College Recruiting

[Unregistered]

I have been through this with my two girls with one still playing. College coaches are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of e-mails and unsolicited resumes, dvd's, etc. Both men's and women's coaches tell me that in season they can get a thousand a week. Seems like a lot, but I choose to believe them. What to do:

1. Have good resume prepared.
2. Complete each individual college's questionnaire.
3. When going to tournaments, send the following e-mail to coaches:
title - Surf Cup - November 20-23, John Doe
body - I am John Doe, a sophomore playing for ABC soccer club on the U16 Maniacs
team as a defender, jersey #16.
Game schedules, (list date, time, field #, opponent)
I am very interested in playing for ABC University. I would like schedule a time
to meet with you on campus at a time we can jointly schedule -OR-
I would like to send you ..... and then communicate with you about your
program and how I might fit within it.
(You get the idea)
Follow-up after each tournament immediately and ask if they had an opportunity to
see you play, etc.
4. I wouldn't send dvd's etc. until asked for by the coaching staff. One coach typically handles new recruits, but address all communication to all coaches.
5. Scheduling visits on campus is great through the admissions office. You can then see the coaches.
6. Go to some games now, if possible, to see the team play. It helps to know the style of play and something about the team when you talk to coaches.
7. Do it now, not later.

#8, or maybe #1, if your student has any desire to play D1 or D2 make sure you get them registered through http://web1.ncaa.org/ECWR2/NCAA_EMS/NCAA.jsp this is the NCAA eligibility center. It will ask for academic information as well as building an athletic resume. Bottom line it will provide you a NCAA number If a coach is serious about a player this will be one of the first pieces of information they request. if a player wants to show they are serious they should get registered so they already have any eligibility questions answered.

Div 3 or NAIA this doesn't matter, but it still isn't a bad thing to do just like taking the SAT, it shows a level of commitment beyond just expecting to get recruited.

[Unregistered]

My thoughts ...

Glad this thread was started, as I have questions too. To the parents who's kids have played or are currently playing at D1 or D2 schools. What's it really like? Is it really a lot of work? Is it hard to balance soccer and academics? Is your child playing soccer with hopes of making a career out of it? And most importantly, do colleges really give you a lot of scholarship money????

1. Club coaches and DOCs rarely know anything definitively about college soccer, although most claim and project that they know a lot. Find out for yourself.
2. My DD is currently playing PAC-12 down south, it's hard work. Practice or games most days. Mostly in the afternoon, sometimes mornings. Messes up your class scheduling. Some players do poorly on grades because of it. No time to waste.
3. My DD, and most of her fellow players, aren't making a career out of it.
4. Scholarships are academic mainly, athletic is less. Unless a player is a true superstar, only 1 or 2 a team, then players get a percent of COA (cost of attendance) based on age and importance to the team. The more you contribute, the more you get. Usually something like 20% COA as a freshman, then 40, 60, 80% in later years; but you must contribute to team success. Large well funded programs have the full scholarships that are divided among the players. Athletic money comes with other perks that save a lot of money.
5. Check end of season RPI rankings to get an idea of a program's success along with conference rankings.
6. Find out info for yourself, it's available and can be discovered. DON'T take your club people's advice and guidance, they know very little in reality.

[Unregistered]

Pick Subject/Major First

Question: My son's club team will be playing in several "higher visibility" tournaments this season (i.e. Surf Cup, Dallas Cup). I'm aware that many college coaches are present. However, is it a good idea to have my son write letters to them ahead of time? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. My son is a U16 Fyi. Thanks in advance.

The FIRST thing for your player to do is decide what he wants to study. The second things is to select the colleges offering soccer that have quality programs in that area. Then you can follow all of the contacting advice above. remember your player has only a 2$ chance of making his living from soccer therefore he should be putting 98% of his effort into selecting an area of study that will provide him a way of making a living!

[Unregistered]

Glad this thread was started, as I have questions too. To the parents who's kids have played or are currently playing at D1 or D2 schools. What's it really like? Is it really a lot of work? Is it hard to balance soccer and academics? Is your child playing soccer with hopes of making a career out of it? And most importantly, do colleges really give you a lot of scholarship money????

We just went to one of our club's seminars for our players. It was great because the coordinator had the players ask themselves to be honest in evaluating how well they thought that they could handle school and training/competition commitments for college. It really helped our family discuss options and what our kids want out of their college experience.

The coordinator gave out handouts and a check sheet for what our girls need to be doing. It is amazing how much these kids need to know even going into 9th grade.

Good luck!

[Unregistered]

Good advice if .....

The FIRST thing for your player to do is decide what he wants to study. The second things is to select the colleges offering soccer that have quality programs in that area. Then you can follow all of the contacting advice above. remember your player has only a 2$ chance of making his living from soccer therefore he should be putting 98% of his effort into selecting an area of study that will provide him a way of making a living!

Your post is correct. How ever, very often students are unsure of their major. In that case, one can look for a larger college that provides a variety of choices. Not all majors provide a way of living, but educate the student in valuable abilities.

[Unregistered]

Glad this thread was started, as I have questions too. To the parents who's kids have played or are currently playing at D1 or D2 schools. What's it really like? Is it really a lot of work? Is it hard to balance soccer and academics? Is your child playing soccer with hopes of making a career out of it? And most importantly, do colleges really give you a lot of scholarship money????

