What does your Club do to assist in college recruiting

[Unregistered]

I agree ... If I knew then what I know now my daughter would be with the Stars over the breakers but she is a senior and it's finally over .

Our oldest daughter got great help from Breakers, but that was a couple of years ago. Wonder what changed.

[Unregistered]

Our oldest daughter got great help from Breakers, but that was a couple of years ago. Wonder what changed.

KC left and so did all the help with colleges ...SS was going to do it and that's a joke then some of the Breakers guys helped but now they are gone ...We just lucked out to be between FM latest and his next greatest bad decision So we ended up emailing ,calling, and sending letters to colleges our self . We landed a prefect deal for our daughter with NO help from the Breakers ....Glad this ride is over in the spring . If we could do it all over it would be NEFC or Stars for us .

[Unregistered]

KC left and so did all the help with colleges ...SS was going to do it and that's a joke then some of the Breakers guys helped but now they are gone ...We just lucked out to be between FM latest and his next greatest bad decision So we ended up emailing ,calling, and sending letters to colleges our self . We landed a prefect deal for our daughter with NO help from the Breakers ....Glad this ride is over in the spring . If we could do it all over it would be NEFC or Stars for us .

Your experience is more typical. It can also vary greatly from coach to coach - some go to great lengths while others don't, even within the same club. Go in with the attitude that you will get little help and be surprised and grateful if you do

[Unregistered]

KC left and so did all the help with colleges ...SS was going to do it and that's a joke then some of the Breakers guys helped but now they are gone ...We just lucked out to be between FM latest and his next greatest bad decision So we ended up emailing ,calling, and sending letters to colleges our self . We landed a prefect deal for our daughter with NO help from the Breakers ....Glad this ride is over in the spring . If we could do it all over it would be NEFC or Stars for us .

Glad it worked out in the end. Stars seems to do quite a bit for their players. Don't know how many NEFC players continue playing in college, but it is a good organization.

[Unregistered]

Thanks for the reply. I figured the club wouldn't help much and it would be left to us - mostly her with our guidance. But I'm sure the coach will tell us about how great the club is at helping through the process. Between this one and her younger sister, we are 12 years of club fees to them.

Families should assume college search is their job. Clubs will offer things like an info night, and if you identify a college of interest and ask club coach if they know that college's coach, then maybe that could be a help.
But, it's best to go into this with the mindset that club soccer coaches do not have the knowledge that guidance counselors and college advisors have. Most club coaches, especially if not from around here, do not know the profile of your child's high school, the level of courses she's taking, her grades, her other extracurriculars and her standardized test results.
Even the soccer part, college coaches go mostly on what their eyes tell them, and the communication from the student, so a club or high school coach's input is usually minor.
No doubt there are club coaches out there who are pretty knowledgeable, like if their own children have gone through college decision making. And there are some who coach at a college. But best to think of those situations as a stroke of good luck, and set your expectations that your family will handle most of the work re colleges without that much assistance from the club. If it ends up being more than that, pleasant surprise.

[Unregistered]

Have a look at the college recruiting forum on backofthenet.com. Extremely useful info on the process.

Thanks - hadn't heard of that site.

[Unregistered]

nefc has a ton of information on their website and has been extremely helpful in the process for my child, check it out

Thanks. I'll take a look.

[Unregistered]

My daughter plays for breakers ECNL and they do nothing to help . As previous posters advised . The parents and kids need to control the process . My daughter is committed to a good D2 school with zero help from FM and the scorpions-breakers-fc Boston

Glad it worked out for you and hopefully a good fit for your daughter. Any advice on what you did to identify fit to the program or how your daughter got involved with the school? When did you start?

thanks.

[Unregistered]

Get your daughter on a Stars ECNL team. Say what you want about JD but he's the best in Mass at getting his players off to top schools.

I've heard that kids in the club have success in getting into top schools. Curious as to what the Stars do differently than other clubs to help in the process? Are they just better at attracting talent that college coaches want, or are they doing something different to prepare kids for the recruiting process?

[Unregistered]

Thanks for the reply.

On 1, I'm not sure what a realistic goal is. Being my oldest, I don't have much to compare her to to understand where she stands. Am hoping the coaches and club will help provide a realistic assessment of what's possible.

On 2, I don't care what D she ends up at. Course of study and fit are going to be more important than D1.

Good advice on 3 and 4. Completely agree on 4. It's her job, not mine. But we as parents have to play mentor and guide. I'm no helicopter parent.

The Club will give you guidance on the process, advice on how to contact coaches, and the platform to develop and showcase your D. It is on you to decide where she is interested and initiate contact with coaches. It's not too early to get started.
1. Set realistic goals: If she wants to chase D1, that is a serious commitment to soccer. Now and in college. Is she on top team of top club playing in top league and top brackets at showcase events? Does she want to have college classes compromised by soccer?
2. Consider D3 and connect now: You're fortunate enough to have the money to pay for college, so why D1? There are top academic schools in D3 with competitive programs (e.g. Williams) offering a great experience and balance of school/sports
3. Form relationships early. If you have money for college, you have money for summer travel and attending college summer ID camps. Do em. Get to know a few coaches, and
4. She is applying not you. While you may be needed to enter a credit card and book travel, she should be sending ALL communications with school from HER email address.

