when does college recruiting start

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The big differences are the length of the season and the travel distances.

Not entirely - in this area the travel is easy. You can't swing a dead cat without hitting a D3 school. Out west and south there's a few conferences there's big travel because of geography and fewer D3s. And I can't remember the name of the conference but it has several top academics in it like U Chicago, Hopkins, Emory, Rochester, NYU - not exactly next door neighbors.

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It's the top league!

If you want to play against the TOP competition you must play DA!!

If you want your kid to play D1 soccer he has to play DA!!!

All the college coaches scout DA!!!!

High school soccer ruins development!!!!!

NPL is terrible soccer!!!!!!

What a complete load of crap.

Take a look at the 2018 Boys Soccer Verbal Commitments thread:

http://talking-soccer.com/TS4/showth...150790&page=64

There are 48 kids committed to D1(5 on the Revs aren't listed there but I added them in for full disclosure).

There are 10 from the Bolts DA, 8 from the Revs and 2 from Seacoast.

The Development Academy accounts for 20 total Massachusetts kids going D1, which is roughly 42%

Roughly 70% of those DA kids are headed to college in New England.

There are 116 total kids listed in the commits thread.

That means 83% of the kids headed to play college soccer didn't play DA.

Why do DA kids need to travel to NJ for a game, or Florida for a tournament, or California for the playoffs? They're all basically going to school locally.

Why play DA at all?

Why give up high school soccer when the vast majority of players in MA that go on to play college soccer ALSO play high school soccer?

Don't accept playing less than 50% of the games to say you play DA. No one, including college coaches, seem to care.

Find the best team you can that is close to home. Stop driving all over the place. The numbers don't lie. You don't need DA to play college soccer.

There isn't enough money in men's soccer to make all the DA crap worth anyone's time.

If you pay for DA you are nuts. If you play for free you're just misguided.

Save time, money and mileage and move on from DA.

This is for the daddy war bucks who thinks he needs to have his daughter on an ECNL/DA team in order to play at some D3 program. If the kid isn't willing to do the work, the patch on the uniform really means nothing.

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ISo basically this boils down to the kid not having the desire to do the work and the parents having the financial wherewithal to pamper her. The poster can disguise it however they want but the reality is they probably had minimal options simply because their kid didn't do the work to create better options for herself. Don't know why they feel the need to defend their choices like this. It's fairly common these days. What I have witnessed over the years has been that kids like that don't just switch gears once they get to college and that their work rates usually drops coming out of middle school to accommodate all of their external interests so they don't actually develop to the potential they once might have had. That doesn't stop the parents from putting them on ECNL/DA teams but if the kid isn't invested in doing the work it doesn't make any difference in the end result. If they struggle once in college that's really the proof that they needed to work harder.

Oh that's right, they should have just played rec soccer and saved all that dough on soccer if all they wanted was D3 soccer.

[Unregistered]

[QUOTE=Unregistered;2217582

So basically this boils down to the kid not having the desire to do the work and the parents having the financial wherewithal to pamper her. The poster can disguise it however they want but the reality is they probably had minimal options simply because their kid didn't do the work to create better options for herself. Don't know why they feel the need to defend their choices like this. It's fairly common these days. What I have witnessed over the years has been that kids like that don't just switch gears once they get to college and that their work rates usually drops coming out of middle school to accommodate all of their external interests so they don't actually develop to the potential they once might have had. That doesn't stop the parents from putting them on ECNL/DA teams but if the kid isn't invested in doing the work it doesn't make any difference in the end result. If they struggle once in college that's really the proof that they needed to work harder.[/QUOTE]

this is an unpopular opinion that the D3 Defenders will attack. I see many good, even very good soccer players going D3 and fulfilling their family dreams of saying she was "recruited" to and is playing soccer for <Prestigious D3 School>. This is a great outcome, and one that family should be very proud of. Lest be clear, tho, it is an Academic outcome. The "desire" theme in the above post is real. Many players begin to wander in HS. Friends, other sports, boys, girls, etc. The amount of work it takes to be a top D1 prospect is beyond the commitment threshold of most players and their families (including my D). The focus, sacrifice (yes, you miss the dance) and the work necessary to become a truly differentiated, sought after D1 player is remarkable. That desire doesn't go poof once in college. Players want to play.

