2017 Boys Soccer Verbal Commitments

[Unregistered]

I never said that recruiting ends after february or even earlier. I only pointed out that about 90% of D1 and D2 recruiting is done by then. I would even guess that 70-90% of D3 is done as well. After February, coaches may still be scrambling to fill final spots. Although this seems ridiculous, consider the reality that while your son is waiting on the regular admission at the other school, the first school may go and offer his spot to another who seems more committed and ready to decide. Regarding playtime, it is likely that the coach at the 'other' school, that is waiting for regular admissions, will not see your son as 'top-dog' but just a filler....otherwise the coach would have put more weight behind your boy. He might even now be stringing your boy along to see what his options are.

That considered, now your son really has to think where he wants to go and for what reasons.

You certainly have a cynical view of coaches. I think many of the D3 coaches are not as cut-throat as you make them sound, nor are they as inclined to tell a kid they are holding a spot for them and then yank it away. If so, that reputation would get out and affect the relationships they have with clubs, etc. And they know that college soccer is an end point for most of these players, so they actually have know to put academics first. One D3 coach spent 50 minutes with my kid and only talked about academics and career paths, without ever mentioning soccer. I think he saw, rightfully so, that playing soccer there was a draw for my son like nice dorms and good dining halls, but not his only desire or need.

Plenty of kids don't know for sure where they want to go by the EA or ED deadlines and some of the D3 schools cannot do academic pre-reads or the coaches have minimum grades or standardized test scores they cannot go below. I know one local D3 coach who was told that 3.2 was the lowest GPA he could accept, even if Neymar was applying. He said that kids on the bubble might be working into their 2nd senior semester to cross that threshold for his school because they wanted some of the rare academic paths his school offered. So he was OK waiting until regular admissions came out if it meant a chance of getting a better player. And, he had flexibility with roster size.

[Unregistered]

You certainly have a cynical view of coaches. I think many of the D3 coaches are not as cut-throat as you make them sound, nor are they as inclined to tell a kid they are holding a spot for them and then yank it away. If so, that reputation would get out and affect the relationships they have with clubs, etc. And they know that college soccer is an end point for most of these players, so they actually have know to put academics first. One D3 coach spent 50 minutes with my kid and only talked about academics and career paths, without ever mentioning soccer. I think he saw, rightfully so, that playing soccer there was a draw for my son like nice dorms and good dining halls, but not his only desire or need.

Plenty of kids don't know for sure where they want to go by the EA or ED deadlines and some of the D3 schools cannot do academic pre-reads or the coaches have minimum grades or standardized test scores they cannot go below. I know one local D3 coach who was told that 3.2 was the lowest GPA he could accept, even if Neymar was applying. He said that kids on the bubble might be working into their 2nd senior semester to cross that threshold for his school because they wanted some of the rare academic paths his school offered. So he was OK waiting until regular admissions came out if it meant a chance of getting a better player. And, he had flexibility with roster size.

Cynical? No. Realisitic? Yes. I don't think you really know what goes on behind the scenes. Coaches want to pick their choice kids as soon as they can. They don't want to lose out on a kid while waiting for another to make up his/her mind. D3 coaches have a greater luxury since they are not promising any money.....just some admissions support...maybe. Each admissions committee will only let a coach 'support' so many kids for ED, EA, and regular admissions. Depending on the grades and resume, the coach may need to support a kid more or less. The admissions committee gives the coaches only so much opportunity to get kids in i.e. 'a specific number of A's, a specific number of B's, and.....well, not too many (if any at all) C's'. This does depend on the school. There won't be too many C's getting into Middlebury, Tufts, or Harvard.
These days, coaches get around some of these limitations by bringing in 8-15 kids (more likely 8-10) per year realizing that they will carry a roster of 20-30 and that 5-10 kids will likely drop out each year.

You are right in saying that coaches don't want to develop a reputation of 'stringing kids along', however, a coach is not going to let him/herself be strung along by a player either at the risk of losing a kid who really wants to attend his/her school.

[Unregistered]

Is playing D3 soccer an acheivement? Seriously, there isz no money, walk on are accepted, why is it notable?

Especially at a school like franklin and Marshall??!!

[Unregistered]

Tufts and Amherst won the D3 national championship the last 2 years -- both are great schools and it would certainly be "notable" to get in and get to play there or at any of the other many top-quality D3 schools. From an education standpoint, one might get much greater value in the long run going to MIT or Williams than getting 20k per year to go D1 at UNC Wilmington and end up with far less time to focus on academics

Also, there is money. Midwest D3 school has offered my kid 88k over four years to attend and play there, leaving us to cover about 40% of the cost. And that was out of the blue -- we had not filed for financial aid yet. so there is $!

