college targeting advice

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Daughter is in 8th grade and we're new to this whole recruiting thing. Early indication is she can play decent level D1 (not talking National Team or top ten schools). She plays full games for high level U15 (with mostly freshman) and prep school varsity as 8th grader (so with and against many D1 commits). I'm thinking that next year (freshman year and U16) is the time to start reaching out to schools, but the problem is she's only 14. I can't get her to focus on which schools she wants to target. I know what she's interested in (for now anyway, who knows how she'll feel in a couple of years) to come up with a list of schools on my own, but all the advice I've read tells me this needs to be driven by her. She tells me she has plenty of time to worry about that stuff. My older children (non athletes) didn't get serious about picking schools to apply to until senior year and I know she can't wait until then. Should I just select schools for her to start targeting (knowing it could and will change) and she can jump in with her preferences once she's a little more mature? Also, how many schools should we be contacting initially? I've been told up to 20 (that seems like a lot but what do I know).

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She could get fat and all this would be for nothing.

[Unregistered]

Daughter is in 8th grade and we're new to this whole recruiting thing. Early indication is she can play decent level D1 (not talking National Team or top ten schools). She plays full games for high level U15 (with mostly freshman) and prep school varsity as 8th grader (so with and against many D1 commits). I'm thinking that next year (freshman year and U16) is the time to start reaching out to schools, but the problem is she's only 14. I can't get her to focus on which schools she wants to target. I know what she's interested in (for now anyway, who knows how she'll feel in a couple of years) to come up with a list of schools on my own, but all the advice I've read tells me this needs to be driven by her. She tells me she has plenty of time to worry about that stuff. My older children (non athletes) didn't get serious about picking schools to apply to until senior year and I know she can't wait until then. Should I just select schools for her to start targeting (knowing it could and will change) and she can jump in with her preferences once she's a little more mature? Also, how many schools should we be contacting initially? I've been told up to 20 (that seems like a lot but what do I know).

At 14, why push her? If she’s as good as you say and still playing by sophomore year, she still has plenty of time to pick schools and be recruited. It sounds like you’re some sort of helicopter parent thinking about plotting out her future. Maybe she decides to stop playing between now and HS, who knows? Just roll with it.

[Unregistered]

Daughter is in 8th grade and we're new to this whole recruiting thing. Early indication is she can play decent level D1 (not talking National Team or top ten schools). She plays full games for high level U15 (with mostly freshman) and prep school varsity as 8th grader (so with and against many D1 commits). I'm thinking that next year (freshman year and U16) is the time to start reaching out to schools, but the problem is she's only 14. I can't get her to focus on which schools she wants to target. I know what she's interested in (for now anyway, who knows how she'll feel in a couple of years) to come up with a list of schools on my own, but all the advice I've read tells me this needs to be driven by her. She tells me she has plenty of time to worry about that stuff. My older children (non athletes) didn't get serious about picking schools to apply to until senior year and I know she can't wait until then. Should I just select schools for her to start targeting (knowing it could and will change) and she can jump in with her preferences once she's a little more mature? Also, how many schools should we be contacting initially? I've been told up to 20 (that seems like a lot but what do I know).

Talk to the little bald guy with glasses from Needham. He knows everything.

[Unregistered]

At 14, why push her? If she’s as good as you say and still playing by sophomore year, she still has plenty of time to pick schools and be recruited. It sounds like you’re some sort of helicopter parent thinking about plotting out her future. Maybe she decides to stop playing between now and HS, who knows? Just roll with it.

Not a helicopter parent, but very Type A. Just don't want her to limited opportunities by getting in the game too late and since she's doing showcases with the team anyway..... Also, her coach is already asking her which schools to contact on her behalf. Doubt she'll ever stop playing, it's all she wants to do.