My daughter plays D2 down in California so I can give you my thought on her experience.

It is very demanding. She usually gets one day off per week during the season from games and practice. The most demanding part is the travel. They play games all over California on Thursday and Sunday. This means that they travel on Wednesday and usually will return very late Sunday or early Monday. She misses class Wednesday,Thursday and Friday half the weeks in the fall. In addition if she does not maintain a 3.0 gpa her scholarship money will be cut next year regardless of soccer performance. Road trips two weeks in a row can be very hard.

She does not aspire to play professionally at this time.

At the D1 and D2 level they do provide money but its almost always partial scholarship as the NCAA only permits a limited number for these sports.

If your daughter plays at this level she should expect to have time for nothing but soccer and school in season.

[Unregistered]

My daughter plays D2 down in California so I can give you my thought on her experience.

It is very demanding. She usually gets one day off per week during the season from games and practice. The most demanding part is the travel. They play games all over California on Thursday and Sunday. This means that they travel on Wednesday and usually will return very late Sunday or early Monday. She misses class Wednesday,Thursday and Friday half the weeks in the fall. In addition if she does not maintain a 3.0 gpa her scholarship money will be cut next year regardless of soccer performance. Road trips two weeks in a row can be very hard.

She does not aspire to play professionally at this time.

At the D1 and D2 level they do provide money but its almost always partial scholarship as the NCAA only permits a limited number for these sports.

If your daughter plays at this level she should expect to have time for nothing but soccer and school in season.

I hear scholarship money is also very limited. $2K - $8K is average. This is considering tuition of over $30K for private colleges.

[Unregistered]

I hear scholarship money is also very limited. $2K - $8K is average. This is considering tuition of over $30K for private colleges.

If its instate tuition then $8k sounds about right for most freshman. Total cost would be about $22k so $8k is about 36% which is about what a freshman should expect. None of the colleges that my daughter offered less than 30%. She chose he school that she wanted even though it wasn't the best offer.

Pick the school for academic reasons and not because its D1 or D2. There are lots of d1 schools that I would hate to see my kid at due to the academics.

[SodiumFan]

Pick the school for academic reasons and not because its D1 or D2. There are lots of d1 schools that I would hate to see my kid at due to the academics.

Quote of thread right here folks. We are going through the same thing and thank God the school my DD chose academically also put together a really good offer. Was the best one? No. Was it from one of her top three choices? Yes. And off she goes.

[Unregistered]

Quote of thread right here folks. We are going through the same thing and thank God the school my DD chose academically also put together a really good offer. Was the best one? No. Was it from one of her top three choices? Yes. And off she goes.

Congrats!!!! So tell me....I know GPA is really important. What is the required GPA?

[Unregistered]

Congrats!!!! So tell me....I know GPA is really important. What is the required GPA?

The NCAA and NAIA have certain academic requirements, for the various divisions. However, those are the minimum for that classification. For example, Division I has certain requirements (and I can't recall them off the top of my head), however if you are wanting to go to U of P, U of P's requirements might be higher. And a school like Stanford will certainly be higher than the NCAA requires and what U of P requires.

The ability of a school to give academic money goes up with GPA. You should have at least a 3.0. If you have 3.5 or above, then that really gives them a lot of flexibility. A 3.5 will be a decent amount more than a 3.4 for example. And 3.4 can be a lot more than a 3.1. If you are close to 4.0 or above, then you have positioned yourself well.

[Unregistered]

Naia

My daughter currently plays at an NAIA school. Lot of misinformation about NAIA schools.
Yes most NAIA schools have a emphasis on winning also. My daughter has the same rigorous schedule during the fall season. Maybe one day off a week and the travel is the same. She was recruited by D1, D2, and D3 schools but as most of the posters have said she needs to be happy with the school as sometimes circumstances will end her career so she has to like the school. Also she wanted the small school atmosphere. Like the NCAA, NAIA has a clearinghouse that she must register in. My daughter sent out emails to the schools she might be interested in, including back east, before each big tournament her team went too. And got a lot of responses from coaches. Then narrowed down her schools for the curriculum, location, success of the team, and size. From there she was able to pick the school by the offer. NAIA schools also have a few less restrictions on the recruiting process and have more money to give.

[Unregistered]

What about college id camps? Are they necessary?

[Unregistered]

Congrats!!!! So tell me....I know GPA is really important. What is the required GPA?

Two part answer to this one:
1. Go to the NCAA and NAIA sites to check out the GPA and test minimums. Don't forget to check the core course requirements.
2. Check each of the schools as well because their GPA requirements could be different than the NCAA and NAIA requirements.

[Unregistered]

Actually ...

Two part answer to this one:
1. Go to the NCAA and NAIA sites to check out the GPA and test minimums. Don't forget to check the core course requirements.
2. Check each of the schools as well because their GPA requirements could be different than the NCAA and NAIA requirements.

1. Core requirements not completed have tripped up several recent students from playing in college. They tried to catch up with community college classes, but hardly anyone ever does.

2. You really don't want to attend a college that will accept a student who just meets NCAA GPA requirements. They are very minimal and your peers in class will be on the low end of the academic spectrum.