That's about in line with what the decent merit scholarships are. If you want to go to Indiana or Ohio go for it

[Unregistered]

OP of this point. Yes, the colleges my son has as options at are D3 and while both had good records last year, they are not likely to get far into the national tournament. However, he likes the coaches and the players he has met at both places and the schools are good fits for his academic interests. So, he will have a chance to play 4 years of college soccer (neither team tends to cut much, they just bring in 8-10 recruits each year and it is usually a couple players per year who drop out) and have strong academic options, including studying abroad.

I am sure other players have similar options. And if a kid ends up at schools like RPI or Clarkson that are not soccer powerhouses, then congratulations to them. They will get to play the beautiful game and come away with a great education.

Id take admission and good merit money at RPI over AIC, Bentley or any of the MA state schools or even a full ride at school like URI.

[Unregistered]

Id take admission and good merit money at RPI over AIC, Bentley or any of the MA state schools or even a full ride at school like URI.

Do you think the obsession to play D1 or D2 soccer is driven more by the club or the parents, who are brain-washed by the club? For many the 'full ride' is the only financially viable option for you child to have a college education. I can understand that, however, the obsession with having your kid get a 'sports scholarship' and driving him/her to play D1 or D2, while they might be able to attend a better academic school is conflicting. Unless they are going pro (DF, MR) then the education has to TRUMP all.

[Unregistered]

Do you think the obsession to play D1 or D2 soccer is driven more by the club or the parents, who are brain-washed by the club? For many the 'full ride' is the only financially viable option for you child to have a college education. I can understand that, however, the obsession with having your kid get a 'sports scholarship' and driving him/her to play D1 or D2, while they might be able to attend a better academic school is conflicting. Unless they are going pro (DF, MR) then the education has to TRUMP all.

Not the poster....I think more parents think along those lines then what is portrayed here on TS. Especially on the boys' side there's so little athletic money to be had to begin with. The average amount is about $8-$10K a year, subject to renewal each year. With only 9.9 scholarships to play with (if even fully funded) there will many players who will get nothing. Full rides on the men's side are almost nonexistent. Counter that against $20K/year academic money guaranteed for 4 years? (of course the out of pocket amount will vary depending on the total price tag). On the women's side the amounts are far more substantial in terms of total amounts and the number of scholarships given, but even there academics are the end goal for most. For some families yes money will be the deciding factor, but for the more typical middle to upper income soccer family they have a greater ability to cover whatever is left of the tuition bill. If soccer helped their kid get into a better school they're happy, and if they get some money out of the deal they're happier.

[Unregistered]

My opinion is that, to the extent there is an obsession, it is based on misimpressions about the amount of money available for soccer scholarships and the ease of getting ones that would be significant. Sure, it's different if you have the means to send your kid to the school of choice regardless, or if you've been through the process before or otherwise have gotten enough good info to understand how things really work. But if it's your first time, and there are all these people throwing around "full ride" and all that, and you don't look at the stats for playing time to see if it's really realistic for your kid to even play at a level with scholarships, then one can honestly be under the impression that there's more money in play than there really is. I know a well-educated family (but not soccer savvy) where they learned that daughter #1 was D3 material despite their earlier hopes of D1 riches to pay for a decent part of college. You'd think they'd know better, but now they're doubling down on hopes for significant money for daughter #2 (who could well develop into a better player than #1, but still a big stretch to think they'll be lots of athletic money there). Great to support your kid, but with their concern about money, sure seems they'd be better served by taking some of their time and money and doing an SAT prep course to get the scores up and be looking for merit money.

[Unregistered]

My opinion is that, to the extent there is an obsession, it is based on misimpressions about the amount of money available for soccer scholarships and the ease of getting ones that would be significant. Sure, it's different if you have the means to send your kid to the school of choice regardless, or if you've been through the process before or otherwise have gotten enough good info to understand how things really work. But if it's your first time, and there are all these people throwing around "full ride" and all that, and you don't look at the stats for playing time to see if it's really realistic for your kid to even play at a level with scholarships, then one can honestly be under the impression that there's more money in play than there really is. I know a well-educated family (but not soccer savvy) where they learned that daughter #1 was D3 material despite their earlier hopes of D1 riches to pay for a decent part of college. You'd think they'd know better, but now they're doubling down on hopes for significant money for daughter #2 (who could well develop into a better player than #1, but still a big stretch to think they'll be lots of athletic money there). Great to support your kid, but with their concern about money, sure seems they'd be better served by taking some of their time and money and doing an SAT prep course to get the scores up and be looking for merit money.

You're applying assumptions of men's college soccer scholarships to women's college soccer scholarships. Completely different worlds. There is much more soccer money available to women. Much less international recruiting. The best women are American women. NCAA gives D1 women's programs up to 14 scholarships and Title 9 means that most schools are fully funded.

