ECRL vs GA

[Unregistered]

Smart. It's way better to figure this out ahead of time. Some don't until they're stuck in a situation they realize they don't like. One of mine switched gears once they had some discussions with D1 coaches about what schedules and hours looked like. They realized there would be little time to socialize outside the team and very tough to do study abroad or internships

In the end it's about the education and experiences - unless you're a unicorn NT player looking to be on the full NT or go pro. That won't apply to 99.999%

ok, so why are there literally hundreds of pages trying to tell you that the League matters? A unicorn is just that.

[Unregistered]

Difference being there's a steep drop off once you get out of the top D3 programs. Rosters don't tend to have the same depth either. For academics you're far less likely to get in if your grades aren't up to snuff with D3 but most D1s have more bend in admissions (but not always there either). Targeting is key - both soccer wise and academics. It's ok to have a few reaches but the process will be a lot less fraught if you're both an on-target prospect for the team and the school.

There is a steep drop off once you get past say the top 10 D1 teams as well. No one wants to admit that. Sure, Rutgers CAN beat FSU, but if they play 10x I am banking on FSU winning at least 6. In soccer, that is domination.

[Unregistered]

If this is a real post (which I doubt it is) you should compare:

At younger age groups:
- number of training sessions
- fit of your kid with the group
- accolades from the club/league within comparable bodies - e.g. US GNT meeting participants etc

At older age groups:
- commits from the team to colleges
- participation in showcases
- college representation in showcases
- as always fit of your kid with the group
- training and potentially supplemental training options

[Unregistered]

Another narrative based statement. They chose D3 based on their alternatives, some of which included D1 schools. The factors that lead to any choice are distilled down to soccer vs academics by people who want to cloud reality. The choice is rarely that simple. Because its so personal, we have no clue what the real motivations of any choice actually were.

That is the reality for my daughter, friends and some of her team mates. Many factors go into those decisions about playing D1 or D3. The choice was and determined by academics. If you want to study pre-med or engineering playing at a top level D1 is extremely difficult. If you get an offer to play at a highly rated soccer program but not a highly rated academic school then that decision is also easy. When you have a highly rated academic college and a highly rated D3 Soccer program there are no “clouds in my coffee”. That is an easy decision. The motivations are quite simple, academics. To give you an example for pre-med I think the decision to attend John Hopkins for pre-med and MIT for engineering is a no brainer. Both are highly rated academic institution as well as highly rated D3 soccer programs. That is enough motivation for any gifted student/athlete

[Unregistered]

If this is a real post (which I doubt it is) you should compare:

At younger age groups:
- number of training sessions
- fit of your kid with the group
- accolades from the club/league within comparable bodies - e.g. US GNT meeting participants etc

At older age groups:
- commits from the team to colleges
- participation in showcases
- college representation in showcases
- as always fit of your kid with the group
- training and potentially supplemental training options

Ill bite on the older one

1. Why? How does that matter to my kid?
2. Same as 1
3. Same as 1
4. How? They are not necessarily the same in ability, outlook or goals.
5. So spend more on top of what the so called experts charge?

[Unregistered]

That is the reality for my daughter, friends and some of her team mates. Many factors go into those decisions about playing D1 or D3. The choice was and determined by academics. If you want to study pre-med or engineering playing at a top level D1 is extremely difficult. If you get an offer to play at a highly rated soccer program but not a highly rated academic school then that decision is also easy. When you have a highly rated academic college and a highly rated D3 Soccer program there are no “clouds in my coffee”. That is an easy decision. The motivations are quite simple, academics. To give you an example for pre-med I think the decision to attend John Hopkins for pre-med and MIT for engineering is a no brainer. Both are highly rated academic institution as well as highly rated D3 soccer programs. That is enough motivation for any gifted student/athlete

Its not everyones reality. You have just distilled it to that. Playing at a top level D1 is difficult for ANYONE, irrespective of major. Most of the kids will NEVER get that opportunity. Highly rated D3? not sure what that means. Youth sports in this country (especially for girls) have realized that the more "bests" and "highly rated" outcomes we can convince parents exist, the more money we can make. Its participation awards everywhere in sports. the top soccer schools are not in D3 and they would get smoked by the top D1 soccer options. Duke,UCLA,USC,UVa, Stanford all have excellent academic reputations. However, getting ON the field for those teams consistently is a pipe dream for most. Its ok to accept your choices without trying to convince others of them by using words like best or highly rated when it comes to soccer. College is not only about soccer. Its all good. Most of these Youth leagues are about networking. Being part of the machine and paying your entry fee. Not designed to find the best players or prospects. We already know who most of those are pretty early.

