2018 Boys Soccer Verbal Commitments

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DA is better. The only ones who will tell you different is the prep school parents.
Just ask any college coach.

Best for soccer yes. There are no more than 10 MA kids per year who really need this level training. For the rest, play for a club that you don't have to spend hours all week driving to practice, as well as long weekends traveling all over the USA missing school days. Much better for the other kids to focus more on academics and ECA's at school.

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ISL and other good prep soccer schools are an excellent option if you combine it with academy or top NPL. I know of many players getting serious D1 and D3 looks and some are only juniors. One junior is sitting on two good D1 offers with athletic and merit money. Another prep junior just committed to a top 80 D1 school with 95% free ride ( combination of financial aid, athletic and scholarship money). Seriously check out these schools - application deadline is Jan 15th!

initials of the players? which schools?

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initials of the players? which schools?

One is from Loomis. Other is from Milton. Two Berkshire juniors sitting on D1 offers too.

[Unregistered]

Best for soccer yes. There are no more than 10 MA kids per year who really need this level training. For the rest, play for a club that you don't have to spend hours all week driving to practice, as well as long weekends traveling all over the USA missing school days. Much better for the other kids to focus more on academics and ECA's at school.

As a DA parent at the tail end of the process I can tell you that this statement is 100% accurate.

[Unregistered]

List so far looks pretty good for prep school kids. The soccer competition isn't the same level as DA but it's still quite high. Combined with good academics these kids do just fine. Most parents only care about the college anyway.

D1

Christian Garner, NEFC, Brooks, BC
Tyler Stott, NEFC, Westboro, BC
Gregorio Barilla, NEFC, Worcester Academy, BC
Nate Cole, GPS, Worcester Academy, BU
James Swomley, Bolts, Newton, Brown
Jared Bull, Bolts, Algonquin, Bryant
Adam Kulick, GPS, Cambridge, Bucknell
Andrew Stevens, GPS, Brooks, Columbia
Vittorio Luzio, Bolts, Columbia
Andrew Collari, NEFC, Worcester Academy, CCSU
Cristian Suvak, Aztecs, Winchester, UConn
Ohad Yahalom, Revs, Dartmouth
Ahira Simons, Black Rock FC, Berkshire, Dartmouth
Marcelo Lage, Bolts, Brooks, GW
Kamar Nuhiu, Oakwood, Agawam, Hartford
Ben Bryant, Bolts, R&L, Harvard
Gunnar Siegel, Bolts, High Point
Nic Andre, Bolts, HC
John Siracuse, Bolts, HC
Alec Szwarcewicz, GPS, Newton South, HC
James McPherson, Aztecs, Danvers, UMass
Nathaniel Cardozo, GPS, Oliver Ames, UMass
Laszlo Dorogi, Revs, Wachusett, UML
Tyler Mann, NEFC, King Phillips, UML
James McCully, Liverpool FC, Nauset, UNH
Andrew Karalis, Bolts, Belmont, Northeastern
Matt Leigh, NEFC, St Marks, Penn
Georges El Khoury, Seacoast, Sharon, Portland
Ryan Clare, Wellesley, Princeton
Dylan Curran, Bolts, Jamaica Plain, PC
Andrew Chisolm, Bayside Bolts, PC
Ackim Mpofu, transfer, Northeastern, St Johns*
Joe Morrison, Bolts, UVM
Peter Dakoyannis, Seacoast, Newton, UVM
Amos Shapiro Thompson, ?, UVA *
Connor Haskell, Revs, Xavier

Get real. Maybe 5-10 of these players will even play on these teams. Check back in 2 years

[Unregistered]

Get real. Maybe 5-10 of these players will even play on these teams. Check back in 2 years

Mr Miller, that's not the point...

how many revs academy players are still playing after two years? same number.

[Unregistered]

Get real. Maybe 5-10 of these players will even play on these teams. Check back in 2 years

That, of course, is the entire point of this series of threads. In years to come, the OP will go back and calculate just how much PT these kids got. Go back and check 2017 Boys Soccer Verbal Commitments, or 2016 Boys Soccer Verbal Commitments, or 2015 Boys Soccer Verbal Commitments, and so on.