[Unregistered]

You're applying assumptions of men's college soccer scholarships to women's college soccer scholarships. Completely different worlds. There is much more soccer money available to women. Much less international recruiting. The best women are American women. NCAA gives D1 women's programs up to 14 scholarships and Title 9 means that most schools are fully funded.

yes there is more money available as well as more spots in general (there are more D1 women's program then men's, along with the international piece being less of a factor for women but growing). However, the 14 scholarships have to be split across 25-30 players on a typical roster. How a coach decides to divvy up that money will vary by coach and who he's got on the roster and who he wants to get on the roster.

[Unregistered]

You're applying assumptions of men's college soccer scholarships to women's college soccer scholarships. Completely different worlds. There is much more soccer money available to women. Much less international recruiting. The best women are American women. NCAA gives D1 women's programs up to 14 scholarships and Title 9 means that most schools are fully funded.

You parents of girls are crazy. The thread is called 2017 Boys Soccer Verbal Commitments.

[Unregistered]

My opinion is that, to the extent there is an obsession, it is based on misimpressions about the amount of money available for soccer scholarships and the ease of getting ones that would be significant. Sure, it's different if you have the means to send your kid to the school of choice regardless, or if you've been through the process before or otherwise have gotten enough good info to understand how things really work. But if it's your first time, and there are all these people throwing around "full ride" and all that, and you don't look at the stats for playing time to see if it's really realistic for your kid to even play at a level with scholarships, then one can honestly be under the impression that there's more money in play than there really is. I know a well-educated family (but not soccer savvy) where they learned that daughter #1 was D3 material despite their earlier hopes of D1 riches to pay for a decent part of college. You'd think they'd know better, but now they're doubling down on hopes for significant money for daughter #2 (who could well develop into a better player than #1, but still a big stretch to think they'll be lots of athletic money there). Great to support your kid, but with their concern about money, sure seems they'd be better served by taking some of their time and money and doing an SAT prep course to get the scores up and be looking for merit money.

Players with good grades will always have more options.

[Unregistered]

My opinion is that, to the extent there is an obsession, it is based on misimpressions about the amount of money available for soccer scholarships and the ease of getting ones that would be significant. Sure, it's different if you have the means to send your kid to the school of choice regardless, or if you've been through the process before or otherwise have gotten enough good info to understand how things really work. But if it's your first time, and there are all these people throwing around "full ride" and all that, and you don't look at the stats for playing time to see if it's really realistic for your kid to even play at a level with scholarships, then one can honestly be under the impression that there's more money in play than there really is. I know a well-educated family (but not soccer savvy) where they learned that daughter #1 was D3 material despite their earlier hopes of D1 riches to pay for a decent part of college. You'd think they'd know better, but now they're doubling down on hopes for significant money for daughter #2 (who could well develop into a better player than #1, but still a big stretch to think they'll be lots of athletic money there). Great to support your kid, but with their concern about money, sure seems they'd be better served by taking some of their time and money and doing an SAT prep course to get the scores up and be looking for merit money.

My son had a number of D3 choices. Three solid schools and three coaches who wanted him and wanted him to apply ED. He chose not to apply ED to any school and ended up going to a D3 school (good academics and soccer) that offered him the most Merit Aid. Ironically it was not one of the three schools that had been courting him. He contacted the coach of the school he chose - gave him a quick run down of his playing history and that was it. Played every game as a frosh and was starting all games 50% into his freshman season. In the end all the showcases meant very little. We spend way to much time over thinking playing in college.

[Unregistered]

My son had a number of D3 choices. Three solid schools and three coaches who wanted him and wanted him to apply ED. He chose not to apply ED to any school and ended up going to a D3 school (good academics and soccer) that offered him the most Merit Aid. Ironically it was not one of the three schools that had been courting him. He contacted the coach of the school he chose - gave him a quick run down of his playing history and that was it. Played every game as a frosh and was starting all games 50% into his freshman season. In the end all the showcases meant very little. We spend way to much time over thinking playing in college.

1. You're just begging for the "all D3 is crap soccer" response now...
2. I had a kid who chose a similar route- depends on what your kid wants.
3. Sounds like you/your kid and me/my kid placed soccer lower on the priority list. But I don't fault others who view it differently. Fact that he got involved sight unseen and started freshman year suggests he chose to play below his stretch ability level- not everyone wants to do that.

[Unregistered]

1. You're just begging for the "all D3 is crap soccer" response now...
2. I had a kid who chose a similar route- depends on what your kid wants.
3. Sounds like you/your kid and me/my kid placed soccer lower on the priority list. But I don't fault others who view it differently. Fact that he got involved sight unseen and started freshman year suggests he chose to play below his stretch ability level- not everyone wants to do that.

As in all else there's a great deal of variability between top D3 and bottom D3. Sure a few walk ons can happen, especially at low level programs. But competition for spots in top programs is plentiful, particularly at better academic schools, because yes there some smart kids out there who are also good soccer players :).

not the poster