College Recruiting - Tournaments v "Clinics"

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How many emails we talking about? 1-2 serious ones a kid if they are lucky. See the money grab for what it is.

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How many emails we talking about? 1-2 serious ones a kid if they are lucky. See the money grab for what it is.

Obviously you werent there so none for your kid.

Its just eating you up thinking your missing out- right??????

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us soccer training in foxboro

Has anyone been invited to us soccer training in foxboro on Jan 27th 2013 ??

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Obviously you werent there so none for your kid.

Its just eating you up thinking your missing out- right??????

Actually no, our child started receiving emails (back channel) when they were in the 8th grade before they had attended any showcases. We actually found that the showcases were superfluous. If your child can play, the coaches will know about them.

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Actually no, our child started receiving emails (back channel) when they were in the 8th grade before they had attended any showcases. We actually found that the showcases were superfluous. If your child can play, the coaches will know about them.

So if you're doing so well then why are you so concerned about the activities of others??? Let me guess, you are some kind of humanitarian hell-bent on saving people from themselves. Most highly and truly successful folks I know aren't so consumed by jealousy, resentment and envy. And they aren't worrying themselves and/or posting about what others are doing.

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So if you're doing so well then why are you so concerned about the activities of others??? Let me guess, you are some kind of humanitarian hell-bent on saving people from themselves. Most highly and truly successful folks I know aren't so consumed by jealousy, resentment and envy. And they aren't worrying themselves and/or posting about what others are doing.

You are using the wrong tense. It is did so well. This is a discussion forum. When people try to give back and share their experience it is usually a good thing. The transfer rates amoungst female college soccer players is a huge problem. Very difficult situation for the players and their families. The problem starts with a total lack of objectivity at the club level. The crazy travel is a symptom. People like you fuel that lack of objectivity by refusing to look at the realities of what is going on. If you want get sucker punched that is your right just don't appoint yourself the speaker for the masses.

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So if you're doing so well then why are you so concerned about the activities of others??? Let me guess, you are some kind of humanitarian hell-bent on saving people from themselves. Most highly and truly successful folks I know aren't so consumed by jealousy, resentment and envy. And they aren't worrying themselves and/or posting about what others are doing.

I am not the poster you are replying to, but I think you need to keep in mind a few things.

As the market of the youth soccer business becomes more and more expensive, it has a direct influence on all who participate in the market, and even those who do not. The highly and truly successful folks you know who aren't consumed , might likely be because they are driving the bus ,and are all inclusive in the ability to finance participation. Not all families are so lucky. As the price of youth soccer increases, more will be left out , more unable to travel the path that has now been put in place. Being " seen" , playing with only the best, building that resume, etc. It isn't about the sport, it is all about the self centered and selfish who only want to achieve for themselves, and the hell with anyone else who can't afford the price of admission. The truth is that the real path to great success in any endeavor is really an unknown. Even the perception of building self esteem into today's children is not a guarantee that it will make a difference. This is part of the selling of the dreams that the soccer business now relies upon.

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The "results" that matter for these age groups will be determined by the number of email messages that players on the teams receive from coaches who might not otherwise have watched them play.

I'm sorry, what nutjob handed out email addresses during a game to the coaches that watched? If you did not contact the coach prior to the game to show interest you would of had too make one heck of an impression to be getting them even interested in trying to track you down. (Its a Pain in the Arsk to do this) Something in the range of 4 goals in 3 games, Ronaldo like skills fluently moving the ball at will or maybe 5 for 5 on saves in a pk shootout would get someone to at least track you down. Do you really think that was happening in U16 and under age groups? You folks are brainwashed.

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I was there and saw it happen with my own eyes.

[Unregistered]

I am not the poster you are replying to, but I think you need to keep in mind a few things.

As the market of the youth soccer business becomes more and more expensive, it has a direct influence on all who participate in the market, and even those who do not. The highly and truly successful folks you know who aren't consumed , might likely be because they are driving the bus ,and are all inclusive in the ability to finance participation. Not all families are so lucky. As the price of youth soccer increases, more will be left out , more unable to travel the path that has now been put in place. Being " seen" , playing with only the best, building that resume, etc. It isn't about the sport, it is all about the self centered and selfish who only want to achieve for themselves, and the hell with anyone else who can't afford the price of admission. The truth is that the real path to great success in any endeavor is really an unknown. Even the perception of building self esteem into today's children is not a guarantee that it will make a difference. This is part of the selling of the dreams that the soccer business now relies upon.

OK Ghandi you take on the consumerism of youth soccer and the rest of us who are in the midst of the college recruiting process will trudge through guilty as heck that we can't do it for everyone. IMO the truth is always about your kid and only your kid.

