Navigating College Offers

[Unregistered]

Dilemma here. My daughters first choice of college finished recruiting her grad year so we moved on and she committed(verbally) to her second choice. A very good package and has developed a pretty good relationship with the coaching staff. Now the dilemma ....the coach of her first choice just got fired. I know most schools will honor verbal commits but I'm sure not all will stay committed. Conversely the new coach might have his or her own list of recruits and existing players might want to transfer. This is a long way to go to ask if anyone has had any experience with this or advice how to handle this without even knowing who the new coach will be. I know this is premature but showcases start this weekend and I'm walking a tightrope of the safe versus the unpredictable. I know she'd be happy with her second choice but her "dream school" might be an option again albeit a risky bet. These are both D1 schools.

No point in doing anything until the new coach is named at first choice school. When that happens, consider reaching out to new coach.

[Unregistered]

No point in doing anything until the new coach is named at first choice school. When that happens, consider reaching out to new coach.

Agreed. There's no telling where it will go. Even if she reached out to the assistant coaches who might be at the event they could be canned with a new coach, or at a minimum the new coach won't care about their opinions. New coach could be awesome or a total douche. If she's a junior there's still time to see where it goes. If she's a senior the clock is ticking to Feb 1.

[Unregistered]

Your child is going to school to gain education to start a career. They will not be a professional soccer player. Pick the school that fits your child's chosen academic interests and will benefit them the most over the 40 years of their working life.

Academics first
Soccer second

[Unregistered]

Your child is going to school to gain education to start a career. They will not be a professional soccer player. Pick the school that fits your child's chosen academic interests and will benefit them the most over the 40 years of their working life.

Academics first
Soccer second

While I agree with your premise this decision cannot be made in a vacuum. She could have gone to her dream school and get a great education(as with the other school) but she would have to essentially walk on with no financial help athletically and hope to earn a scholarship. Several other schools were interested but it was not reciprocated. Our
Best hope is one of those asst or HC get the job. Full disclosure we couldn't afford to send her to her dream school even factoring in need based aid and merit which from my understanding the coaches sometimes use for offsetting athletic money. I agree it's early and she is a JR but this whole process is very stressful(for me). Thanks probably sound like a lunatic parent(won't disagree btw)

[Unregistered]

Your child is going to school to gain education to start a career. They will not be a professional soccer player. Pick the school that fits your child's chosen academic interests and will benefit them the most over the 40 years of their working life.

Academics first
Soccer second

Please go stick your head in a bucket of acid. Your constant derailing of any scholarship discussion is beyond annoying. What parents are asking about in this thread has nothing to do with the academic fit, it is about negotiating a money deal, something you have never shown any particular insight into or demonstrated you have any experience with. If you have nothing of value to add to that discussion just leave and take your trolling elsewhere.

[Unregistered]

While I agree with your premise this decision cannot be made in a vacuum. She could have gone to her dream school and get a great education(as with the other school) but she would have to essentially walk on with no financial help athletically and hope to earn a scholarship. Several other schools were interested but it was not reciprocated. Our
Best hope is one of those asst or HC get the job. Full disclosure we couldn't afford to send her to her dream school even factoring in need based aid and merit which from my understanding the coaches sometimes use for offsetting athletic money. I agree it's early and she is a JR but this whole process is very stressful(for me). Thanks probably sound like a lunatic parent(won't disagree btw)

Please stop indulging the loon. He doesn't actually know squat about how to proceed in your situation. His advice will end up with your kid going to some D3 school to play soccer and you left paying the freight for the privilege of that happening. Haven't you pumped enough money into the soccer industry? Isn't it time to get something in return?

Here are a couple of things to think about.

#1 - The knuckleheads on this site typically see recruiting as something akin to a beauty pageant when in reality it is more a marketing exercise. What you are really trying to do is sort through a ton of clutter to find the situation that values her skill set the most and in return is willing to offer her the most resources to help her get the highest quality education possible.

#2 - Your daughter's ability to play soccer is a commodity. When you are talking about chasing a scholarship you are really talking about selling her ability to play soccer in exchange for a promise of an education. Fit in the D1 world is a complicated thing to sort out because in order to truly get the promised education you need to produce on the soccer field. You need to come to grips with the business aspect of D1 college sports and realize it is essentially a produce or perish type of environment.

