College Showcase Expectations

[Guest]

Seeking thoughts on what the expectations should be for all that participate at a showcase from a player, team coach, club, hosting organization and college coaches.

It’s been my experience as a parent, coach, and college coach that there isn’t much communication and information being shared between all involved.

College coaches generally don’t have any special access to player details outside of collecting brochures at the field from teams while sifting through schedules and reading through emails from players. Finding that most team coaches and clubs aren’t sending any information to the attending college coaches either for promoting their teams.

The organizers aren’t doing much other than listing one as an attending coach. It’s not like there is a check in process or booklet or listing of attending players they provide. It’s on the coach to hunt it down.

Players are encouraged to reach out and make connections. Are coaches also advocating for their players before and after an event? Should they be or is that solely on the player?

Do clubs organize and standardize brochures or does that just fall on the team manager etc? Current club had 1 recruitment seminar and then wished everyone luck. How does NCSA, Sports Recruits, TGS, GotSoccer play into all of this?

Many events look the part but the reality is that there is limited structure and process that is helpful to all involved. The organizers Just provide fields and schedules to play but the true networking falls on the players and coaches outside of those “elite” teams at the premier location that will always attract the top coaches. How are the smaller schools supported through the process.

There’s a lot of money spent on the showcase experience but the quality of info available for college coaches is poor. If players aren’t advocating for themselves, I don’t think they will get anything extra from the organizers or team/club coaches.

[Guest]

Seeking thoughts on what the expectations should be for all that participate at a showcase from a player, team coach, club, hosting organization and college coaches.

It’s been my experience as a parent, coach, and college coach that there isn’t much communication and information being shared between all involved.

College coaches generally don’t have any special access to player details outside of collecting brochures at the field from teams while sifting through schedules and reading through emails from players. Finding that most team coaches and clubs aren’t sending any information to the attending college coaches either for promoting their teams.

The organizers aren’t doing much other than listing one as an attending coach. It’s not like there is a check in process or booklet or listing of attending players they provide. It’s on the coach to hunt it down.

Players are encouraged to reach out and make connections. Are coaches also advocating for their players before and after an event? Should they be or is that solely on the player?

Do clubs organize and standardize brochures or does that just fall on the team manager etc? Current club had 1 recruitment seminar and then wished everyone luck. How does NCSA, Sports Recruits, TGS, GotSoccer play into all of this?

Many events look the part but the reality is that there is limited structure and process that is helpful to all involved. The organizers Just provide fields and schedules to play but the true networking falls on the players and coaches outside of those “elite” teams at the premier location that will always attract the top coaches. How are the smaller schools supported through the process.

There’s a lot of money spent on the showcase experience but the quality of info available for college coaches is poor. If players aren’t advocating for themselves, I don’t think they will get anything extra from the organizers or team/club coaches.

Players are encouraged to reach out and make connections. Are coaches also advocating for their players before and after an event? Should they be or is that solely on the player?

Players do the reaching out before and after, and more than just once; coaches are available for questions.

Do clubs organize and standardize brochures or does that just fall on the team manager etc? Current club had 1 recruitment seminar and then wished everyone luck. How does NCSA, Sports Recruits, TGS, GotSoccer play into all of this?

Mostly, no. We just did our own and enlisted a parent or two to patrol the sidelines and pass out a flier with player's information on them. Coaches are pretty good if they don't have one, and see something they may like, to search someone out to get one (I've had a couple of coaches come up to me before asking where to get one)

Sports Recruits, TGS are platforms for players to build bios. In the past, these were free and provided by our clubs. Players can upload pictures, backgrounds, videos, and if coaches are viewing your material you will get notified about it. It's also a communication portal if needed. NCSA is a different animal, it does all that but also puts your information in front of the line, supposedly, with coaches. It costs a lot of money. But, since they can do all that legwork, and if you aren't experienced, and have a few extra $K kicking around, I guess I could see the benefit.



Re: Questions about the Organizers. Correct - they are organizers, not recruiters. Their job is to get everyone in one place and what happens after is not their responsibility.

[Guest]

Players do the reaching out before and after, and more than just once; coaches are available for questions.



Mostly, no. We just did our own and enlisted a parent or two to patrol the sidelines and pass out a flier with player's information on them. Coaches are pretty good if they don't have one, and see something they may like, to search someone out to get one (I've had a couple of coaches come up to me before asking where to get one)

Sports Recruits, TGS are platforms for players to build bios. In the past, these were free and provided by our clubs. Players can upload pictures, backgrounds, videos, and if coaches are viewing your material you will get notified about it. It's also a communication portal if needed. NCSA is a different animal, it does all that but also puts your information in front of the line, supposedly, with coaches. It costs a lot of money. But, since they can do all that legwork, and if you aren't experienced, and have a few extra $K kicking around, I guess I could see the benefit.



Re: Questions about the Organizers. Correct - they are organizers, not recruiters. Their job is to get everyone in one place and what happens after is not their responsibility.

The only reference college coaches trust the MOST is from coaches who train you and watch you play 24/7.

Not from recruiting services blasting your information or from watching you play randomly when it’s convenient $$.

If you were a college coach and your job relied on winning to keep your job, who are you trusting…..

The club coach who works with you 3-4x a week. Watches you play 16-24 league games, and 3-4 tournaments?

Or

The recruiting service that has told you what “level” of soccer you belong to based on your film and club initials and blasts your information to all colleges hoping for a bite?

You don’t need recruiting services. You can get the job done yourself. If you attend college showcases, that’s all you need. Save your money and spend it things that matter and actually get the job done.

Ecnl, MLS Next, GA, RL, NPL, etc, you don’t need to spend thousands on recruiting services. Attend the showcase, ID camps, get your club coach to call for you because that’s the ONLY reference they trust!

Most college coaches delete emails from recruiting services.

[Guest]

The only reference college coaches trust the MOST is from coaches who train you and watch you play 24/7.

Not from recruiting services blasting your information or from watching you play randomly when it’s convenient $$.

If you were a college coach and your job relied on winning to keep your job, who are you trusting…..

The club coach who works with you 3-4x a week. Watches you play 16-24 league games, and 3-4 tournaments?

Or

The recruiting service that has told you what “level” of soccer you belong to based on your film and club initials and blasts your information to all colleges hoping for a bite?

You don’t need recruiting services. You can get the job done yourself. If you attend college showcases, that’s all you need. Save your money and spend it things that matter and actually get the job done.

Ecnl, MLS Next, GA, RL, NPL, etc, you don’t need to spend thousands on recruiting services. Attend the showcase, ID camps, get your club coach to call for you because that’s the ONLY reference they trust!

Most college coaches delete emails from recruiting services.

This means the team coach is so important. A good club does not mean all their coaches are good - by luck to some extent

[Guest]

I think recruiting apps are important. College coaches are getting hundreds of emails - when a player adds the link of their recruiting app in the email it’s an easy quick reference for the coach to see who he is talking to and get a little bit more info and maybe even decide if the player should be checked out or not. I don’t agree with some apps that send emails for the players. I think personal emails are more effective.

that said, my D is in the process now and I feel like her and I are doing most of the work contacting coaches, researching schools, etc. our club coach sent out a sample college coach email at the beginning of the season and is always available to answer any questions we may have but again it all falls on the player and the families to make the connections.