So as far as "getting real," the people who have been paying attention to these threads are waaaay ahead of you.

[Unregistered]

Best for soccer yes. There are no more than 10 MA kids per year who really need this level training. For the rest, play for a club that you don't have to spend hours all week driving to practice, as well as long weekends traveling all over the USA missing school days. Much better for the other kids to focus more on academics and ECA's at school.

DA is good for our family. One criticism that I hear here only is that kids are spending hours to get to practice. Are you suggesting it would take less time for these kids to get to Mendon than foxboro or acton or even Epping?

[Unregistered]

That, of course, is the entire point of this series of threads. In years to come, the OP will go back and calculate just how much PT these kids got. Go back and check 2017 Boys Soccer Verbal Commitments, or 2016 Boys Soccer Verbal Commitments, or 2015 Boys Soccer Verbal Commitments, and so on.

So as far as "getting real," the people who have been paying attention to these threads are waaaay ahead of you.

Balance:
Although these are important and informative pieces of information, I do ask, as a former D3 player with kids attending D3 schools and playing sports, what is the goal? I don't have answers to the following questions except for myself and my kids. I imagine that each kid and family is different.

1. Is the kid using the sport to get into a better school.....or even to get into school?
2. Is the kid using the sport to get scholarship money to help cut the f-ing ridiculous costs of college?
3. Does the kid desperately need to attend a D1 soccer program due to massive internal drive?
4. Is the parent driving the need to attend a D1 soccer program for their own ego?
5. What happens to the kids love of the sport if, two years later, they haven't played too much?
6. Has the kid chosen the school solely for the soccer or does he/she really want to attend that particular school? If the former, then they might be very very disappointed for a host of reasons that might contribute toward not playing too much or wondering where the time went after four years.

As a fan of playing sports in college, I do recognize that I was never going to be a D1 athlete or at least not one that was going to see the playing field much. I chose to attend a school where I would get on the field early and often and participate in the sport that I enjoyed as opposed to sitting on the bench and telling everyone that I was a D1 athlete.

As a fan of playing sports in college, I see the social part of it and the fitness that goes along with training.

As a fan of getting a job or progressing after four years of college, I see the importance of choosing a school that you will successfully achieve those goals as opposed to one that you are attending to play the sport.

If I had the ability to be an active D1 participant I might have chosen that path, but I recognized that was not the case and chose a balance between participating in the sport and attending a great school to progress my future after four years.

How many of these recruits....and their parents.....ask the same questions?

[Unregistered]

D1

Christian Garner, NEFC, Brooks, BC
Tyler Stott, NEFC, Westboro, BC
Gregorio Barilla, NEFC, Worcester Academy, BC
Nate Cole, GPS, Worcester Academy, BU
James Swomley, Bolts, Newton, Brown
Jared Bull, Bolts, Algonquin, Bryant
Adam Kulick, GPS, Cambridge, Bucknell
Andrew Stevens, GPS, Brooks, Columbia
Vittorio Luzio, Bolts, Columbia
Andrew Collari, NEFC, Worcester Academy, CCSU
Cristian Suvak, Aztecs, Winchester, UConn
Ohad Yahalom, Revs, Dartmouth
Ahira Simons, Black Rock FC, Berkshire, Dartmouth
Marcelo Lage, Bolts, Brooks, GW
Kamar Nuhiu, Oakwood, Agawam, Hartford
Ben Bryant, Bolts, R&L, Harvard
Gunnar Siegel, Bolts, High Point
Nic Andre, Bolts, HC
John Siracuse, Bolts, HC
Alec Szwarcewicz, GPS, Newton South, HC
James McPherson, Aztecs, Danvers, UMass
Nathaniel Cardozo, GPS, Oliver Ames, UMass
Laszlo Dorogi, Revs, Wachusett, UML
Tyler Mann, NEFC, King Phillips, UML
James McCully, Liverpool FC, Nauset, UNH
Andrew Karalis, Bolts, Belmont, Northeastern
Matt Leigh, NEFC, St Marks, Penn
Georges El Khoury, Seacoast, Sharon, Portland
Ryan Clare, Wellesley, Princeton
Dylan Curran, Bolts, Jamaica Plain, PC
Andrew Chisolm, Bayside Bolts, PC
Ackim Mpofu, transfer, Northeastern, St Johns*
Joe Morrison, Bolts, UVM
Peter Dakoyannis, Seacoast, Newton, UVM
Amos Shapiro Thompson, UVA
Connor Haskell, Revs, Xavier