[Unregistered]

Daughter is in 8th grade and we're new to this whole recruiting thing. Early indication is she can play decent level D1 (not talking National Team or top ten schools). She plays full games for high level U15 (with mostly freshman) and prep school varsity as 8th grader (so with and against many D1 commits). I'm thinking that next year (freshman year and U16) is the time to start reaching out to schools, but the problem is she's only 14. I can't get her to focus on which schools she wants to target. I know what she's interested in (for now anyway, who knows how she'll feel in a couple of years) to come up with a list of schools on my own, but all the advice I've read tells me this needs to be driven by her. She tells me she has plenty of time to worry about that stuff. My older children (non athletes) didn't get serious about picking schools to apply to until senior year and I know she can't wait until then. Should I just select schools for her to start targeting (knowing it could and will change) and she can jump in with her preferences once she's a little more mature? Also, how many schools should we be contacting initially? I've been told up to 20 (that seems like a lot but what do I know).

No need to talk about it too much now. She's around other kids (prep school teammates, siblings) that know a thing or two about college, so she's likely already formed some ideas about what she likes and dislikes. Maybe have some vague conversations with her next summer about her siblings' schools and what she thinks about them. Perhaps make an effort to make her more involved in picking them up from school in the spring, or taking them back to school in August - so that there's opportunities for casual conversation and a sense for what might work for her. You can have a starter list in your head about types of schools and the level of play she might be able to handle, but don't mess up her head with all of that crap too early.

She sounds like she's on a good track, but there's no need to ramp up the college selection issue until after her freshman year is pretty much done (late Spring?). Put your 20-30 schools to paper at that point, and make some contacts and do some visits to the local schools to get her going.

[Unregistered]

At 14, why push her? If she’s as good as you say and still playing by sophomore year, she still has plenty of time to pick schools and be recruited. It sounds like you’re some sort of helicopter parent thinking about plotting out her future. Maybe she decides to stop playing between now and HS, who knows? Just roll with it.

The wild use of the term "helicopter parent" here and elsewhere simply baffles me. Unless the OP is trolling (congrats if you are, by the way; this was a good effort), then he/she has laid out a reasonable question. He's admitted to not knowing much about college recruiting timing, and it sounds like his kid is a solid player with a potential future at some level of D1.

So now, asking about how and when to start the process is considered helicoptering? When the OP clearly states that he thinks the kid should drive the process?

News flash: some kids are pretty content playing soccer, studying, having a social life and may have no clue that their college timeline should be different from an older sibling or their school friends - and the parent may have to help the kid figure that out. The OP is right to find out what the timeline should be for his kid. I think it becomes helicoptering when the parent is building the list, doing the research, writing the letters and making the decisions. I don't sense that here.

[Unregistered]

No need to talk about it too much now. She's around other kids (prep school teammates, siblings) that know a thing or two about college, so she's likely already formed some ideas about what she likes and dislikes. Maybe have some vague conversations with her next summer about her siblings' schools and what she thinks about them. Perhaps make an effort to make her more involved in picking them up from school in the spring, or taking them back to school in August - so that there's opportunities for casual conversation and a sense for what might work for her. You can have a starter list in your head about types of schools and the level of play she might be able to handle, but don't mess up her head with all of that crap too early.

She sounds like she's on a good track, but there's no need to ramp up the college selection issue until after her freshman year is pretty much done (late Spring?). Put your 20-30 schools to paper at that point, and make some contacts and do some visits to the local schools to get her going.

She actually has told me what type of school and region she wants (and definitely not her sisters' schools), but won't go any further than that like coming up with specific schools to contact. Sounds like ultimately she should be targeting a lot of schools (20 to 30) so seems like that's enough for now.

[Unregistered]

The wild use of the term "helicopter parent" here and elsewhere simply baffles me. Unless the OP is trolling (congrats if you are, by the way; this was a good effort), then he/she has laid out a reasonable question. He's admitted to not knowing much about college recruiting timing, and it sounds like his kid is a solid player with a potential future at some level of D1.

So now, asking about how and when to start the process is considered helicoptering? When the OP clearly states that he thinks the kid should drive the process?

News flash: some kids are pretty content playing soccer, studying, having a social life and may have no clue that their college timeline should be different from an older sibling or their school friends - and the parent may have to help the kid figure that out. The OP is right to find out what the timeline should be for his kid. I think it becomes helicoptering when the parent is building the list, doing the research, writing the letters and making the decisions. I don't sense that here.