[Unregistered]

You have a misconception of D3 programs. Like D1 go look at the rosters of the top 20 D3 programs in the country. They are filled mostly with ECNL playe who chose academics over a D1 commitment. Like D1, D3 programs also have the top tier, middle tier and lower tier. There is no given that your daughter will either meet the requirements academically or athletically.

I don't think he had a misconception. He specifically said "not all players...want the D1 commitment." This is absolutely true.

[Unregistered]

I don't think he had a misconception. He specifically said "not all players...want the D1 commitment." This is absolutely true.

Of course it is true. The problem is with the blanket use of terms like D1 and D3. Is way more nuanced than that. Show me the kids that turn down Duke to pay 50k per year at Johns Hopkins or Emory? Im sure they exist, but rare. Turning down UNCW to go to Stevens , more common Im sure

[Unregistered]

Of course it is true. The problem is with the blanket use of terms like D1 and D3. Is way more nuanced than that. Show me the kids that turn down Duke to pay 50k per year at Johns Hopkins or Emory? Im sure they exist, but rare. Turning down UNCW to go to Stevens , more common Im sure

If a kid is getting an offer to play soccer at Duke, she made the decision pretty early on that they wanted to make soccer her top priority in college. A kid who wants to play varsity college soccer but not as her top priority won't go down that D1 recruiting road, so they are in essence turning down the chance at playing soccer at Duke for the chance to play soccer at Hopkins or Emory. And then there are kids who might turn down a chance to play soccer at Hopkins or Emory for the opportunity to attend Duke without varsity soccer because they like what Duke has to offer overall more than Hopkins/Emory.

On my D's team, she had one teammate who was easily one of the better players on the team who opted to go to an Ivy League school and not play soccer, and another who opted to accept a spot on the roster of a D1 soccer program ranked in the bottom 25 at a middle-of-the-road academic school because she really wanted to play. My D went for going to a D3 school ranked in the top 20 soccer-wise and considered to be a strong academic program because she had the opportunity, but probably would have chosen the same school even if they didn't offer her a roster spot. So there are plenty of different paths that kids choose to go.

[Unregistered]

If a kid is getting an offer to play soccer at Duke, she made the decision pretty early on that they wanted to make soccer her top priority in college. A kid who wants to play varsity college soccer but not as her top priority won't go down that D1 recruiting road, so they are in essence turning down the chance at playing soccer at Duke for the chance to play soccer at Hopkins or Emory. And then there are kids who might turn down a chance to play soccer at Hopkins or Emory for the opportunity to attend Duke without varsity soccer because they like what Duke has to offer overall more than Hopkins/Emory.

On my D's team, she had one teammate who was easily one of the better players on the team who opted to go to an Ivy League school and not play soccer, and another who opted to accept a spot on the roster of a D1 soccer program ranked in the bottom 25 at a middle-of-the-road academic school because she really wanted to play. My D went for going to a D3 school ranked in the top 20 soccer-wise and considered to be a strong academic program because she had the opportunity, but probably would have chosen the same school even if they didn't offer her a roster spot. So there are plenty of different paths that kids choose to go.

Yes and many people try to figure out why players did x, y or z when in reality it's their decision. Other than very close family or friends most likely you know very little about a player's goals, majors, academic capabilities, preferences on school size/type/location, family finances and, most importantly, what kind of offers they got. I've seen kids make choices that on paper seem like great fits and they work out for them, play all four years, very happy. Others make mistakes either over-shooting on the soccer and never play, or struggle academically. Some are good students but pick very questionable schools just to be able to play. I don't understand it, I would hope my kids would never pick it (I certainly would gently discourage it) but I'm not going to judge it either.

