Originally posted by 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!
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!
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