Agreed. Unless everyone through this process has super mature kids, the parents are always going to need to push (not shove) their kids along. There are no (or very few) freshman/sophomores that will initiate this themselves. It's not helicopter parenting, it's just parenting.

[Unregistered]

She actually has told me what type of school and region she wants (and definitely not her sisters' schools), but won't go any further than that like coming up with specific schools to contact. Sounds like ultimately she should be targeting a lot of schools (20 to 30) so seems like that's enough for now.

Then, in my opinion, you are right on schedule. You might want to have conversations with club coach about the level of program she might be tracking to play at (especially if you trust that he will not blow smoke up your azz about UNC or Stanford but will tell you if she's America East or Patriot League or ACC bound).

One thing that helped with our first kid was to check out the commit list from her club and school for players that were on a similar team. Seeing that the impact players 3 years ahead were going to a specific level of school helped confirm that her original target list wasn't crazy. Just another data point, though. It's certainly not perfect, but it can be a bit of a reality check if you're thinking Georgetown, Penn State or Harvard --- and find that the kids somewhat similar to yours have been ending up at George Washington, Sacred Heart and Haverford...

[Unregistered]

Daughter is in 8th grade and we're new to this whole recruiting thing. Early indication is she can play decent level D1 (not talking National Team or top ten schools). She plays full games for high level U15 (with mostly freshman) and prep school varsity as 8th grader (so with and against many D1 commits). I'm thinking that next year (freshman year and U16) is the time to start reaching out to schools, but the problem is she's only 14. I can't get her to focus on which schools she wants to target. I know what she's interested in (for now anyway, who knows how she'll feel in a couple of years) to come up with a list of schools on my own, but all the advice I've read tells me this needs to be driven by her. She tells me she has plenty of time to worry about that stuff. My older children (non athletes) didn't get serious about picking schools to apply to until senior year and I know she can't wait until then. Should I just select schools for her to start targeting (knowing it could and will change) and she can jump in with her preferences once she's a little more mature? Also, how many schools should we be contacting initially? I've been told up to 20 (that seems like a lot but what do I know).

You are making a classic mistake. You assume that because your kid is on the field with a bunch of D1 prospects that they are a D1 prospect. One huge problem these days is there are as many D3 prospects on that field as there are D1 prospects. Even the DA rosters have kids on them that are actually D3 level players.

Here is how you target. Start with the level first, then refine your targeting within that level.

1. Start with her motivation. Does she love soccer and make it her number one (or 1b) priority in life? Is she excited to train? Does she work out on her own without external pressure being applied. Is she in fantastic shape? If you have to answer no to any of these questions she doesn't have the sort of motivation that will do well in a D1 program.

2. Next look at her athleticism. Go pick an older team in your club with kids committed to D1 programs and watch them practice and play a couple of times. Pick out the players in the position that your kid plays. Is she at least as big, fast and agile as them? If not then she's not on a D1 trajectory.

3. Evaluate her touch and technical skill relative to the girls on that team. Don't use her age as an excuse. Her peer group is her peer group. Does the ball stick like glue to either foot when she traps and dribbles? Is her head up and is she under control under pressure? When she passes does the ball hit the target in stride or does the receiver have to chase her passes? When she shoots on goal does it generally go in or is it generally off frame? If you wouldn't rank her touch and skill in the top 5-6 she's not on a D1 trajectory.

4. Then evaluate her speed of play and instincts. Be honest with yourself and watch how the other team parents react to your kid's play. Quietly watching how other experienced soccer parents react to your kid can be very telling. Is she one of the ones all of the other soccer parents on the sidelines are always quietly rolling their eyes about for failing to see/make runs or obvious plays or is she one of the ones all of the other parents quietly admire for her solid instincts and effort? Has anyone ever told you your kid is not aggressive enough or recently tried to "help" you with advice about her play? Are they seeing something you don't? Even though those types are generally major blowhards there usually is a shred of truth in what they say. Watch your kid then. Does she constantly give the ball away or kick it out of bounds under pressure because she's rattled or can she confidently play out of a jam with either simple passes or by dribbling to escape pressure? Is she never in the right place at the right time or usually the point of breakdown in a failed scoring attempt or goal against or is she generally the hero of the moment always making the key play at the big moment? If you wouldn't rank her level of play in the top 5-6 on the team she's not on a D1 trajectory.

