NWSL played college soccer. This may change but that change hasn't yet occurred.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The whole college sports landscape is blowing up and IMO, it's not necessarily for the better.

There are no guardrails, limits, etc in place for any of the NIL funds and the "settlement" with the implementation of roster limits is just throwing things sideways.

Louisville in men's hoops this year pumped in $7.5M into transfers, etc and went just to the top of the ACC. Good for them, I guess?

Heck, you have more limits with newly drafted professional NFL players than you do with college kids in terms of salary limits, time at a club, etc.

On top of that, now there is discussion of eliminating red-shirts, etc and implementing a 5 in 5 system (5 years of playing in 5 years of school) just further erodes incoming players securing spots - the non-unicorn 2026 girls in soccer are getting crushed between roster limits, the transfer portal, etc.

More and more players are dropping from D1 mid majors to D2 and D3. While that pulls those programs higher, it pushes those that would have played D2 and D3 out.

Now, all of that being said, my DD is a 2027 and is now actively involved now in all this stuff so it will be interesting to see what happens with her friends that are 2026s and what comes once her official window opens in June.

Good luck to all.

Watching both women’s and men’s college soccer the thing that amazed me was how low level college soccer is. There is little pressure to win and the game is slow. In the professional leagues they would have cut/not offer contracts to 99% of the players by this age.

Yes that’s why they are in college. Because college is where people go to get educated. It is not a pre-professional soccer league. The best soccer players with hopes of going pro do not go to college. College soccer is the end of a youth soccer career not the start of a professional one.

Anonymous wrote:The whole college sports landscape is blowing up and IMO, it's not necessarily for the better.

There are no guardrails, limits, etc in place for any of the NIL funds and the "settlement" with the implementation of roster limits is just throwing things sideways.

Louisville in men's hoops this year pumped in $7.5M into transfers, etc and went just to the top of the ACC. Good for them, I guess?

Heck, you have more limits with newly drafted professional NFL players than you do with college kids in terms of salary limits, time at a club, etc.

On top of that, now there is discussion of eliminating red-shirts, etc and implementing a 5 in 5 system (5 years of playing in 5 years of school) just further erodes incoming players securing spots - the non-unicorn 2026 girls in soccer are getting crushed between roster limits, the transfer portal, etc.

More and more players are dropping from D1 mid majors to D2 and D3. While that pulls those programs higher, it pushes those that would have played D2 and D3 out.

Now, all of that being said, my DD is a 2027 and is now actively involved now in all this stuff so it will be interesting to see what happens with her friends that are 2026s and what comes once her official window opens in June.

Good luck to all.

Watching both women’s and men’s college soccer the thing that amazed me was how low level college soccer is. There is little pressure to win and the game is slow. In the professional leagues they would have cut/not offer contracts to 99% of the players by this age.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know roughly what percentage of NOVA players actually get selected for a D1 soccer team? Does that percentage differ between boys and girls? Are ECNL girl players and MLSNext players nearly guaranteed a D1 spot?

I'm trying to understand the likelihood of this happening and why we're all killing ourselves driving to the ends of the earth and sinking so much time into this soccer thing. My child loves playing soccer, but they aren't much interested in attending D2 or D3 schools when they know they can get into a top D1 school based on academics and test scores.

Being D1 just means the school is larger and plays in certain athletic conferences. It says nothing about the academics of the school. There are many D1 schools I wouldn't consider sending my kid based on academics, even if they could play soccer there. There are D3 schools with top academics. It all depends on what your kid is looking for. Other than maybe 1 kid every 5 years, all of them will not be playing soccer after college.

Pin this comment. This PP has their head on straight.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD had the choice of UChicago, Wash U, Emory, Carnegie Mellon and Wesleyan from playing ECNL soccer. Yes, all D3, and yes, all worth the effort.

not worth the effort. at all.

You would be wrong. Those are lottery pick schools. Meaning if you are fully qualified with scores, grades, ECs, and recs you maybe a 1 in 4 chance of getting in. Soccer puts you in before the lottery takes place.

You have absolutely no understanding of how college admissions actually works.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know roughly what percentage of NOVA players actually get selected for a D1 soccer team? Does that percentage differ between boys and girls? Are ECNL girl players and MLSNext players nearly guaranteed a D1 spot?

I'm trying to understand the likelihood of this happening and why we're all killing ourselves driving to the ends of the earth and sinking so much time into this soccer thing. My child loves playing soccer, but they aren't much interested in attending D2 or D3 schools when they know they can get into a top D1 school based on academics and test scores.

Right - play soccer for soccer. If all you’re truly looking for is an admissions bump to a prestigious university, sign your kid up for fencing or crew.

This is a dumb comment. What would make soccer different from fencing or crew? No one goes into travel soccer at u-9 or whatever age for an admissions bump. But by the time of recruitment you know if your DD is good enough to play in college and likely where and you know if she is smart enough to go to a top school. If you have both -- you take advantage.

There are a lot of people who keep their kids on the merry go round of travel soccer because they are expecting it to ‘payoff’. You don’t know this?

Sure some people think that. Some peoiple are idiots. It may or may not payoff. That can't be the whole reason you do it or in fact you are an idiot. Kid needs to love it. It has to work with the family. Objectively the kids has to be good or better. If you "keep" your kids playing that will not work in the long run.

Right - play soccer for soccer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know roughly what percentage of NOVA players actually get selected for a D1 soccer team? Does that percentage differ between boys and girls? Are ECNL girl players and MLSNext players nearly guaranteed a D1 spot?

I'm trying to understand the likelihood of this happening and why we're all killing ourselves driving to the ends of the earth and sinking so much time into this soccer thing. My child loves playing soccer, but they aren't much interested in attending D2 or D3 schools when they know they can get into a top D1 school based on academics and test scores.

Right - play soccer for soccer. If all you’re truly looking for is an admissions bump to a prestigious university, sign your kid up for fencing or crew.

This is a dumb comment. What would make soccer different from fencing or crew? No one goes into travel soccer at u-9 or whatever age for an admissions bump. But by the time of recruitment you know if your DD is good enough to play in college and likely where and you know if she is smart enough to go to a top school. If you have both -- you take advantage.

There are a lot of people who keep their kids on the merry go round of travel soccer because they are expecting it to ‘payoff’. You don’t know this?

Sure some people think that. Some peoiple are idiots. It may or may not payoff. That can't be the whole reason you do it or in fact you are an idiot. Kid needs to love it. It has to work with the family. Objectively the kids has to be good or better. If you "keep" your kids playing that will not work in the long run.