Minimal playing time to stay?

[Guest]

I don't think that's totally accurate. My recommendation, if you're not on the YNT and getting recruited by everyone is this:
1. Get good grades - soccer isn't a profitable sport in college so a lot of coaches are judged by two things - make the playoffs reasonably often and graduating players
2. Figure out school first - the last thing you want to be is stuck in a city/town you hate when you blow your ACL in training
3. Figure out if you are the type of player that can add to the program - look at the current player bios - do you fit? Watch their matches - where do you see yourself on the roster?
4. Stalk the coaching staff - find a way to get in front of them and then convince them you want to attend their school and will be a value add on campus. This isn't that hard. Ask them what events they are attending. Even if you're team isn't going many of the events will help you find a team to guest.
5. Perform when you are in front of them - but keep stalking them - a lot of coaches will consider a lesser player with good grades that would contribute to the team/classes over a better player who is a risk (unless that better player is a lot better)
6. Don't put your eggs in one basket, but don't blast every school - pick and choose wisely and know where you fit.
7. Understand, fully, that the math for scholarships doesn't pan out. There a limit of 9.9 athletic scholarships in D1 for a fully funded program (some are not) and there's clearly more than 9.9 players on the roster: D2 = 9.0, D3 = 0, but a lot of the schools are small and have other endowments, NAIA = 12. But rosters have 30ish so most player are getting jack-squat.

This is confusing because the poster indicated they didn't do much of that?

1. Yes, of course
2. Yes, of course
3. Didn't do any of that, offers came in before player did anything
4. Didn't do any of that, offers came in before player did anything
5. Likely did do the first part (perform well), but since they weren't targeting it was a coincidence. No stalking was done.
6. Didn't do any of that...didn't have any eggs in any baskets
7. Don't believe that's much of a concern, if schools are giving out tuition and or tuition/books to rarely seen/unseen players

Based on the other poster's experiences, sounds like if you are following the above advice it's a waste of time. Let your teammate do the work, schools will show up and you can latch on after. Work smarter, not harder.

[Guest]

This is confusing because the poster indicated they didn't do much of that?

1. Yes, of course
2. Yes, of course
3. Didn't do any of that, offers came in before player did anything
4. Didn't do any of that, offers came in before player did anything
5. Likely did do the first part (perform well), but since they weren't targeting it was a coincidence. No stalking was done.
6. Didn't do any of that...didn't have any eggs in any baskets
7. Don't believe that's much of a concern, if schools are giving out tuition and or tuition/books to rarely seen/unseen players

Based on the other poster's experiences, sounds like if you are following the above advice it's a waste of time. Let your teammate do the work, schools will show up and you can latch on after. Work smarter, not harder.

Nice sarcasm :) I'm the OP and this is the advice I gave my son. I think the fact that coaches showed him some interest while viewing other players was luck, but after the initial interest he did stalk them, wrote them a lot, gave them tape wanted to keep his options open. It was pretty clear he was not a first choice player. He had some interest in those schools, but they weren't on his "short list" until after his Jr. year. I think the only reason they were was because they were more local and it was D1.

He did perform well when he was seen (my bias), he's a smart player but not clever - good ball winner, high pass completion, works hard and covers a lot of ground. But he's not that big/fast and he doesn't have some of the flash that catches the eye, just a solid player (there's thousands of them). The verbal offers didn't come right away - they saw him first at U16. And these schools weren't offering that much money, just enough to keep him interested until he made another decision.

I do have to admit, he did more stalking of the D3 schools he was interested in because they weren't local and they were harder to get in front of because they recruit locally and don't get to a lot of major events.

[Guest]

Nice sarcasm :) I'm the OP and this is the advice I gave my son. I think the fact that coaches showed him some interest while viewing other players was luck, but after the initial interest he did stalk them, wrote them a lot, gave them tape wanted to keep his options open. It was pretty clear he was not a first choice player. He had some interest in those schools, but they weren't on his "short list" until after his Jr. year. I think the only reason they were was because they were more local and it was D1.

He did perform well when he was seen (my bias), he's a smart player but not clever - good ball winner, high pass completion, works hard and covers a lot of ground. But he's not that big/fast and he doesn't have some of the flash that catches the eye, just a solid player (there's thousands of them). The verbal offers didn't come right away - they saw him first at U16. And these schools weren't offering that much money, just enough to keep him interested until he made another decision.

I do have to admit, he did more stalking of the D3 schools he was interested in because they weren't local and they were harder to get in front of because they recruit locally and don't get to a lot of major events.