5. After all of that if you think your kid is on a D1 trajectory start by breaking the D1 ranking of programs into a list of quarters. Start with the bottom 25%. Pick a couple of programs that at this point you think might work from a geographic standpoint and analyze their rosters. Split them into two groups. One containing the ones playing more than 50% of the minutes and the other containing primarily the bench players. Start by looking at the physical characteristics of the players and then look at the resumes that they brought into college. If your kids resume is on track to exceed what the starters have, move up to the list of programs containing the next quarter in the rankings and repeat the process, otherwise start the next step.

6. Go watch the team at the level you finally land on play. Remember that D1 programs can have 5 "play dates" in the spring. Its a perfect time to sit and watch. If possible find out the team's spring on field practice schedule and go watch them practice. Try to envision your kid out on the field with that team. If you can see it, stay there and start learning everything you can about the coach and the program. You have found a potential target program.

7. Now talk to as many club/HS level coaches as you can and ask them point blank if they could see your child making an impact for the program you have potentially targeted. If the consensus is yes, start working your soccer resources to arrange a personal reference and introduction to the coaching staff there. And away you go.

[Unregistered]

You are making a classic mistake. You assume that because your kid is on the field with a bunch of D1 prospects that they are a D1 prospect. One huge problem these days is there are as many D3 prospects on that field as there are D1 prospects. Even the DA rosters have kids on them that are actually D3 level players.

Here is how you target. Start with the level first, then refine your targeting within that level.

1. Start with her motivation. Does she love soccer and make it her number one (or 1b) priority in life? Is she excited to train? Does she work out on her own without external pressure being applied. Is she in fantastic shape? If you have to answer no to any of these questions she doesn't have the sort of motivation that will do well in a D1 program.

2. Next look at her athleticism. Go pick an older team in your club with kids committed to D1 programs and watch them practice and play a couple of times. Pick out the players in the position that your kid plays. Is she at least as big, fast and agile as them? If not then she's not on a D1 trajectory.

3. Evaluate her touch and technical skill relative to the girls on that team. Don't use her age as an excuse. Her peer group is her peer group. Does the ball stick like glue to either foot when she traps and dribbles? Is her head up and is she under control under pressure? When she passes does the ball hit the target in stride or does the receiver have to chase her passes? When she shoots on goal does it generally go in or is it generally off frame? If you wouldn't rank her touch and skill in the top 5-6 she's not on a D1 trajectory.

4. Then evaluate her speed of play and instincts. Be honest with yourself and watch how the other team parents react to your kid's play. Quietly watching how other experienced soccer parents react to your kid can be very telling. Is she one of the ones all of the other soccer parents on the sidelines are always quietly rolling their eyes about for failing to see/make runs or obvious plays or is she one of the ones all of the other parents quietly admire for her solid instincts and effort? Has anyone ever told you your kid is not aggressive enough or recently tried to "help" you with advice about her play? Are they seeing something you don't? Even though those types are generally major blowhards there usually is a shred of truth in what they say. Watch your kid then. Does she constantly give the ball away or kick it out of bounds under pressure because she's rattled or can she confidently play out of a jam with either simple passes or by dribbling to escape pressure? Is she never in the right place at the right time or usually the point of breakdown in a failed scoring attempt or goal against or is she generally the hero of the moment always making the key play at the big moment? If you wouldn't rank her level of play in the top 5-6 on the team she's not on a D1 trajectory.