#3 - If you or your daughter are not prepared to fully sell out for the scholarship then stop right now and forget playing soccer in college. Being a D1 athlete is a full time job. If your daughter goes into it with the mindset that soccer is second she will end up rightfully perceived as an uncommitted player and will find herself at the end of the bench and likely miserable. Not being committed to your job is a recipe for disaster on many fronts.

#4 - If your daughter is going to play a sport at the D1 level, you will need to recognize that there is no way she will get the same education that a "normal" student at that same school will get so you can't actually base much on the supposed "academic fit" people around here like to tout because her fit will largely be a function of the academic resources provided by the athletic department and the attitudes of the head coach towards academics. If you are not careful she could end up with a degree (the NCAA will ensure that) but not much in the way of an education.

#5 - When it comes down to parlaying an ability to play a sport into an education, you should probably know that the high brow academic colleges around here like the Ivies and Patriot League schools generally offer the least amount of money, the least amount of academic resources, and the school administrations and faculty generally have the worst attitudes towards athletes. In order to get a high quality education (not just a degree) from one of these types of institutions you have to be both abnormally bright and abnormally dedicated as well as able to fight through a whole lot of indifference to get through to graduation. The love affair some around here have for these highly ranked academic institutions shows a complete lack of understanding of what is going on in the world of college sports these days as well as what else is out there.

[Unregistered]

While I agree with your premise this decision cannot be made in a vacuum. She could have gone to her dream school and get a great education(as with the other school) but she would have to essentially walk on with no financial help athletically and hope to earn a scholarship. Several other schools were interested but it was not reciprocated. Our
Best hope is one of those asst or HC get the job. Full disclosure we couldn't afford to send her to her dream school even factoring in need based aid and merit which from my understanding the coaches sometimes use for offsetting athletic money. I agree it's early and she is a JR but this whole process is very stressful(for me). Thanks probably sound like a lunatic parent(won't disagree btw)

Definitely wait it out and see where it goes. There's still time. It is stressful but most of the times things work out the way they should.

[Unregistered]

[QUOTE=Unregistered;1954496]Your child is going to school to gain education to start a career. They will not be a professional soccer player. Pick the school that fits your child's chosen academic interests and will benefit them the most over the 40 years of their working life.

Academics first
Soccer second

and >>>> NO soccer players from Central will be going to play soccer at Holy Cross.
School YES
Soccer NO

[Unregistered]

[QUOTE=Unregistered;1954623]

Your child is going to school to gain education to start a career. They will not be a professional soccer player. Pick the school that fits your child's chosen academic interests and will benefit them the most over the 40 years of their working life.

Academics first
Soccer second

and >>>> NO soccer players from Central will be going to play soccer at Holy Cross.
School YES
Soccer NO

Huh? I think the poster was talking about head coach, HC.

[Unregistered]

Although the article below is about a girl being recruited to swim in college, it may provide some insights on the process. I am sure there are similar stories by soccer recruits:

http://www.chronicle.com/article/The...NzdIZnZBY0FJTQ

[Unregistered]

Although the article below is about a girl being recruited to swim in college, it may provide some insights on the process. I am sure there are similar stories by soccer recruits:

http://www.chronicle.com/article/The...NzdIZnZBY0FJTQ

Can't read the article because it requires a subscription but based upon the summary

"Alison Goldblatt and her family believed that her elite status as a swimmer would pay her way at the college of her choice. But they found out the truth."

You already know that they screwed something up. If the kid truly was an elite level swimmer there should have been scholarship opportunities out there for her but if she got burned then the family did something wrong. Could be as simple as targeting a swimming program that didn't value her swimming ability nearly as much as the parents thought they should have. That happens a lot because parents go looking for top level situations for their kids and don't realize that their kids aren't all that desirable a prospect in the program's eye and so things like the money offered end up being a disappointment to them.

[Unregistered]

Can't read the article because it requires a subscription but based upon the summary

"Alison Goldblatt and her family believed that her elite status as a swimmer would pay her way at the college of her choice. But they found out the truth."