D2
Connor Willis, MPS, North Andover, Assumption
John Aguiar, GPS, Bishop Connelly, Assumption
Michael Budrewicz, Aztecs, Masconomet, St. Anselm's
Nick Bernardi, GPS, Framingham, Merrimack


D3

Mitch Collins, Aztecs, SJP, Babson
William Talleri, NEFC, SJP, Babson
Rob Dunne, Abby Villa, Medway, Babson*
Isaac Mukala, Lawrence Academy, Brandeis
Skylah Dias, GPS, Case, Brandeis
Jared Wood, Aztecs, Waring School, Colby
Cole Hay, Aztecs, Manchester, Hobart
Steven Yakita, Aztecs, SJP, Franklin & Marshall
Aidan Schoellkopf, NMH, Kenyon
Austin Ward, Aztecs, North Andover, SJC
Jay Poskitt, Aztecs, Winchester, Stevens Institute of Technology
Will Raphael, GPS, Andover Academy, Tufts

[Unregistered]

D1

Christian Garner, NEFC, Brooks, BC
Tyler Stott, NEFC, Westboro, BC
Gregorio Barilla, NEFC, Worcester Academy, BC
Nate Cole, GPS, Worcester Academy, BU
James Swomley, Bolts, Newton, Brown
Jared Bull, Bolts, Algonquin, Bryant
Adam Kulick, GPS, Cambridge, Bucknell
Andrew Stevens, GPS, Brooks, Columbia
Vittorio Luzio, Bolts, Columbia
Andrew Collari, NEFC, Worcester Academy, CCSU
Cristian Suvak, Aztecs, Winchester, UConn
Ohad Yahalom, Revs, Dartmouth
Ahira Simons, Black Rock FC, Berkshire, Dartmouth
Marcelo Lage, Bolts, Brooks, GW
Kamar Nuhiu, Oakwood, Agawam, Hartford
Ben Bryant, Bolts, R&L, Harvard
Gunnar Siegel, Bolts, High Point
Nic Andre, Bolts, HC
John Siracuse, Bolts, HC
Alec Szwarcewicz, GPS, Newton South, HC
James McPherson, Aztecs, Danvers, UMass
Nathaniel Cardozo, GPS, Oliver Ames, UMass
Laszlo Dorogi, Revs, Wachusett, UML
Tyler Mann, NEFC, King Phillips, UML
James McCully, Liverpool FC, Nauset, UNH
Andrew Karalis, Bolts, Belmont, Northeastern
Matt Leigh, NEFC, St Marks, Penn
Georges El Khoury, Seacoast, Sharon, Portland
Ryan Clare, Wellesley, Princeton
Dylan Curran, Bolts, Jamaica Plain, PC
Andrew Chisolm, Bayside Bolts, PC
Ackim Mpofu, transfer, Northeastern, St Johns
Joe Morrison, Bolts, UVM
Peter Dakoyannis, Seacoast, Newton, UVM
Amos Shapiro Thompson, UVA
Connor Haskell, Revs, Xavier


D2
Connor Willis, MPS, North Andover, Assumption
John Aguiar, GPS, Bishop Connelly, Assumption
Michael Budrewicz, Aztecs, Masconomet, St. Anselm's
Nick Bernardi, GPS, Framingham, Merrimack


D3

Mitch Collins, Aztecs, SJP, Babson
William Talleri, NEFC, SJP, Babson
Rob Dunne, Abbey Villa, Medway, Babson*
Isaac Mukala, Lawrence Academy, Brandeis
Skylah Dias, GPS, Case, Brandeis
Jared Wood, Aztecs, Waring School, Colby
Cole Hay, Aztecs, Manchester, Hobart
Steven Yakita, Aztecs, SJP, Franklin & Marshall
Aidan Schoellkopf, NMH, Kenyon
Austin Ward, Aztecs, North Andover, SJC
Jay Poskitt, Aztecs, Winchester, Stevens Institute of Technology
Will Raphael, GPS, Andover Academy, Tufts

[Unregistered]

Balance:
Although these are important and informative pieces of information, I do ask, as a former D3 player with kids attending D3 schools and playing sports, what is the goal? I don't have answers to the following questions except for myself and my kids. I imagine that each kid and family is different.