Excellent. Seems your method was way better than mine. My kid was relentless trying to get in front of people with similar "tier" programs (i.e. the sporadic NCAA birth). Not sure I should tell him he wasted his time doing all that work, you can just show up and play and they'll be there. All that time and effort, down the drain......

[Guest]

Excellent. Seems your method was way better than mine. My kid was relentless trying to get in front of people with similar "tier" programs (i.e. the sporadic NCAA birth). Not sure I should tell him he wasted his time doing all that work, you can just show up and play and they'll be there. All that time and effort, down the drain......

It's certainly not a foolproof method and I wouldn't rely on the chance a coach will see you. I think it helped that our DoC had a relationship with those coaches and we have other players from the club at those schools. I think if there's some sort of connection, it's a plus. It's a tough racket where there are a heck of a lot of players that are not that different in their levels so some of it's still a huge crapshoot.

[Guest]

It's certainly not a foolproof method and I wouldn't rely on the chance a coach will see you. I think it helped that our DoC had a relationship with those coaches and we have other players from the club at those schools. I think if there's some sort of connection, it's a plus. It's a tough racket where there are a heck of a lot of players that are not that different in their levels so some of it's still a huge crapshoot.

Funny, I had a friend in HS who wrote in his yearbook for his future "Plan to listen to (Jeff) Beck albums and live off the hard work of others".

I'm going with your plan for kid #2.

[Guest]

Funny, I had a friend in HS who wrote in his yearbook for his future "Plan to listen to (Jeff) Beck albums and live off the hard work of others".

I'm going with your plan for kid #2.

Does that "friend" live at Mar-a-Lago?

[Guest]

Does that "friend" live at Mar-a-Lago?

TDS kicks in….

[Guest]

I don't think that's totally accurate. My recommendation, if you're not on the YNT and getting recruited by everyone is this:
1. Get good grades - soccer isn't a profitable sport in college so a lot of coaches are judged by two things - make the playoffs reasonably often and graduating players
2. Figure out school first - the last thing you want to be is stuck in a city/town you hate when you blow your ACL in training
3. Figure out if you are the type of player that can add to the program - look at the current player bios - do you fit? Watch their matches - where do you see yourself on the roster?
4. Stalk the coaching staff - find a way to get in front of them and then convince them you want to attend their school and will be a value add on campus. This isn't that hard. Ask them what events they are attending. Even if you're team isn't going many of the events will help you find a team to guest.
5. Perform when you are in front of them - but keep stalking them - a lot of coaches will consider a lesser player with good grades that would contribute to the team/classes over a better player who is a risk (unless that better player is a lot better)
6. Don't put your eggs in one basket, but don't blast every school - pick and choose wisely and know where you fit.
7. Understand, fully, that the math for scholarships doesn't pan out. There a limit of 9.9 athletic scholarships in D1 for a fully funded program (some are not) and there's clearly more than 9.9 players on the roster: D2 = 9.0, D3 = 0, but a lot of the schools are small and have other endowments, NAIA = 12. But rosters have 30ish so most player are getting jack-squat.

This is all excellent advice. Players in better exposure leagues will have an easier time with access but still have to dazzle if a coach comes to watch. You might catch the eye of coach that's there to see another player, but that's not a plan. You need a plan as described above.

Those in other leagues will have to stalk harder, do what they can to get in front of coaches. If doing ID events be careful. Everyone gets "invited" because it padd the team budget. If you haven't had actual personal communication eith them yet, have your club coach call to assess interest.

As for players not having to work hard at it? Maybe for a top 100 player in the country? Otherwise that scenario is for very low level D2 and D3. Low low.

Other options are go to the school you love and hope for a walk on spot. Not really a plan but a few get on that way. Or play club. Some club teams are very competitive

[Guest]

This is all excellent advice. Players in better exposure leagues will have an easier time with access but still have to dazzle if a coach comes to watch. You might catch the eye of coach that's there to see another player, but that's not a plan. You need a plan as described above.

Those in other leagues will have to stalk harder, do what they can to get in front of coaches. If doing ID events be careful. Everyone gets "invited" because it padd the team budget. If you haven't had actual personal communication eith them yet, have your club coach call to assess interest.

As for players not having to work hard at it? Maybe for a top 100 player in the country? Otherwise that scenario is for very low level D2 and D3. Low low.

Other options are go to the school you love and hope for a walk on spot. Not really a plan but a few get on that way. Or play club. Some club teams are very competitive

some people can't resist telling others how things work even though it's pretty clear they have a minimal basis from which to do so. I'm assuming this advice is for Boys based on the 9.9 scholarship number.