[Unregistered]

This is for the daddy war bucks who thinks he needs to have his daughter on an ECNL/DA team in order to play at some D3 program. If the kid isn't willing to do the work, the patch on the uniform really means nothing.

Definitely don't do GDA - why give up HS and other sports if D1 isn't the goal as it's entirely unnecessary.

[Unregistered]

this is an unpopular opinion that the D3 Defenders will attack. I see many good, even very good soccer players going D3 and fulfilling their family dreams of saying she was "recruited" to and is playing soccer for <Prestigious D3 School>. This is a great outcome, and one that family should be very proud of. Lest be clear, tho, it is an Academic outcome. The "desire" theme in the above post is real. Many players begin to wander in HS. Friends, other sports, boys, girls, etc. The amount of work it takes to be a top D1 prospect is beyond the commitment threshold of most players and their families (including my D). The focus, sacrifice (yes, you miss the dance) and the work necessary to become a truly differentiated, sought after D1 player is remarkable. That desire doesn't go poof once in college. Players want to play.

You keep giving yourself away by screwing up how to quote posts

[Unregistered]

Not entirely - in this area the travel is easy. You can't swing a dead cat without hitting a D3 school. Out west and south there's a few conferences there's big travel because of geography and fewer D3s. And I can't remember the name of the conference but it has several top academics in it like U Chicago, Hopkins, Emory, Rochester, NYU - not exactly next door neighbors.

But they seem to play their league games on Friday/Sunday so there is less interruption with school. I looked at NYU's schedule and it looks like they only had one weekday travel game. Also the amount of preseason is different isn't it?

[Unregistered]

this is an unpopular opinion that the D3 Defenders will attack. I see many good, even very good soccer players going D3 and fulfilling their family dreams of saying she was "recruited" to and is playing soccer for <Prestigious D3 School>. This is a great outcome, and one that family should be very proud of. Lest be clear, tho, it is an Academic outcome. The "desire" theme in the above post is real. Many players begin to wander in HS. Friends, other sports, boys, girls, etc. The amount of work it takes to be a top D1 prospect is beyond the commitment threshold of most players and their families (including my D). The focus, sacrifice (yes, you miss the dance) and the work necessary to become a truly differentiated, sought after D1 player is remarkable. That desire doesn't go poof once in college. Players want to play.

Most parents make excuses for their kids and actually send the clear message to them that soccer is a lesser priority to school and their social life. That's called be a normal kid and there is nothing wrong with being a normal kid. Having a balanced life is actually quite a healthy perspective but on the flip side if you think that kid is also going to turn around and compete straight up with a kid who is only focused on being the best soccer player they can be they are nuts.

[Unregistered]

this is an unpopular opinion that the D3 Defenders will attack. I see many good, even very good soccer players going D3 and fulfilling their family dreams of saying she was "recruited" to and is playing soccer for <Prestigious D3 School>. This is a great outcome, and one that family should be very proud of. Lest be clear, tho, it is an Academic outcome. The "desire" theme in the above post is real. Many players begin to wander in HS. Friends, other sports, boys, girls, etc. The amount of work it takes to be a top D1 prospect is beyond the commitment threshold of most players and their families (including my D). The focus, sacrifice (yes, you miss the dance) and the work necessary to become a truly differentiated, sought after D1 player is remarkable. That desire doesn't go poof once in college. Players want to play.

One enjoys a balanced life and wants soccer and study abroad.
The other dreams soccer, and would never consider trading the team for spring in Milan - unless she were playing.

Both win.