1. Is the kid using the sport to get into a better school.....or even to get into school?
2. Is the kid using the sport to get scholarship money to help cut the f-ing ridiculous costs of college?
3. Does the kid desperately need to attend a D1 soccer program due to massive internal drive?
4. Is the parent driving the need to attend a D1 soccer program for their own ego?
5. What happens to the kids love of the sport if, two years later, they haven't played too much?
6. Has the kid chosen the school solely for the soccer or does he/she really want to attend that particular school? If the former, then they might be very very disappointed for a host of reasons that might contribute toward not playing too much or wondering where the time went after four years.

As a fan of playing sports in college, I do recognize that I was never going to be a D1 athlete or at least not one that was going to see the playing field much. I chose to attend a school where I would get on the field early and often and participate in the sport that I enjoyed as opposed to sitting on the bench and telling everyone that I was a D1 athlete.

As a fan of playing sports in college, I see the social part of it and the fitness that goes along with training.

As a fan of getting a job or progressing after four years of college, I see the importance of choosing a school that you will successfully achieve those goals as opposed to one that you are attending to play the sport.

If I had the ability to be an active D1 participant I might have chosen that path, but I recognized that was not the case and chose a balance between participating in the sport and attending a great school to progress my future after four years.

How many of these recruits....and their parents.....ask the same questions?

Having gone through the recruiting process with my son, I can appreciate this post and agree, these are questions we should all be asking ourselves as we go through the process.

We as parents and our son asked these same questions and it turned out a D1 soccer school was a good fit, despite the fact that he may or may not see the field much or at all.

On your question 1, our son had a lot of interest from D3 NESCAC and other schools but it turned out he didn't quite have the grades to get into those schools and even if a coach could possibly help get him in, we feared he'd be in over his head academically especially while keeping up a rigorous athletic program schedule. Using D3 soccer to get into a better college is not the right path for every good player.

Question 2: There was very little to no athletic scholarship money being dangled in front of him, so that wasn't really a factor for us. And yes, that's the case for many D1 & D2 soccer athletes because there just isn't much athletic scholarship money available in this sport on the boys side and most freshmen will have to earn playing time; it isn't handed to them. (I know for a fact that some of the kids on the D1 verbal commit list did get athletic money but I would be willing to bet my house that most did not)

Questions 3 & 4: Our son has always wanted to TRY to play at a good D1 college program, knowing it may or may not work out but he's driven to give it his best shot. He's fortunate enough to have the opportunity to chase his dream. As parents, we don't particularly care what level of soccer he plays; we just know that it makes him happy and it benefits him in so many ways, much more than athletics. We support 100% his love of playing the game and chasing his dreams, as I would bet most parents reading this do for their own kids.

Question 5: He and we are well aware, given the statistics, that his goal of actually PLAYING D1 soccer may not become a reality. But he's driven to TRY. He knows that if you don't try, you can never succeed. If it doesn't work out then at least he tried and will not have regrets - and there's no question that he will always love the game regardless. He could then choose to transfer to a D2 or D3 where he might have a better chance of more playing time or he could be so content at the D1 college that he decides to stay regardless of his status on the soccer team. As evidenced by these threads over the years, a lot of kids will find themselves in this situation after freshman year. We are well aware of this reality.

Question 6: In his case, the school happens to be a good academic fit, as does the D1 soccer program for which he was actively recruited. Does he have other college options? Yes - D1, D2, and D3 and colleges where he knows he would have to play club soccer are all options available to him but he has decided to chase his D1 dream while getting a solid college education and we support him.