[Unregistered]

not BTNT, no agenda other than trying to learn from people who've been through the process or are in the process now. This accusation crap is what makes this forum less useful than it could be.

You won't need any help from the club, BTNT, based on the info above. You'll do just fine. But since you have a 8th grader on a top club you already knew all this, right?

[Unregistered]

Pretty sure the top clubs will tell you exactly what they will do. Coming on here very few days with the same question acting like you are looking for answers that the coach you see several times a week can answer for you quite easily is bizarre...and phony.

I'll ask my club, and I'm sure I can get an answer from the coach, but if the coach is worth anything to the club, I'll get the company line. And I don't see the coaches from the clubs I'm not part of that I would compare my club to.

[Unregistered]

KC left and so did all the help with colleges ...SS was going to do it and that's a joke then some of the Breakers guys helped but now they are gone ...We just lucked out to be between FM latest and his next greatest bad decision So we ended up emailing ,calling, and sending letters to colleges our self . We landed a prefect deal for our daughter with NO help from the Breakers ....Glad this ride is over in the spring . If we could do it all over it would be NEFC or Stars for us .

That's two breakers do nothing messages.

Curious as to why you didn't go to the other clubs? Opportunity? Kid didn't want to switch? Geography?

Thanks

[Unregistered]

That's two breakers do nothing messages.

Curious as to why you didn't go to the other clubs? Opportunity? Kid didn't want to switch? Geography?

Thanks

daughter was with the same core group of girls for 6 yrs now she is a senior .. Our ship has sailed

[beentheredonethat]

This will probably devolve into another TS !@#$ show, but I'll try.

Daughter is in 8th grade, and she announced that she'd like to play in college. She's playing on a top team at her club. I'm wondering what clubs do to help kids find the right fit in college if they want to play beyond high school and help them achieve that.

I'll ask my club what they do and I'm sure they'll tell me how awesome they are at this college thing, but was curious what others have actually experienced or are experiencing today. What does the club do at different age groups? I'm aware of the showcase tournaments that many attend, but what else? Do they help match kids to colleges based on skill and work ethic? Do they contact college coaches on behalf of kids? I don't know what to expect, because I've never been through it.

And just to cut some things off now, I'm not expecting or counting on any scholarship to any school at any level. I've done well enough to afford to send my kids to college, and so have most of the people here. If she gets one, great. Second, school and course of study is more important that soccer. Once she decides what she wants to go to school for, that's going to guide her school selection much more than soccer fit.

So what does your club do? Or what did they do for you?

I’m going to ignore all the bs and take your post a face value. I’ll try to give you a straight and as honest an answer as I can. To do that, I am going to split my response into two posts. The first will basically be just the information you wanted to know. The second, I’m going to get on my soapbox. I have roughly 15 years worth of experience with club soccer and have had two daughters get scholarships to play in college so hopefully you’ll take my comments in the spirit in which it is offered. When I was first in your spot, some parents with older kids kindly offered me their experience which was incredibly helpful. I’m just trying to pay it forward.

What should you expect from you club? At a bare minimum should expect they give you an honest assessment of what level of college soccer your daughter is TRENDING towards. I use the word trending because of your daughter’s youth. Anyone with half a brain should recognize that she’s not a finished product yet. Unfortunately the way things are going these days, girls barely a year older than her are already committing to colleges and while that might not have a direct impact on your particular situation it does actually dictate the rules so to speak. Every club soccer parent should be able to look to their team’s coach for a reasonable assessment of the range of college programs they MIGHT be able to play in based upon the way they are trending. They should be able to tell you whether they think she projects to be a D1, 2, or 3 level player and then within that whether or not they are good enough to play at the very top of the division, the top third of it, the middle third, or the bottom third. That level of insight is a more than reasonable expectation and if the coach doesn’t have the experience to do that for you then you are getting gyped.

Though not directly related to your question, you need to factor in here the academic part of the equation. Unfortunately in the 8th grade most don’t have a whole lot of data with which to forecast what level of academic institution their child may be able to get into. You just have to do the best you can based upon the testing data you do have and her academic performance to date. The only advice I can offer here is to be very conservative unless your child is giving you concrete reasons to be otherwise

Within the picture created by your coach and your academic assessment, you will find that there is a rather small list of schools where things align. That is your starting point and from there 90% of the work rests on you and your daughter’s shoulders. Your daughter is the one that needs to figure out which one of the school on that short list she MIGHT want to go to college at and you the parents need to figure out which of those schools you can afford. Once you collectively target your list of “likely” schools it’s mostly on your daughter to do the work trying to get herself noticed by the coaches at them. There is no magic formula behind that, she has to be good enough to grab their interest when she has the opportunity to do so. If you have targeted your programs well and picked opportunities where she might have a legitimate shot at actually being seen, that shouldn’t be all the difficult to do. My experience has been the more intimate the exposure setting the more likely things work out but truthfully others have other experience so you’ll have figure out how you want to do the exposure part more on your own.

As far as the question about how much a club coach should be expected to do in terms of setting players up for a college deal the answer is it is variable. A lot depends upon the coach, their connections, and the expectations of the family. I’ve seen the amount of assistance offered be all over the map. My personal experience with players at both ends of the spectrum has been that the club coaches will do a fair amount for you if your expectations are reasonable and you aren’t a pain in the butt. The key is you need to be the one telling them who you want them to talk to. It really doesn’t happen the other way around.