Commited the most overrated word in girls soccer

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I get your point. My kid got interest from Purdue. We went up for a Summer camp. Similar deal. Strong soccer program in the Big 10, had her major, etc. - but - it's in West Lafayette, Indiana. Kept looking.....

Seeing this a bit late. Purdue has an ok team but outstanding academics - particularly for those interested in STEM related studies.

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I made my daughter commit -- commit to keeping her GPA up to can get into any school as long as that SAT/ACT score is good. Soccer will do its part, but academics will bring in the real financial support. Hopefully she can "commit" to sport by February 2019, and have a worry free Senior year.

Isn’t this a soccer forum? Lol

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Isn’t this a soccer forum? Lol

It is but the poster is 100% right. A good player with excellent academics will have many more options to chose from. Use good grades and scores to get into a better school and-or get more merit money. Merit $ last all 4 years. In the end it's about the education. No one is going pro, especially not girls.

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Let’s face it, there are no advantages to recruiting a kid in middle school or early high school except to tie them up before anyone else has. These coaches are committing to an athlete whom:
Won’t even play with most members of their current roster
May not even play with the coach who recruited him/her, as coaches often move on to other schools or opportunities.
Has probably never visited campus
Likely has no idea what he/she wants to study
Is unknown to a coach as a person. Will they fit your culture? What kind of teammate will they be? Are they strong enough academically? Can they balance coursework and sports?

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Then there are those who have their scholarship money reduced since athletic scholarships are year to year and coaches can do that if someone better comes along.

Some conferences and schools do now offer 4 year athletic scholarships, not just year-to-year. Choose your college wisely!

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Some conferences and schools do now offer 4 year athletic scholarships, not just year-to-year. Choose your college wisely!

Only 5 conferences do. Not surprisingly it's the top conferences - Big 10, Pac12 etc. Not many players are talented enough to get spots and meaningful money there. For the more typical player your spot and $ will always be on the line. Getting recruited is just part of the battle. Some players are wholly unprepared for the intensity and grind of D1 sports. The odds of having 4 meaningful years isn't great.

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We had similar experiences - as far as the coach being very open about "here is where we see your kid fitting in the program and here is what we can offer." Some of the earlier poster's on this thread that suggest you should hold off longer and try and get a better deal (better school, more money, etc.) are just flat out wrong or inexperienced. In almost all cases, the offers don't get better the longer you wait - they get worse. Unless you don't mind having your kid commit to Arkansas at the last minute for an extra $3,000.

Arkansas beat #2 Texas A & M 3-2 last night.

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Arkansas beat #2 Texas A & M 3-2 last night.

The SEC football money has allowed their girls programs to have some of the best facilities in the country. Most surpass the ACC and often there is not a men's team so no need to share facilities. Where a player is on a team and perhaps not getting a lot of funding, there are ancillary benefits, academic support, tutoring, class registration, access to all of the athletic services and facilities and so on. While it is certainly a grind, most programs grant players who perform an increase in funding as their contributions to the team increase.

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wrong

Fully funded D-1 schools are allowed 14.5 full scholarships.

Agreed that the really good scholarship money goes fast (and early). One coach showed us her spreadsheet and it was very sophisticated. Projected out several years (by position) and tracking the current financial aid distribution. She had a "fully funded" program which gave her 12 full scholarships which she then awarded as partials that were spread across several recruiting classes. This happened to be a private school so it tracked for every player, $ from academic merit, $ from athletic, $ from endowment, $ from need, etc.

It was all very transparent, she turned her lap top around and explained it all. We could see exactly how her offer to our daughter compared to everyone else. We could also see that the offer would not be around for long and our daughter committed early in Junior year of H.S.

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25th Ranked team is "just ok"

Purdue has a very good team.

Seeing this a bit late. Purdue has an ok team but outstanding academics - particularly for those interested in STEM related studies.

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Arkansas beat #2 Texas A & M 3-2 last night.

That had to be a fluke. I have watched both teams play, and Texas A & M is legit. Arkansas may have had a good day. Overall, they are fine, but I suspect Texas A & M (sans injuries) will go far in the tournament. Dare I say, win it all.

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Fully funded D-1 schools are allowed 14.5 full scholarships.

Well it's actually 14.0 but who's counting? Men's is 9.9. Not all programs are fully funded. By the time a few studs get 75%+, that leaves even less to divide across the rest.

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Commited doesn’t mean a dang thing, you and 30 other girls are commited to a team, you will be commited for a year and since most wont get any playing time they will quit soccer by year 2

There isn't one team at ANY level that doesn't have commitment problems. People need to lower expectations. Soccer is just a game. There are way more important things to do than practice 24/7/365.

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Friendly reminder

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Develop them around towns in rec and round ‘em up to the nearest ECNL or DA.