I don't think our situation is unique. A lot of people fault kids and families for choosing D1 over D3 simply because they most likely won't ever play much or at all, but it's a complicated decision-making process for each kid and family and all factors must be considered carefully.

Congratulations to all of the players on these lists!

[Unregistered]

Having gone through the recruiting process with my son, I can appreciate this post and agree, these are questions we should all be asking ourselves as we go through the process.

We as parents and our son asked these same questions and it turned out a D1 soccer school was a good fit, despite the fact that he may or may not see the field much or at all.

On your question 1, our son had a lot of interest from D3 NESCAC and other schools but it turned out he didn't quite have the grades to get into those schools and even if a coach could possibly help get him in, we feared he'd be in over his head academically especially while keeping up a rigorous athletic program schedule. Using D3 soccer to get into a better college is not the right path for every good player.

Question 2: There was very little to no athletic scholarship money being dangled in front of him, so that wasn't really a factor for us. And yes, that's the case for many D1 & D2 soccer athletes because there just isn't much athletic scholarship money available in this sport on the boys side and most freshmen will have to earn playing time; it isn't handed to them. (I know for a fact that some of the kids on the D1 verbal commit list did get athletic money but I would be willing to bet my house that most did not)

Questions 3 & 4: Our son has always wanted to TRY to play at a good D1 college program, knowing it may or may not work out but he's driven to give it his best shot. He's fortunate enough to have the opportunity to chase his dream. As parents, we don't particularly care what level of soccer he plays; we just know that it makes him happy and it benefits him in so many ways, much more than athletics. We support 100% his love of playing the game and chasing his dreams, as I would bet most parents reading this do for their own kids.

Question 5: He and we are well aware, given the statistics, that his goal of actually PLAYING D1 soccer may not become a reality. But he's driven to TRY. He knows that if you don't try, you can never succeed. If it doesn't work out then at least he tried and will not have regrets - and there's no question that he will always love the game regardless. He could then choose to transfer to a D2 or D3 where he might have a better chance of more playing time or he could be so content at the D1 college that he decides to stay regardless of his status on the soccer team. As evidenced by these threads over the years, a lot of kids will find themselves in this situation after freshman year. We are well aware of this reality.

Question 6: In his case, the school happens to be a good academic fit, as does the D1 soccer program for which he was actively recruited. Does he have other college options? Yes - D1, D2, and D3 and colleges where he knows he would have to play club soccer are all options available to him but he has decided to chase his D1 dream while getting a solid college education and we support him.

I don't think our situation is unique. A lot of people fault kids and families for choosing D1 over D3 simply because they most likely won't ever play much or at all, but it's a complicated decision-making process for each kid and family and all factors must be considered carefully.

Congratulations to all of the players on these lists!

As someone whose son is just beginning the process, I appreciate your thoughtful post. I wish I knew you in real life!

[Unregistered]

As someone whose son is just beginning the process, I appreciate your thoughtful post. I wish I knew you in real life!

Thank you and I completely understand. As the saying goes...I wish I knew then what I know now. One can't possibly fully understand or appreciate the recruiting process and the college decision-making process until they've been through it, and I know first hand that it would have been tremendously helpful and A LOT less stressful to be able to pick the brain of someone who's been there, done that.

[Unregistered]

As someone whose son is just beginning the process, I appreciate your thoughtful post. I wish I knew you in real life!

Just to add to his points -

For us the biggest question and first question to ask first is what kind of commitment your student athlete wants to make? D3 is still a big commitment but obviously not as large as D1. Do some research on it because for some D1 is just too much. It can also be difficult to manage with some majors and makes doing semesters abroad etc fairly uncommon. Some players just want a more balanced experience. In some ways taking athletic $ basically out of the picture (because there just isn't much to discuss) makes it simpler because then you're only thinking about academic and athletic fit. If you're just starting take some time to visit a variety of local schools of all types to get a sense of what he likes - big, small, rural urban etc. It can help narrow his focus. Also keep in mind that the quality of schools runs the gambit - there's excellent to poor D1 and D2 and not all D3 are schools are MIT or U Chicago either. In the end it's the academics that matter the most. Find the best academic fit cannot be stressed enough.