Does your high school kid have to play on a Club Soccer team to make a D1 college soc

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Does your high school kid have to play on a Club Soccer team to make a D1 college soccer team? (Especially if you live in RI?) Or can they play well for their local town and high school and still have a chance? Deciding whether or not to pay for a club soccer team in high school or save the money towards college. Kid really wants to go to a D1 school, grades are good too.

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Does your high school kid have to play on a Club Soccer team to make a D1 college soccer team? (Especially if you live in RI?) Or can they play well for their local town and high school and still have a chance? Deciding whether or not to pay for a club soccer team in high school or save the money towards college. Kid really wants to go to a D1 school, grades are good too.

Not only do they have to play club soccer, you will be hard pressed to get a sniff from a D1 coach without NPL, ECNL or DA club level experience.

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You barely can play at a lower D3 college program without club soccer these days. Coaches don’t recruit from public HS soccer leagues anymore, so unless you blow some coach away at an ID Camp, there is little chance your kid will ever get noticed. And if they do blow away a coach at an ID Camp, the first thing they’ll ask is what club they player for and to send their club game/tournament schedule. Without any of that, your kid will not get recruited or given an offers.

(The rare exception is a stud player playing for a high level prep school league like ISL which may get your games scouted, but there are few to zero of those players who have never played club either)

Bottom line - ANY College Soccer requires club soccer.

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This may get some blowback from the regulars around here who claim to have all the answers, but if a kid doesn't play club soccer for one reason or another, but is still talented enough to have done so at a high level, and the goal isn't scholarship money, he/she can always try walking on. I mean, if your kid just wants to play college soccer but hasn't been recruited, I wouldn't recommend going to a D1 school and expecting anything (although there are good club teams at a lot of those schools). Walking on and getting to actually play is something more realistically done at a D3 school.

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This may get some blowback from the regulars around here who claim to have all the answers, but if a kid doesn't play club soccer for one reason or another, but is still talented enough to have done so at a high level, and the goal isn't scholarship money, he/she can always try walking on. I mean, if your kid just wants to play college soccer but hasn't been recruited, I wouldn't recommend going to a D1 school and expecting anything (although there are good club teams at a lot of those schools). Walking on and getting to actually play is something more realistically done at a D3 school.

Why even walk on? Playing soccer in college is a job and it takes time and energy away from academics. If you aren’t receiving athletic money and weren’t recruited, you’re likely to sit the bench and be a practice cone for the recruited players. Sounds like a bad deal...

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For D1 especially it's pretty unlikely. Even if they could land a spot as a walk on it's most likely they'd be a bench warmer for a year or two. D2 or D3 has a better shot, but even there the better programs recruit ahead of time and competition for spots is strong.

One option is club soccer - most schools have club teams. The competition can be very good and teams have loads of kids who played club and either they weren't quite good enough for college ball or they didn't want it. Often times there's players who got cut from the school's varsity team. Teams play other schools, travel etc.

Focus on getting good grades and getting into the perfect college for them. Use some of that money for test prep and tutors. Good grades will afford them more opportunities than sports.

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My comment about walking on was specifically talking about the case of a talented player who could indeed play in college, but who failed to draw any recruiting interest because of not being on the "right" team or whatever. I certainly wasn't implying that anybody who isn't recruited could just walk into a starting spot at a d1 school.

To the poster who said "why bother," I'd say because it can be fun. And there's a big social aspect to it as well. I walked onto a top 20 D1 wrestling program. I was fourth on the depth chart, so never saw the mat outside practice, but I made good friends and I was in the best shape of my life. It was a great experience and I will never have any "what if" regrets, because I gave it my best shot and found out exactly how good I was (or was not).

[Unregistered]

My comment about walking on was specifically talking about the case of a talented player who could indeed play in college, but who failed to draw any recruiting interest because of not being on the "right" team or whatever. I certainly wasn't implying that anybody who isn't recruited could just walk into a starting spot at a d1 school.

To the poster who said "why bother," I'd say because it can be fun. And there's a big social aspect to it as well. I walked onto a top 20 D1 wrestling program. I was fourth on the depth chart, so never saw the mat outside practice, but I made good friends and I was in the best shape of my life. It was a great experience and I will never have any "what if" regrets, because I gave it my best shot and found out exactly how good I was (or was not).

Coaches will look at talent. It's just that without the resume it's going to be tough to get your foot in the door. Make a highlight reel, send your resume (if you're a standout HS player you should have lots of accolades) and attend ID events. Unfortunately soccer and other sports are no longer ones where standouts can get the attention of college coaches. Football, basketball and track still give some kids a shot if they shine in HS. Give walking on a shot if you really want it. Also look into club. Club teams at many schools are good and competitive, they travel and have playoffs. Not quite the same as being on the varsity team, but definitely above intramural.