You already know that they screwed something up. If the kid truly was an elite level swimmer there should have been scholarship opportunities out there for her but if she got burned then the family did something wrong. Could be as simple as targeting a swimming program that didn't value her swimming ability nearly as much as the parents thought they should have. That happens a lot because parents go looking for top level situations for their kids and don't realize that their kids aren't all that desirable a prospect in the program's eye and so things like the money offered end up being a disappointment to them.

Or they simply got caught up in the hype of being "elite." That certainly is a term bandied about in soccer all the time when it hardly describes the actual soccer being played. And for many schools grades matter more - if you rely too heavily on athletic prowess vs academics your options will be more limited

But yes everyone should have a frank discussion with their kids' coaches about what level is appropriate to target. Get online and see where target schools recruit from - is your kid playing at that level now? Watch video or go to games if a school is nearby - is that a realistic program for him/her? It's ok to stretch a bit but not out of arm's length.

[Unregistered]

Ever hear the phrase "champagne taste but beer budget?" I have seen a lot of parents over the years grossly over estimate their child's ability and then think they were going to be able to sweep aside things like academic requirements because their kid was such a great athlete. When it comes to D1 recruiting, you get the most money and concessions from the programs that need your child's athletic abilities the most and typically that means going after what might be considered a safety choice rather than a reach one.

[Unregistered]

When it comes to D1 recruiting, you get the most money and concessions from the programs that need your child's athletic abilities the most and typically that means going after what might be considered a safety choice rather than a reach one.

This is true on the academic side as well. Just substitute "academic abilities " for "athletic abilities". You'll get the most money, merit or athletic, by targeting safety schools; schools that are a notch or two below your target.

[Unregistered]

Please stop indulging the loon. He doesn't actually know squat about how to proceed in your situation. His advice will end up with your kid going to some D3 school to play soccer and you left paying the freight for the privilege of that happening. Haven't you pumped enough money into the soccer industry? Isn't it time to get something in return?

Here are a couple of things to think about.

#1 - The knuckleheads on this site typically see recruiting as something akin to a beauty pageant when in reality it is more a marketing exercise. What you are really trying to do is sort through a ton of clutter to find the situation that values her skill set the most and in return is willing to offer her the most resources to help her get the highest quality education possible.

#2 - Your daughter's ability to play soccer is a commodity. When you are talking about chasing a scholarship you are really talking about selling her ability to play soccer in exchange for a promise of an education. Fit in the D1 world is a complicated thing to sort out because in order to truly get the promised education you need to produce on the soccer field. You need to come to grips with the business aspect of D1 college sports and realize it is essentially a produce or perish type of environment.

#3 - If you or your daughter are not prepared to fully sell out for the scholarship then stop right now and forget playing soccer in college. Being a D1 athlete is a full time job. If your daughter goes into it with the mindset that soccer is second she will end up rightfully perceived as an uncommitted player and will find herself at the end of the bench and likely miserable. Not being committed to your job is a recipe for disaster on many fronts.

#4 - If your daughter is going to play a sport at the D1 level, you will need to recognize that there is no way she will get the same education that a "normal" student at that same school will get so you can't actually base much on the supposed "academic fit" people around here like to tout because her fit will largely be a function of the academic resources provided by the athletic department and the attitudes of the head coach towards academics. If you are not careful she could end up with a degree (the NCAA will ensure that) but not much in the way of an education.

#5 - When it comes down to parlaying an ability to play a sport into an education, you should probably know that the high brow academic colleges around here like the Ivies and Patriot League schools generally offer the least amount of money, the least amount of academic resources, and the school administrations and faculty generally have the worst attitudes towards athletes. In order to get a high quality education (not just a degree) from one of these types of institutions you have to be both abnormally bright and abnormally dedicated as well as able to fight through a whole lot of indifference to get through to graduation. The love affair some around here have for these highly ranked academic institutions shows a complete lack of understanding of what is going on in the world of college sports these days as well as what else is out there.

While this poster sounds like a real jack@ss, he makes some valid points. If your kid is not willing to commit to soccer as a job, then playing D1 will be problematic. That's why most of the posters were talking about "academic fit" that he so quickly dismisses.