Recruiting Class of 2025 girls

[Guest]

Is it still going on? Still good options for girls not committed?

[Guest]

I think the class of 2025 is still in the middle of recruiting.

[Guest]

P4s are probably close to being done. Mid majors and D3 right in the thick of it.

[AskTheCoach]

I would say most top level mid majors are done too, or at least very close to done. We are focusing on 2026s now

[Guest]

I would say most top level mid majors are done too, or at least very close to done. We are focusing on 2026s now

Ask the coach is back! Question…will your program prioritize ECNL over GA now (maybe it always did). Do you see P4 programs mostly bypassing GA if showcases are scheduled the same week?

[Guest]

I would say most top level mid majors are done too, or at least very close to done. We are focusing on 2026s now

Give me an idea on what you consider top level mid major. Ranked under 100? Under 200?

[Guest]

Finally, questions with substance! My daughter is playing D1 one and played club soccer at GA. What she did was attend specific college clinics for those colleges that met her criteria both academically and her soccer skills. It was at these clinics that she caught the attention of coaches who became interested in her as a player and as a student-athlete at that college. When coaches know that you’re interested in that college as well as having the skill set for that soccer program then they will “invest” their time to come watch you play at the college showcases. That’s how the vast majority of players like my daughter got on their IPADS and came to watch her play. Your daughter must be proactive and do their homework of which college meets all your criteria. Mass emails to 50 colleges normally doesn’t work when these coaches get thousands of emails before an event.

[Guest]

I would say most top level mid majors are done too, or at least very close to done. We are focusing on 2026s now

It is always worth clarifying that you are talking about D1. Which applies to a small number of players in MA, and only a few of those read this forum as a key source of info.

A majority of D3 schools start actively making offers after July 1 of the player's junior year in high school. Of course, they have been following those players.

[AskTheCoach]

[QUOTE=Guest;n4611318]

Ask the coach is back! Question…will your program prioritize ECNL over GA now (maybe it always did). Do you see P4 programs mostly bypassing GA if showcases are scheduled the same week?[/QUOTE

I recently posted addressing this exact same question in the GA vs. ECNL-R thread. Read below:


Division 1 upper level mid major coach here.....I can only speak on our behalf, however, based on lots of conversations about this with coaches over the last couple years, I can say this is probably the majority opinion of P4 schools and upper level mid majors: the youth club scene has become a circus. What used to be a predictable "showcase" schedule where we could see most recruits has now become a multitude of events from the ECNL, GA, ECNL-R, USYS....not to mention the Club College ID days, Regionals, Nationals, etc. We could literally recruit every weekend. Most of our budgets are tight as is the need for a tiny bit of work/life balance, so we must make choices in recruiting. Currently, without a doubt, all of us would tell you the ECNL is by far the best bang for the buck. The level has continued to get better and better, dramatically so in the last 5 years. The GA has continued to deteriorate to the point where we did not attend any events so far this year, and many of our colleagues have said the same. Does that mean the GA lacks quality players? NO. There are plenty of good players, but on a whole, at a far lesser degree than the ECNL. And, many of the teams are extremely weak. Putting our efforts into the ECNL is just a better economy of scale. I saw recent data that said approximately 75% of 2025 D1 commits are from the ECNL, which seems about right. As far as the ECNL-R, we attended this is Sanford 2 years ago, and it was a waste of time for our level. There were only a handful of girls we saw during the entire day who would possibly be impact players at our level. With that being said, we recently came upon a Regional League player who looks like an absolute stud, but it is truly the exception not the norm.

[AskTheCoach]

Give me an idea on what you consider top level mid major. Ranked under 100? Under 200?

Considering that roughly 50% of the top 100 at the end of last season were non P5 (now P4) conferences, I would consider top level mid major to be in roughly the top 100 RPI

[AskTheCoach]

Finally, questions with substance! My daughter is playing D1 one and played club soccer at GA. What she did was attend specific college clinics for those colleges that met her criteria both academically and her soccer skills. It was at these clinics that she caught the attention of coaches who became interested in her as a player and as a student-athlete at that college. When coaches know that you’re interested in that college as well as having the skill set for that soccer program then they will “invest” their time to come watch you play at the college showcases. That’s how the vast majority of players like my daughter got on their IPADS and came to watch her play. Your daughter must be proactive and do their homework of which college meets all your criteria. Mass emails to 50 colleges normally doesn’t work when these coaches get thousands of emails before an event.

