"Trapped" player, recruitment question

[Guest]

My daughter is a so called "trapped" player, October birth, does this work for or against her in recruitment? Her team is all in 10th grade and they have attended showcases. I understand coaches can't reach out till June 15th for the 10th graders. Does playing "up" hurt or give her advantage in recruiting once June 2025 hits? Or will college coaches overlook kids in these situations because they play on teams with 11th graders?

Should she still reach out to college coaches despite being a 9th grader in these showcases?

Any tips on navigating this process would be appreciated.

[Guest]

Sorry , you are misunderstanding what a trapped player is. It is an 8th grader who is born after august 31 and whose teammates are born before sept 1 so they are playing high school in the fall while your kid is scrambling to play cause they're an 8th grader with no fall season. It can be argued (no argument it sucks for the player for a couple months) that it is good (older than most classmates…more mature?) and that it is bad (losing a fall season). Depends how you look at it but no matter what … one thing for sure; posters will bitch and tell their righteous opinion! So this year it is the 2010 group born after august 31 ( and players reclassified) that are “trapped”. So to answer she isn’t trapped anymore . To answer, she should be contacting coaches and telling them her class year. Most scouts will know. To the point they (for the most part) know who they are looking at because they have been contacted just like you should be doing.

[Guest]

Sorry , you are misunderstanding what a trapped player is. It is an 8th grader who is born after august 31 and whose teammates are born before sept 1 so they are playing high school in the fall while your kid is scrambling to play cause they're an 8th grader with no fall season. It can be argued (no argument it sucks for the player for a couple months) that it is good (older than most classmates…more mature?) and that it is bad (losing a fall season). Depends how you look at it but no matter what … one thing for sure; posters will bitch and tell their righteous opinion! So this year it is the 2010 group born after august 31 ( and players reclassified) that are “trapped”. So to answer she isn’t trapped anymore . To answer, she should be contacting coaches and telling them her class year. Most scouts will know. To the point they (for the most part) know who they are looking at because they have been contacted just like you should be doing.

Your reasoning for the term “trapped” player is off. You are trapped mostly because when you are in 11th grade the rest of your team are seniors. Most of the time last year of club contains your seniors and trapped 11th graders. And you are trapped on a team that most likely isn’t playing in showcases the second half of the season while you are in the prime of your recruiting process. For ECNL teams don’t even have regionals for their older teams and RL doesn’t have nationals for those older teams. Then you have the following season where if you wish to continue playing club soccer, you have to play with the younger team and the 3 or four of you who were older juniors the previous season.

[Guest]

Your reasoning for the term “trapped” player is off. You are trapped mostly because when you are in 11th grade the rest of your team are seniors. Most of the time last year of club contains your seniors and trapped 11th graders. And you are trapped on a team that most likely isn’t playing in showcases the second half of the season while you are in the prime of your recruiting process. For ECNL teams don’t even have regionals for their older teams and RL doesn’t have nationals for those older teams. Then you have the following season where if you wish to continue playing club soccer, you have to play with the younger team and the 3 or four of you who were older juniors the previous season.

No he’s right. This refers to 8th graders who are in the 9th grade birth year. It has no effect on the recruitment process. And you’re not playing up, you’re playing at age.

[Guest]

I'm assuming OP had the label on their kid at that time, and it stuck. And, it's still relevant through high school. I've seen some players in that situation have some issues. While most of the team is hot in the recruiting process, there are some who missed the cutoff school-wise, but not age-wise, who are left out. Then, when they are now at the age, they are with a mixed team that has younger players and schools look at them. It's a tough age.

Of course, not every school system or state has the same age cutoff for schools. Some go with August, some September, a few October and even some use calendar year.

[Guest]

The “trapped player” situation creates potential issues in both 8th grade and 11th/12th grade. My kid is a current sophomore who plays on a team of mostly juniors. She absolutely contacted coaches last year as a freshman. The majority of her team is already committed, so there may be fewer coaches overall attending showcase games this year, HOWEVER, the number of coaches doesn’t matter—it’s whether the coaches of the schools that she is interested in are seeing her. For the fall-born players that are not committed by December/January of junior year, it can become a bit more problematic. Those combined age group teams definitely go to fewer showcases, so they won’t be seen as much as their older teammates were as juniors.

The league/level that your kid plays at and the level of college soccer they are targeting both make a big impact on the recruiting timeline (regardless of whether they are an “older” or a “younger” in their birth year).

