Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

What is the Covid college recruiting landscape like ?

Collapse
X
  •  
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
    Our public school counselor had no idea what my kid's college opportunities were. We did our own research to create a big list that we curated as we learned more and as our daughter got a bit more exposure to different types of schools.

    One thing we did early on was to watch where older players at her club were committing to school - the level of the programs (e.g., general RPI, conference, etc.), how much playing time they were getting (starter vs. contributor vs. no playing time at all). We took note of the kids that played her position and were at a similar level on the club team (e.g., top 3-4 player, middle of the team, #15-20 on the team, etc.) and which kids were targeting schools that fit what we knew of our daughter academically (state school, Patriot League, Ivy, etc.).

    Seeing kids that were 3-4 years ahead ending up at the types of school on our kid's initial list gave us some confidence that we weren't way out of whack with our starting point. We talked with some of the parents of players that seemed to be in situations similar to what our daughter might be in down the road, and got a few pointers on the process. This helped us to create some checkpoints that we used to make sure that we weren't missing out on something important (e.g., trying to get interest from an Ivy type of school but not having any test scores to discuss, not having video or a soccer resume ready to go when someone requests it, etc.).

    When the time came for our daughter to send letters to coaches for showcases/tournaments, we were careful to note who responded (recruiting coordinator vs. head coach), who showed up at tournaments, and what types of programs were making contact through the club without any prior communication. It was another checkpoint to confirm that the target list was either too high, too low, etc.
    We went the opposite direction. Started out looking at colleges that we thought fit D's academic needs. Her public high school uses Naviance, so we were able to see the types of schools recent grads were going to and looking at their GPAs and test scores to get a sense of what level schools were good fits. Also researched schools regarding their undergrad enrollment numbers, available majors, urban vs. suburban and rural, public vs. private, etc. Only after we came up with this list of potential schools that fit these non-soccer criteria did we start looking at the potential fit for soccer.

    Honestly, the list of schools with good academic fit for D had almost no track record at her club. Her club sends a lot of players to a few (but not many) P5's, a lot of regional D1 universities (eg. Fairfield, Marist, etc), a few D2's and middle D3's; very few Ivy and high academic D3's, which were what D wanted to target. So the club was really no help at all in the recruiting process for her. Other than one of her coaches writing a recommendation to her target school coaches at D's request, the club really wasn't involved in the process at all.

    D went to a lot of ID camps hosted by the colleges on her list. In most cases, the ID camp was the first time those coaches saw her play. A few of them made an effort to come to her showcases after those camps, but only two saw her at a showcase first and invited her for a visit. In the end, she received two offers from high-academic D3's...both of whom never heard of her until she showed up at their camps. The club didn't really help, and no consultant needed.

    Comment


      Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
      D went to a lot of ID camps hosted by the colleges on her list. In most cases, the ID camp was the first time those coaches saw her play. A few of them made an effort to come to her showcases after those camps, but only two saw her at a showcase first and invited her for a visit. In the end, she received two offers from high-academic D3's...both of whom never heard of her until she showed up at their camps. The club didn't really help, and no consultant needed.
      This is the best way to be evaluated if you targeted correctly to seriously get on the coaches radar. Hopefully the dead period lifts for late winter camps.

      Comment


        A huge disadvantage a lot of players will face is not being able to play games in some states while others are playing. Imagine showing up at a showcase or Camp with very few games played this year.

        Comment


          Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
          A huge disadvantage a lot of players will face is not being able to play games in some states while others are playing. Imagine showing up at a showcase or Camp with very few games played this year.
          Up to players to keep fit and always working. I'm not sure any state has bans on youth sports, just limitations, and certainly you can at least do small group play.

          Comment


            Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
            This is the best way to be evaluated if you targeted correctly to seriously get on the coaches radar. Hopefully the dead period lifts for late winter camps.
            Even when coaches see you in a showcase it's usually brief, like 20 minutes, and they want you to come to their ID events too. But if you're going without any prior feedback you need to really do your homework that you're targeting right. Doesn't hurt to do 1-2 at local schools (no travel) that you're not interested in that may be a similar level of the ones you are so you see if you're aiming right. It also helps you see how they're run, what to expect etc so when it matters you're ready to go and confident

            Comment


              Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
              D went to a lot of ID camps hosted by the colleges on her list. In most cases, the ID camp was the first time those coaches saw her play. A few of them made an effort to come to her showcases after those camps, but only two saw her at a showcase first and invited her for a visit. In the end, she received two offers from high-academic D3's...both of whom never heard of her until she showed up at their camps. The club didn't really help, and no consultant needed.
              When did your daughter start attending the ID camps?