True--if a player comes to a clinic and impresses, that is a way to get on our radar for sure. But, clinics are expensive and a lot of work, and it's certainly not the only way. You have to find a way to get our attention with literally HUNDREDS of emails per month....whether that is a unique eye-catching email, great highlights, or your club coach getting in touch and telling us you are a must see player....all of those can work as well. I understand the ID clinic conundrum and the fact that many think it's a money grab, but you should make an effort to go to the ones at the VERY top of your list. If we are deciding between players, and we see that one has made an effort to come to campus, it puts them in another category without question. We then know we are one of their top schools and they are very interested. Coaches talk, and also with social media, it's easy to identity those kids who are sending "Mass emails to 50 schools." That is a turn off to most of us. When we see that, we see a player who is just fishing for offers to "play division 1 soccer" so they can post on their social....as opposed to someone who genuinely wants to come to our school because they fell in love with it, and feel it's a "good fit". By the same token, with the growing trend of players now sharing the recruiting process on social media I will say BE CAREFUL with this. From our perspective, if we are interested in a player, but see they are tagging 30 schools in videos, or posting pics from their 12 school ID Clinic tour, it does become a bit of a turn off....just in the sense that our recruiting board has 100 players on it, and if we see that we are one of 30 we are likely to move on thinking the player is not very serious about us and we can focus our time and energy on a player with whom we have a better chance. I'm sure some are going to criticize me for saying it, but I can tell you I speak for a lot of coaches who would agree. It's OK to have your own process and run it how you see fit, but my advice is to keep your cards close to your chest. What you may think is "marketing" yourself, could turn out to work against you.

[AskTheCoach]

It is always worth clarifying that you are talking about D1. Which applies to a small number of players in MA, and only a few of those read this forum as a key source of info.

A majority of D3 schools start actively making offers after July 1 of the player's junior year in high school. Of course, they have been following those players.

Yes, correct, when I said "mid majors," I figured D1 was implied, but as you say D3 schools are very much in the midst of 2025 recruiting, and will be through the end of senior year! I was in the D3 world for a while as well, and we used to say we didn't know who are recruiting class even was until the first day of preseason

[Guest]

True--if a player comes to a clinic and impresses, that is a way to get on our radar for sure. But, clinics are expensive and a lot of work, and it's certainly not the only way. You have to find a way to get our attention with literally HUNDREDS of emails per month....whether that is a unique eye-catching email, great highlights, or your club coach getting in touch and telling us you are a must see player....all of those can work as well. I understand the ID clinic conundrum and the fact that many think it's a money grab, but you should make an effort to go to the ones at the VERY top of your list. If we are deciding between players, and we see that one has made an effort to come to campus, it puts them in another category without question. We then know we are one of their top schools and they are very interested. Coaches talk, and also with social media, it's easy to identity those kids who are sending "Mass emails to 50 schools." That is a turn off to most of us. When we see that, we see a player who is just fishing for offers to "play division 1 soccer" so they can post on their social....as opposed to someone who genuinely wants to come to our school because they fell in love with it, and feel it's a "good fit". By the same token, with the growing trend of players now sharing the recruiting process on social media I will say BE CAREFUL with this. From our perspective, if we are interested in a player, but see they are tagging 30 schools in videos, or posting pics from their 12 school ID Clinic tour, it does become a bit of a turn off....just in the sense that our recruiting board has 100 players on it, and if we see that we are one of 30 we are likely to move on thinking the player is not very serious about us and we can focus our time and energy on a player with whom we have a better chance. I'm sure some are going to criticize me for saying it, but I can tell you I speak for a lot of coaches who would agree. It's OK to have your own process and run it how you see fit, but my advice is to keep your cards close to your chest. What you may think is "marketing" yourself, could turn out to work against you.

Thank you for your insight, TS posters could be a rough, cynical crowd and you are giving great advice for everyone to think about especially for those who have never experienced college recruitment.