The last group decide to not play at all because they couldn't find a fit with soccer and what they wanted for school. My nephew fits that bill - he just didn't want the D1 commitment but preferred the bigger D1 schools. He got recruited to some solid D1 programs but as a GK very well may never have played. D3s just didn't do it for him size and location wise. Decided to go to a big D1, plays club and a men's league and has time for lots of other things - including a crazy good internship and will study abroad in the fall. He's having a blast and has no regrets.

It's their path, let them chose it. Too many parents push their kids to play in college for various reasons. If their heart isn't in it, ultimately it won't work.

[Unregistered]

Highly rated D3? not sure what that means. Youth sports in this country (especially for girls) have realized that the more "bests" and "highly rated" outcomes we can convince parents exist, the more money we can make. Its participation awards everywhere in sports. the top soccer schools are not in D3 and they would get smoked by the top D1 soccer options.

I think "highly rated D3" in soccer terms applies to the top 20 NCAA D3 rankings. And I don't think think point is whether or not D3 soccer teams can be competitive with D1. The point is that there are D3 freshman recruits that can be on-par with many D1 programs outside of the top 50 D1 programs. What makes those D3 programs unable to compete with D1 programs is that once those players arrive at the school, they do not train as much as the D1 programs. So by the time everybody is a sophomore or junior, the D1 teams grow the gap ahead of those D3 teams despite the fact that the recruiting classes might be of comparable talent. Of course, I am not talking about the top 20 D1 programs (or maybe even the top 50 D1 programs).

[Unregistered]

Yes and many people try to figure out why players did x, y or z when in reality it's their decision. Other than very close family or friends most likely you know very little about a player's goals, majors, academic capabilities, preferences on school size/type/location, family finances and, most importantly, what kind of offers they got. I've seen kids make choices that on paper seem like great fits and they work out for them, play all four years, very happy. Others make mistakes either over-shooting on the soccer and never play, or struggle academically. Some are good students but pick very questionable schools just to be able to play. I don't understand it, I would hope my kids would never pick it (I certainly would gently discourage it) but I'm not going to judge it either.

The last group decide to not play at all because they couldn't find a fit with soccer and what they wanted for school. My nephew fits that bill - he just didn't want the D1 commitment but preferred the bigger D1 schools. He got recruited to some solid D1 programs but as a GK very well may never have played. D3s just didn't do it for him size and location wise. Decided to go to a big D1, plays club and a men's league and has time for lots of other things - including a crazy good internship and will study abroad in the fall. He's having a blast and has no regrets.

It's their path, let them chose it. Too many parents push their kids to play in college for various reasons. If their heart isn't in it, ultimately it won't work.

yep, I think the bottom line point here is you can't say "S/he plays soccer at a D3 school because she wasn't good enough for a D1 program", because too many other factors go into college choice than just the quality of the soccer program.

[Unregistered]

yep, I think the bottom line point here is you can't say "S/he plays soccer at a D3 school because she wasn't good enough for a D1 program", because too many other factors go into college choice than just the quality of the soccer program.

Does anyone say that? Why would a kid go play at a D1 or D2 or D3 program if they were not a good academic or other fit for that college unless they just really needed the money ...mwhich is fine

[Unregistered]

Does anyone say that? Why would a kid go play at a D1 or D2 or D3 program if they were not a good academic or other fit for that college unless they just really needed the money ...mwhich is fine

The inference has been made that D3 is a fall back option which it’s not. Uneducated people in the college process assume that D3 soccer is not a strong viable option vs. D1. I think we are in agreement that those of us who have daughters either playing D3 or explored that option see it as a very viable option for numerous reasons but most importantly it gives students the opportunity to study academically in an environment less stringent than D1 and also play competitive college soccer. Many from these student/athletes in this area attend NESCAC colleges along with John Hopkins, MIT, University. Of Chicago, Emery, Pfitzer, Pomona, etc. all outstanding colleges with great soccer programs.

[Unregistered]

People need to remember that for girls especially it is Student-Athlete and not the other way around. No NBA #1 draft $$$ after the experience is over. The first goal is to get an education and if soccer can be part of the experience and help pay for it, great. Choosing a bad fit just bc its D1 is insane when this is meant to get you started on the next 60 years of your life.