[Unregistered]

You keep giving yourself away by screwing up how to quote posts

Your logic seems flawed. An experienced user is less likely to screw up posts, An in-experienced user is more likely. So you know who I am because I come here less?

[Unregistered]

One enjoys a balanced life and wants soccer and study abroad.
The other dreams soccer, and would never consider trading the team for spring in Milan - unless she were playing.

Both win.

Except in the mind of the prior poster who clearly thinks the D3 athlete is less of a person. Every one is different. A D3 commitment is still a big commitment, just more compressed. Most good programs still have strenuous out of season work out and practice schedules ("captains" practices). They get no academic support or accommodations like D1 athletes do. Also, plenty of D1 athletes would love to study in Milan (and some find ways to do short stints) but have prioritized sports. More important is the ability (or lack there of) to do internships as that impacts your career path more. There's also some crap D1 programs out there - that's a great deal of sacrifices for losing seasons

[Unregistered]

Except in the mind of the prior poster who clearly thinks the D3 athlete is less of a person. Every one is different. A D3 commitment is still a big commitment, just more compressed. Most good programs still have strenuous out of season work out and practice schedules ("captains" practices). They get no academic support or accommodations like D1 athletes do. Also, plenty of D1 athletes would love to study in Milan (and some find ways to do short stints) but have prioritized sports. More important is the ability (or lack there of) to do internships as that impacts your career path more. There's also some crap D1 programs out there - that's a great deal of sacrifices for losing seasons

If D3 is so difficult, why do it? If academics are the priority why not let them be the priority and be done with all of the silliness. At this point pretty much everyone understands that there is no financial reward (merit money is for academics) and little admissions help tied to soccer at the D3 level so its pretty clear that the chosen trajectory is more about academics than soccer. Why do soccer at all at that point? Its hard to understand why people like you need as much validation for your decision as you clearly do. You and your kid made choices. If you feel good about them one would think that should be all the validation you would need.

[Unregistered]

Except in the mind of the prior poster who clearly thinks the D3 athlete is less of a person. Every one is different. A D3 commitment is still a big commitment, just more compressed. Most good programs still have strenuous out of season work out and practice schedules ("captains" practices). They get no academic support or accommodations like D1 athletes do. Also, plenty of D1 athletes would love to study in Milan (and some find ways to do short stints) but have prioritized sports. More important is the ability (or lack there of) to do internships as that impacts your career path more. There's also some crap D1 programs out there - that's a great deal of sacrifices for losing seasons

Ah nice to see that Geppetto is back. Wants to make certain everyone knows that he has a "real" soccer player. Talk about having a chip on ones shoulder.

[Unregistered]

If D3 is so difficult, why do it? If academics are the priority why not let them be the priority and be done with all of the silliness. At this point pretty much everyone understands that there is no financial reward (merit money is for academics) and little admissions help tied to soccer at the D3 level so its pretty clear that the chosen trajectory is more about academics than soccer. Why do soccer at all at that point? Its hard to understand why people like you need as much validation for your decision as you clearly do. You and your kid made choices. If you feel good about them one would think that should be all the validation you would need.

You've been busy this morning - posting about what a waste of time playing college soccer is, ruining their college experience etc.

[Unregistered]

If D3 is so difficult, why do it? If academics are the priority why not let them be the priority and be done with all of the silliness. At this point pretty much everyone understands that there is no financial reward (merit money is for academics) and little admissions help tied to soccer at the D3 level so its pretty clear that the chosen trajectory is more about academics than soccer. Why do soccer at all at that point? Its hard to understand why people like you need as much validation for your decision as you clearly do. You and your kid made choices. If you feel good about them one would think that should be all the validation you would need.

Crazy to think that maybe kids playing D3 are still passionate about the sport and still want to play, they just want a different balance? Nah, couldn't be. You're right. If you aren't doing D1 it isn't worth doing. W should save our money and have our kids do rec soccer too. After all, what's the point?