Bottom line—there are disadvantages for those “trapped” kids, but college coaches have learned how to navigate the birth year/grad year issue. Also—while college coaches can’t communicate directly with a player until June 15 of sophomore year, they can communicate interest to a club coach whenever they want to.

[Guest]

First, actually learn the recruiting rules. Read the sections about how D1/D2/D3 vary:
https://www.ncsasports.org/womens-so...rules-calendar

Second, learn how what coaches actually do varies across high D1 vs other D1 vs D2 vs D3. Most of what is posted here talks about high D1 schools, which doesn't actually apply to anyone learning about recruiting from this website.

Third, coaches aren't very interested in most 9th graders at this point.

Fourth, you can still have your D send an email to a coach or two before a showcase.

Fifth, think about going to the occasional ID camp. It will give your D some experience with that situation. It may give her an idea of how she stacks up vs. other players.

Sixth, coaches at showcases will always be looking where they need players. So the post above that they aren't looking at juniors now is bad advice. There are good D2 schools getting commits into senior year, not to mention D3 and even some D1.

Seventh, look for a webinar or something from your club or elsewhere to learn about recruiting.

[Guest]

I know a Junior who is being recruited by a D2 college. She plays for a team in the NECSL. Should this be considered a rarity or does it happen more often than most assume?

[Guest]

. Does playing "up" hurt or give her advantage in recruiting once June 2025 hits? .

Newsflash: she's NOT "playing up"

[Guest]

Wouldn't an older player, a fall birthday kid, be more in demand than a kid born in the next birth year for college? Just as an example even though. OP is talking younger. A Sept. 2005 kid vs. a June 2006 kid, both graduating this year. Granted biological development has stopped, but a more senior player vs. younger player.

All things being equal, I would assume a Fall 05 will be better equipped to handle college soccer this fall than a summer 06 kid.

[Guest]

Sorry , you are misunderstanding what a trapped player is. It is an 8th grader who is born after august 31 and whose teammates are born before sept 1 so they are playing high school in the fall while your kid is scrambling to play cause they're an 8th grader with no fall season. It can be argued (no argument it sucks for the player for a couple months) that it is good (older than most classmates…more mature?) and that it is bad (losing a fall season). Depends how you look at it but no matter what … one thing for sure; posters will bitch and tell their righteous opinion! So this year it is the 2010 group born after august 31 ( and players reclassified) that are “trapped”. So to answer she isn’t trapped anymore . To answer, she should be contacting coaches and telling them her class year. Most scouts will know. To the point they (for the most part) know who they are looking at because they have been contacted just like you should be doing.

No, she is also trapped as a young player on a team that will mostly graduate a year before she does. There's fewer of these kids in the situation than in 8th grade because during HS lots of kids drop out of clu soccer, aren't trying to be recruited etc

[Guest]

Wouldn't an older player, a fall birthday kid, be more in demand than a kid born in the next birth year for college? Just as an example even though. OP is talking younger. A Sept. 2005 kid vs. a June 2006 kid, both graduating this year. Granted biological development has stopped, but a more senior player vs. younger player.

All things being equal, I would assume a Fall 05 will be better equipped to handle college soccer this fall than a summer 06 kid.

Not necessarily and so individual. They're mostly fully baked in terms of skills at that point and a HS freshman could be far more mature than a senior.

[Guest]

College coaches have learned to deal with the situation but I do think ots easier for these kids to get lost in the shuffle. Your D definitely should be in process to get on their radars, essentially doing everything her teammates are. She will have to push more to stay on top of the pile. Don't drown thrm in emails but make sure to update thrm with"news", schedules etc

And yes everyone, tapped or not, should do at least one ID event somewhere to get their feet wet and see how they stack up nefore full recruiting time.. It can really help see of they'rr targeting well or way off base. It doesn't have to be a school you want but one thats at similar soccer level.

[Guest]

Wouldn't an older player, a fall birthday kid, be more in demand than a kid born in the next birth year for college? Just as an example even though. OP is talking younger. A Sept. 2005 kid vs. a June 2006 kid, both graduating this year. Granted biological development has stopped, but a more senior player vs. younger player.

All things being equal, I would assume a Fall 05 will be better equipped to handle college soccer this fall than a summer 06 kid.

College recruiting is done by school grade, not calendar year.

[Guest]

College recruiting is done by school grade, not calendar year.

Captain obvious has checked in here. Did you go to Harvard or MIT to figure that one out?