              Comment


                Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                When did your daughter start attending the ID camps?
                not the poster but keep in mind many poster's kids would have been under the old timelines, not the new revised ones. unless your kid is some ynt stud, doing an experimental one or two is a good idea, probably summer going into sophomore year. that way when your kid is firing up the recruiting effort for sophomore year they'll have a better idea of where they fit. obviously with covid now all the timelines are screwed up

                Comment


                  Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                  Up to players to keep fit and always working. I'm not sure any state has bans on youth sports, just limitations, and certainly you can at least do small group play.
                  Staying fit and working only takes you so far. Speed of play, especially small-sided (which they do often in ID camps) definitely will be at a disadvantage.

                  Comment


                    Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                    When did your daughter start attending the ID camps?
                    She attended her first ID camp fall semester of sophomore year. It was for a D3 school with strong academics and soccer, and honestly we looked at it more for her to gauge her skill level to see if she had the soccer ability than to really try to showcase. After that, the majority of ID camps she went to were between spring of sophomore year and spring of junior year. For the D3 camps she went to, seems like junior year is the best time to go.

                    For the two D1 camps she went to (both Ivy League), she went spring of junior year. She showed well, but both coaches basically told her that because it was the first time they saw her, it was basically too late.

                    Comment


                      Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                      Staying fit and working only takes you so far. Speed of play, especially small-sided (which they do often in ID camps) definitely will be at a disadvantage.
                      What states are flat out disallowing youth soccer? I know some states pushed high school fall soccer to the spring, but I don't think any don't have club soccer happening in the fall.

                      Comment


                        Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                        She attended her first ID camp fall semester of sophomore year. It was for a D3 school with strong academics and soccer, and honestly we looked at it more for her to gauge her skill level to see if she had the soccer ability than to really try to showcase. After that, the majority of ID camps she went to were between spring of sophomore year and spring of junior year. For the D3 camps she went to, seems like junior year is the best time to go.

                        For the two D1 camps she went to (both Ivy League), she went spring of junior year. She showed well, but both coaches basically told her that because it was the first time they saw her, it was basically too late.
                        The last line says everything: do NOT wait until all the stars are perfectly aligned to get exposure for your kid. Even under the "new" timeline, the top programs (including Ivies) fill the bulk of their recruiting classes early. Covid and the logjam of gap year players will only make things harder. Being patient or passive does NOT work in this type of environment.

                        Comment


                          Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                          The last line says everything: do NOT wait until all the stars are perfectly aligned to get exposure for your kid. Even under the "new" timeline, the top programs (including Ivies) fill the bulk of their recruiting classes early. Covid and the logjam of gap year players will only make things harder. Being patient or passive does NOT work in this type of environment.
                          Fwiw, it wasn't so much that they filled all of their spots too early (although yes, some of their spots were filled). But rather, they said that unless D was one of those super-amazing players (which she was not), there's no way that they could justify taking the chance of giving her one of the remaining spots over a comparable player whom they've been tracking for more than a year. By spring of junior year, there just weren't enough opportunities to see her play that would make up for the difference in exposure.

                          Comment


                            Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                            Fwiw, it wasn't so much that they filled all of their spots too early (although yes, some of their spots were filled). But rather, they said that unless D was one of those super-amazing players (which she was not), there's no way that they could justify taking the chance of giving her one of the remaining spots over a comparable player whom they've been tracking for more than a year. By spring of junior year, there just weren't enough opportunities to see her play that would make up for the difference in exposure.
                            Similar thing happened to friends D playing hockey - she was injured part of the prime time for her to be tracked and by the time she was ready to go coaches said they hadn't seen her enough and they were giving offers to players they'd seen several times already.

                            Comment


                              Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                              Similar thing happened to friends D playing hockey - she was injured part of the prime time for her to be tracked and by the time she was ready to go coaches said they hadn't seen her enough and they were giving offers to players they'd seen several times already.
                              For my D, the problem was that she was very small entering HS. Eventually grew 6 inches (!) between entering freshman year and graduating HS, so in the prime tracking years she was still significantly smaller/weaker than players she was playing with/against. She was basically a kid playing against adults for the most part. By junior year, she was almost "full size" and could finally make a good impression at these clinics, but for the D1 schools that was apparently too late.

                              Comment


                                If we are heading into the worst COVID season, what are the chances the dead period gets pushed out even further?

                                Comment

                                Previously entered content was automatically saved. Restore or Discard.
                                Auto-Saved
                                x
                                Insert: Thumbnail Small Medium Large Fullsize Remove  
                                x
                                Working...
                                X