Things to look for when researching College fit

[Unregistered]

This forum has been enlightening about the college recruiting process. I have a 2022 player and I'm trying to understand better the whole notion of fit. I'm less concern about the level of collegiate program. I know several threads tend to get off track and people debate D1 vs D3, etc. But that's not what I'm interested in understanding.

Twenty-eight years ago I played youth soccer and did ODP. The way coaches recruited back then and how they do now is way different. I was actually recruited to play in college out of ODP. Two schools offered me a full ride. I picked the school that was closest to home and that was it. I enjoyed my experience but didn't make lifelong friends from my team which was okay with me. I was just happy my parents didn't have to pay for college because they sacrificed a lot for me to play soccer. Now that I have kids who are entering the phase in their life where we are talking about playing is college I've realized the whole recruiting process if completely different than how it used to be. This idea of "right fit" feels overstated in some ways because how does a teenager really know if they'll like the school until they are actually a student on campus. I get you can get a feel for it from a visit but it's completely different once you get there.

I'm just wondering what things should we be thinking about in terms of fit that hasn't been said here. I want to hear different points of view on this because articles and interviews I've found on the internet kind of all say the same thing but really doesn't answer the question.

One thing a friend of mine told me (his daughter plays college bball) is to find out as much as possible about the coach and their coaching style. Because if a player feels uncomfortable with someone yelling we should probably stay away. Or if a coach doesn't push enough, a competitive player will probably hate playing on a team like this. Are there other things we should be thinking about aside from academic fit based on stats and college ranking? We plan on doing some college visits on our own Spring Break. Won't be meeting with coaches. Our trip is just to check out the campuses. So if there are things we should be thinking about, please let me know.

It sounds like you might be in better situation to address fit based on your own experience. A telling line was the following:

"I picked the school that was closest to home and that was it. I enjoyed my experience but didn't make lifelong friends from my team which was okay with me."

The above is dependent upon the personality of your kid. I doubt college coaches have changed a lot since when you played. They are nice when recruiting and then are different on the field. You might have better insight into spotting some of that or at least preparing your kid more for that.

My kid is the same age and I am at the same place you are but I envy your experience of having lived it already.

[Unregistered]

Chances of life long success are much greater if you put division and soccer last. Unless you play American football, division doesn’t mean all that much anyway. A soccer player might get calls from a Williams coach and also a Northsoutheast State type school that is D1 and has soccer equal or better than Williams. The soccer above all else players will pick the D1 school. The academically smart student who values education as much or more than soccer, picks Williams. Williams covers all need based aid too so it will usually end up cheaper than the state school to attend. A Williams degree is a big bonus.

Unfortunately, most student athletes don’t have the brains to get into a school like Williams, much less the brains and the soccer ability to play there. Many lower academic kids only have sports. If that sport can help them go to any college at any level and get some education, it’s a win win situation.

[Unregistered]

Unfortunately, most student athletes don’t have the brains to get into a school like Williams, much less the brains and the soccer ability to play there. Many lower academic kids only have sports. If that sport can help them go to any college at any level and get some education, it’s a win win situation.

Agreed, but sadly I've also seen some decently smart-ish kids sacrifice educational quality just to play soccer or insure better PT. More so with boys than girls.

[Unregistered]

Or you could focus on the quality of life things that actually really matter for an athlete like commuting distance on campus, quality of athletic meal facilities, quality of training facilities, quality of health care, quality of academic supports etc

These items are actually pretty important. Once my kid had constructed her target list based on having the necessary majors, the soccer program, the chance to win, etc. the tiebreakers became all these "little" things.

How far was the field & locker rooms from the dorms? How far were they from most of the classroom buildings and the library? What kind of surface were they going to train and play on? What was the travel schedule like during the season? Were there going to be decent food options available after practice or before lift sessions? etc.

I was pretty frustrated at the reasoning she used to eliminate certain programs from consideration, because to me they were really minor things. But then I hear about kids taking a bus from class to the practice field, or sharing training space with other sports, or not being able to get decent food after a late practice, and I suspect that they can wear a kid down over time and make for a miserable experience.

[Unregistered]

I guess the "it's a job" thing is pretty fluid.....like a job with Google playing ping pong with great snacks, or like coal mining or heavy machine operation.

[Unregistered]

Agreed, but sadly I've also seen some decently smart-ish kids sacrifice educational quality just to play soccer or insure better PT. More so with boys than girls.

and why exactly shouldn't they? Would you give this same advice to a kid who wanted to be a chemist and all they were concerned with was the lab situation and their access to it?

[Unregistered]

Unfortunately, most student athletes don’t have the brains to get into a school like Stanford, much less the brains and the soccer ability to play there. Many lower academic kids only have sports. If that sport can help them go to any college at any level and get some education, it’s a win win situation.

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