Average Soccer Parent

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Keep in mind there are over 330 D1 programs. There are dramatic peaks and valleys of college programs and leagues. Just because there are so many spots does not means those programs are high level or as competitive as you may think. A small group will play at the college of their choice while many will have to settle. The group that have to settle many choose D3 for the education as well as playing competitive college soccer.

Yes but I was merely responding to the other poster on D1 dreams. There's obviously a huge gulf between Stanford and team #302. Then if you mix in academics, the probability of playing and $, it gets complicated. But in general pick the school first, no one is going pro. Always be sure you love the school because soccer could go away.

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if all D1 schools were doing what Ivy schools do, no scholarship for athletes, no one would be here dreaming about it and coaches/clubs would have nothing to pitch.

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if all D1 schools were doing what Ivy schools do, no scholarship for athletes, no one would be here dreaming about it and coaches/clubs would have nothing to pitch.

That’s not true. The vast majority of players in college get little if any scholarship money. Most programs get approx 11-15 full scholarships which is then divided among 30 players. Playing college soccer is about the love of the game. The competition and the competitiveness to compete against the best players in your league and in the country. It wouldn’t make a difference to 99% of college players. They played club soccer for the love of the game and they would play in college as well for the same reasons. Following your logic then there would be n Ivy League soccer yet every year t gets more competitive with primarily ECNL players who turned down scholarship money to play by

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Same dope that posted whiners and complainers. If it annoys you so much stop taking the time to read these threads let alone respond.

We Are The Shore!

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That’s not true. The vast majority of players in college get little if any scholarship money. Most programs get approx 11-15 full scholarships which is then divided among 30 players. Playing college soccer is about the love of the game. The competition and the competitiveness to compete against the best players in your league and in the country. It wouldn’t make a difference to 99% of college players. They played club soccer for the love of the game and they would play in college as well for the same reasons. Following your logic then there would be n Ivy League soccer yet every year t gets more competitive with primarily ECNL players who turned down scholarship money to play by

Very different scenario mens' vs women. Men's only has max 9.9 scholarships to divide up and there's 100 fewer mens' D1 programs out there to begin with. There's also loads more international players that snag the bulk of the scholarship dough and many top spots and playing time. For women there's more programs and they get up to 14 scholarships to split. Very few international players. A female player that targets right - aims for programs where she'll be a consistent starter within a year or so - will get 40-60% off. Even if a male player targets right he'll get maybe 15-20% off. For either gender almost no one gets a full ride and some will get nothing. There's just a lot more men getting nothing than there are women.

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if all D1 schools were doing what Ivy schools do, no scholarship for athletes, no one would be here dreaming about it and coaches/clubs would have nothing to pitch.

Some schools are cutting back on certain teams (the less popular ones mostly) but as long as a school has fully funded football team there will always be loads of female scholarships because of title 9. As long as top football and basketball programs make schools tens of millions of dollars, those scholarships will remain.

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So so true I see it within our academy, so many parents have no clue that their kid has a 1-2% chance to actually play D1, yet they buy the sales pitch hook line and sinker. One delusional family is already talking about Duke and Virginia and the girl is U14. Apparently the club is telling them there’s “interest”. They have no clue how good you have to be to play at programmes such as those and what the competition is like.

Parents quickly realize getting an e-mail from a college thinks they are after you. Reality is, if you have ever signed up for anything, your address is sold off. So, they mass mail to anyone and everyone. Guarantee if you asked a coach directly about a U14, they'd have no clue who you are talking about.

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Parents quickly realize getting an e-mail from a college thinks they are after you. Reality is, if you have ever signed up for anything, your address is sold off. So, they mass mail to anyone and everyone. Guarantee if you asked a coach directly about a U14, they'd have no clue who you are talking about.

Until you actually get a personal message from a D1 coach inviting you for a recruiting visit and letting you know they have seen you play in person several times and like what they see the rest is smoke and mirrors created by the academies to lure you in and keep you paying.

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I had some recruiting service call me, and they had all sorts of info on my kid already i guess from looking at the ecnl website, and then when they asked what contacts from colleges she has received (she is u14) i said well, none she just started playing for her new club this year, the "recruiter" was like oh well most kids have already been identified by 7th grade and how they could help her out and its only x thousand dollars for the service.

It is all about telling you that 1. your kid is good and 2. you could be missing out. Combine those two things and sports parents lose their minds and agree to spend $$$.

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Until you actually get a personal message from a D1 coach inviting you for a recruiting visit and letting you know they have seen you play in person several times and like what they see the rest is smoke and mirrors created by the academies to lure you in and keep you paying.

I don't see how this equates to the "academies". You get on mailers for various reasons, most of which have nothing to do with your soccer club. All those summer camps and futsal trainings and ID camps and going to the school sites does it.

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I had some recruiting service call me, and they had all sorts of info on my kid already i guess from looking at the ecnl website, and then when they asked what contacts from colleges she has received (she is u14) i said well, none she just started playing for her new club this year, the "recruiter" was like oh well most kids have already been identified by 7th grade and how they could help her out and its only x thousand dollars for the service.

It is all about telling you that 1. your kid is good and 2. you could be missing out. Combine those two things and sports parents lose their minds and agree to spend $$$.

Bingo, our club told us there is “interest” from North Carolina at U14. Not sure what to believe.

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I had some recruiting service call me, and they had all sorts of info on my kid already i guess from looking at the ecnl website, and then when they asked what contacts from colleges she has received (she is u14) i said well, none she just started playing for her new club this year, the "recruiter" was like oh well most kids have already been identified by 7th grade and how they could help her out and its only x thousand dollars for the service.

It is all about telling you that 1. your kid is good and 2. you could be missing out. Combine those two things and sports parents lose their minds and agree to spend $$$.

yeah, similar story. After some initial work on what they were offering, we ended up on a call w/ my wife and daughter. I was curious. Guy starts going w/ the hard sell and it's on a speaker phone, so we all can hear him. He's going on and on about my daughter (she's tall, strong, and athletic) and is a very good student. At the time, she was in GDA. "Oh any college in the country would be thrilled to have you play for them!"

Umm...buddy...you've never actually SEEN her play. She's good, not "any college in the country" good, but we hang up and she's on cloud nine.

Tough to break it to her, but explained this is the first time in a lifetime of someone telling you want you want to hear so they can take your money.

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Bingo, our club told us there is “interest” from North Carolina at U14. Not sure what to believe.

Certainly not that :-)

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Certainly not that :-)

Let’s be very clear about young players. Unless she has attended the NTC, NT or ID2, colleges have no clue who your daughter is, period!

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Bingo, our club told us there is “interest” from North Carolina at U14. Not sure what to believe.

unless she's been going to National training camps there's zero interest.