5. After all of that if you think your kid is on a D1 trajectory start by breaking the D1 ranking of programs into a list of quarters. Start with the bottom 25%. Pick a couple of programs that at this point you think might work from a geographic standpoint and analyze their rosters. Split them into two groups. One containing the ones playing more than 50% of the minutes and the other containing primarily the bench players. Start by looking at the physical characteristics of the players and then look at the resumes that they brought into college. If your kids resume is on track to exceed what the starters have, move up to the list of programs containing the next quarter in the rankings and repeat the process, otherwise start the next step.

6. Go watch the team at the level you finally land on play. Remember that D1 programs can have 5 "play dates" in the spring. Its a perfect time to sit and watch. If possible find out the team's spring on field practice schedule and go watch them practice. Try to envision your kid out on the field with that team. If you can see it, stay there and start learning everything you can about the coach and the program. You have found a potential target program.

7. Now talk to as many club/HS level coaches as you can and ask them point blank if they could see your child making an impact for the program you have potentially targeted. If the consensus is yes, start working your soccer resources to arrange a personal reference and introduction to the coaching staff there. And away you go.

This is great. I wish that I'd had this advice when my kids were starting the recruiting process.

My only quibble is the first sentence: "You are making a classic mistake..." He may be absolutely right that his kid is a D1 prospect. I'll never forget a know-it-all soccer parent who chastised a group of us parents when my kid was U-12, saying "none of these kids are going to be D1 players. You parents need to stop dreaming..." The fact that he was completely wrong is less relevant than the condescension that he showed.

[Unregistered]

[QUOTE=Unregistered;2405588]
5. After all of that if you think your kid is on a D1 trajectory start by breaking the D1 ranking of programs into a list of quarters. Start with the bottom 25%. Pick a couple of programs that at this point you think might work from a geographic standpoint and analyze their rosters. Split them into two groups. One containing the ones playing more than 50% of the minutes and the other containing primarily the bench players. Start by looking at the physical characteristics of the players and then look at the resumes that they brought into college. If your kids resume is on track to exceed what the starters have, move up to the list of programs containing the next quarter in the rankings and repeat the process, otherwise start the next step.

6. Go watch the team at the level you finally land on play. Remember that D1 programs can have 5 "play dates" in the spring. Its a perfect time to sit and watch. If possible find out the team's spring on field practice schedule and go watch them practice. Try to envision your kid out on the field with that team. If you can see it, stay there and start learning everything you can about the coach and the program. You have found a potential target program.

7. Now talk to as many club/HS level coaches as you can and ask them point blank if they could see your child making an impact for the program you have potentially targeted. If the consensus is yes, start working your soccer resources to arrange a personal reference and introduction to the coaching staff there. And away you go.[/QUOTE

I'm totally lost with these last 3 points, maybe I'm obtuse. 5. How do you know who's playing more than 50% of the game? 6. Target schools are far away......fly out there to gage if level of play is correct? 8. What does this even mean "start working your soccer resources to arrange a personal reference and introduction to the coaching staff there"........have your club coach reach out in advance with a reference?

[Unregistered]

My only quibble is the first sentence: "You are making a classic mistake..." He may be absolutely right that his kid is a D1 prospect. I'll never forget a know-it-all soccer parent who chastised a group of us parents when my kid was U-12, saying "none of these kids are going to be D1 players. You parents need to stop dreaming..." The fact that he was completely wrong is less relevant than the condescension that he showed.

I agree. With everyone saying don't target too high, the flip side is targeting too low since everyone warns against targeting too high. When club coach first approached about what schools to reach out to and we were thinking of some local low level D1s (with mostly local kids on the rosters), coach looked like we were nuts and said I think she can do better than that.

[Unregistered]

This is great. I wish that I'd had this advice when my kids were starting the recruiting process.

My only quibble is the first sentence: "You are making a classic mistake..." He may be absolutely right that his kid is a D1 prospect. I'll never forget a know-it-all soccer parent who chastised a group of us parents when my kid was U-12, saying "none of these kids are going to be D1 players. You parents need to stop dreaming..." The fact that he was completely wrong is less relevant than the condescension that he showed.

The mistake is just "assuming" and not doing the actual work to prove it out. Lots of people make that mistake. They think that because their kid is on XYZ roster that they are destined for a D1 scholarship.