[Guest]

Minimum amount of playing time to stay on a team? What is a reasonable expectation/amount to remain? Kid has a spot so that’s not the issue. Deciding to stay and suck if up with minimal playing time, or just play with non club kids in the off season (high school age). Better to not play much or to play a lot but against/with weak competition? Could go to another club but plays other sports every season so it’s hard to fully commit.

What age? If under 14 or so, PT should be equal. At about U14, PT should be based on commitment to team, skill, and who makes team and teammates better. That said, if you find your team has a roster > 18, be leary; > 20 be learier and more than that, just run. That would be a nightmare to manage PT and either the team isnt competitive or they arent playing a lot of kids a lot of the time.

[Guest]

some people can't resist telling others how things work even though it's pretty clear they have a minimal basis from which to do so. I'm assuming this advice is for Boys based on the 9.9 scholarship number.

well since the post they responded to said 9.9, yeah. Duh. Try reading once in awhile. Regardless much of the advice is valid for girls as well

Get good grades
Figure out school first
Figure out if you are the type of player that can add to the program
Stalk the coaching staff
Perform when you are in front of them - but keep stalking them
Don't put your eggs in one basket, but don't blast every school
Understand, fully, that the math for scholarships doesn't pan out.

On that last point - just because there's more scholarships for women doesn't mean everyone is getting great offers. Plenty will get Under 25%. It's like a bell curve.
Also unless you're a top nationally ranked player it takes work. Offers aren't going to magically fall into your lap

[Guest]

well since the post they responded to said 9.9, yeah. Duh. Try reading once in awhile. Regardless much of the advice is valid for girls as well

Get good grades
Figure out school first
Figure out if you are the type of player that can add to the program
Stalk the coaching staff
Perform when you are in front of them - but keep stalking them
Don't put your eggs in one basket, but don't blast every school
Understand, fully, that the math for scholarships doesn't pan out.

On that last point - just because there's more scholarships for women doesn't mean everyone is getting great offers. Plenty will get Under 25%. It's like a bell curve.
Also unless you're a top nationally ranked player it takes work. Offers aren't going to magically fall into your lap

Some of those points will apply to all players, but that does not make it good advice. you have a skill for taking one sentence and implying all sorts of other things that allow you to continue to display your knowledge of this topic. A list of cliches is not good advice.

[Guest]

Some of those points will apply to all players, but that does not make it good advice. you have a skill for taking one sentence and implying all sorts of other things that allow you to continue to display your knowledge of this topic. A list of cliches is not good advice.

Sorry if you find them cliche. But it doesn't change the fact that this is how most kids find their way to playing in college. There's no secret sauce or magic and by keeping it relatively short and simple, it's easy for players and parents to understand. The gist of it is that your coach/club doesn't often have a lot of influence on getting to play in college, but it can be a value-add. If you look at the list - it's definitely putting the onus on the player.

As for the playing time comment below. I think U14 (particularly for boys) is too early to start forcing playing time based upon performance. Physical development and maturity doesn't equal out until a few year later and if you push this at U14 you'll be denying late-bloomers opportunity. I really think it should throughout the youth ages in the amateur/pay-to-play environment. Pro academies get a bit of a pass from me because they aren't pay-to-play, but I think you'll find they do try to get everyone meaningful minutes because their goal isn't winning every match.

[Guest]

Sorry if you find them cliche. But it doesn't change the fact that this is how most kids find their way to playing in college. There's no secret sauce or magic and by keeping it relatively short and simple, it's easy for players and parents to understand. The gist of it is that your coach/club doesn't often have a lot of influence on getting to play in college, but it can be a value-add. If you look at the list - it's definitely putting the onus on the player.

As for the playing time comment below. I think U14 (particularly for boys) is too early to start forcing playing time based upon performance. Physical development and maturity doesn't equal out until a few year later and if you push this at U14 you'll be denying late-bloomers opportunity. I really think it should throughout the youth ages in the amateur/pay-to-play environment. Pro academies get a bit of a pass from me because they aren't pay-to-play, but I think you'll find they do try to get everyone meaningful minutes because their goal isn't winning every match.

I think the boys process is VERY different from the girls. Having a professional pathway changes things

[Guest]

I think the boys process is VERY different from the girls. Having a professional pathway changes things

Not really. So few ever have a realistic shot at it. Sure more aspire and dream of it but it's pretty clear by U16 or so who the pro clubs are interested in. The rest are college bound if that's what they want. Otherwise the only differences are the boys process is slightly later than girls, there's a lot fewer D1 spots (100 fewer programs and more international players) and money(fewer scholarships to split across a roster)