[Unregistered]

I'm sorry, what nutjob handed out email addresses during a game to the coaches that watched? If you did not contact the coach prior to the game to show interest you would of had too make one heck of an impression to be getting them even interested in trying to track you down. (Its a Pain in the Arsk to do this) Something in the range of 4 goals in 3 games, Ronaldo like skills fluently moving the ball at will or maybe 5 for 5 on saves in a pk shootout would get someone to at least track you down. Do you really think that was happening in U16 and under age groups? You folks are brainwashed.

While I agree that it makes a lot more sense to invite coaches you are interested in, you are definately wrong in your premise.

Firstly, it isn't difficult at all to track players down. Most tournaments provide college coaches with a directory with schedules, player names, numbers and contact information. If you look around at a showcase almost all of the coaches have these lists out and are making notes on them.

Secondly, we have seen many more unsolicited emails from coaches than the internet forums would have lead us to believe. Both my kids typically received between 2-4 emails from interested coaches they had never contacted after each showcase.

[Unregistered]

I'm sorry, what nutjob handed out email addresses during a game to the coaches that watched? If you did not contact the coach prior to the game to show interest you would of had too make one heck of an impression to be getting them even interested in trying to track you down. (Its a Pain in the Arsk to do this) Something in the range of 4 goals in 3 games, Ronaldo like skills fluently moving the ball at will or maybe 5 for 5 on saves in a pk shootout would get someone to at least track you down. Do you really think that was happening in U16 and under age groups? You folks are brainwashed.

Tons of college contacts made through the Sanford tournament- yes sir Im glad we were there.

[Unregistered]

OK Ghandi you take on the consumerism of youth soccer and the rest of us who are in the midst of the college recruiting process will trudge through guilty as heck that we can't do it for everyone. IMO the truth is always about your kid and only your kid.

I don't need to " take on" the consumerism of youth soccer. It isn't a requirement to raise children who will enter the adult world ready , willing and able compete. Your guilt may have to extend if the children who are coddled, and made to think that they are the best thing since sliced bread , have to stand on their own two feet without their parents paving the path as they enter the world of adulthood.

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I don't need to " take on" the consumerism of youth soccer. It isn't a requirement to raise children who will enter the adult world ready , willing and able compete. Your guilt may have to extend if the children who are coddled, and made to think that they are the best thing since sliced bread , have to stand on their own two feet without their parents paving the path as they enter the world of adulthood.

But you did take it on in your post.
No guilt for untalented, selfish, self centered adults see enough of them already.

[Unregistered]

OK Ghandi you take on the consumerism of youth soccer and the rest of us who are in the midst of the college recruiting process will trudge through guilty as heck that we can't do it for everyone. IMO the truth is always about your kid and only your kid.

You probably need to take a drink of coffee and wake up because you are dreaming if you don't already know for certain whether or not your kid is actually making any headway in all of this. My bet is you are floundering around like the other hapless brainwashed souls and feel sorry for you. If your child is destined for a high level D1 program you would know it right about this point in time of their freshman year because that is when the top level players in a graduation year start getting unsolicited emails from the programs like Penn State, UNC, etc that went deep into the tournament. That level program actually knows who the players are that they need to recruit to keep their programs at the top and they start working them just after the inter regionals each year. That is when the cycle starts for a graduation class. The thing to know is the lower level programs aren't even really looking for players yet. What that effectively means is that if your child did not get such an email is that you are more than likely wasting your money travelling to far flung tournaments like Disney because the only ones that benefit from going to those events are the high end prospects or the kids who are late in the process who are trying to land with a lower level school down south. Do yourself a big favor, most teams have someone track which schools attended their showcase games. Take a look at that list and ask yourself how many of them you could see your daughter actually getting on the field to play for and then ask yourself how many of those schools you could see your daughter actually being happy attending. The best case scenario is there was 1-2 schools that would fit both criteria. You would not be alone however if that number was zero. The fact is the average players don't get a lot of interest from showcases. It is just too tough for the average player to standout. If you haven't already learned that tough lesson, you will learn it right now. If you are lucky and there were schools that you feel might work for your daughter that did came to one of her games but she doesn't get an email from them by the end of this week (roughly 2 weeks after the event) you need to come to grips with the fact that she did not make an impression on them and the odds are long that something will ever develop with that school. You can never say never but the odds are truly stacked against it. If that happens it means the trip was a waste of time, energy and resources which is a hard lesson to swallow. The worse thing you could do is kid yourself or let yourself get lulled into false hope because some random school might send an email to your child. What you will find is that email means nothing unless your child can actually get on the field for the program and would be happy being in school there. If both those criteria are not met you are begging for a transfer and that is something you want to avoid if at all possible.