College Recruiting

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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.

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Your son must contacted schools he is interested in. Your son should have a resume put together, cover letters/emails written and a profile readily available, maybe a video on youtube to send out as well.

Coaches put together their schedule to watch players who have contacted them, not randomly roaming around. Some kids get identified while a coach is at a game scouting another player, but don't count on that.

Your club should guide you through this process, especially which level of schools your son should be targeting and how to market yourself with the club directors following up on your behalf.

The days of randomly being discovered are very, very rare. Being recruited takes a lot of work and a plan. The club should provide the plan, which typically starts with the freshman year.

Good luck.

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Your son must contacted schools he is interested in. Your son should have a resume put together, cover letters/emails written and a profile readily available, maybe a video on youtube to send out as well.

Coaches put together their schedule to watch players who have contacted them, not randomly roaming around. Some kids get identified while a coach is at a game scouting another player, but don't count on that.

Your club should guide you through this process, especially which level of schools your son should be targeting and how to market yourself with the club directors following up on your behalf.

The days of randomly being discovered are very, very rare. Being recruited takes a lot of work and a plan. The club should provide the plan, which typically starts with the freshman year.

Good luck.

Thank you for your reply. Sounds like you have been through the process. I have read other threads on this forum regarding collegiate play. Sounds as though full scholarships are rare and a few thousand more likely. Chances are my son will not get a full ride, but would at least like to give it a try. Thanks again!

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Highlight reel

Highlight videos focus on competition at Club not HS.

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http://www.ncsasports.org/how-do-you-get-recruited

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http://www.ncsasports.org/how-do-you-get-recruited

Thanks!

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Getting coaches attention

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.

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.

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Good tips, don't forget the grades and test preparation. Most important thing is finding the right academic fit. Try to narrow your preferences but keep your options open. It is hard to find time for everything, so plan and organize your visits, timing can be complicated. Get started as soon as possible. It should all come from the kid, and realistically they won't be ready without encouragement and help from the parents, schools and coach. It can be overwhelming.

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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.

Valuable information. Thank you so very much!

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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.

Very good advice. And I don't think you can over emphasize no. 7 enough, particularly if you are looking out-of-state. Many schools want to see a player a min. 4-6 times in action - ID camp, summer camps, games. Getting their attention is one thing; getting them to actually recruit you is another story. A coach can get a pretty good look at you during a week long camp, but how many of those can you do? Try to drum up interest early, so then will want to come see you at tourneys.

If you're a late bloomer? Tougher but possible. Most D-1 programs have used up their scholarship money for a class by the end of the players' junior year - sooner for most top 50 programs. Players do drop out and spots do become available. Be persistent but realistic, and don't limit your options. There are lots of excellent opportunities beyond D-1.

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Good tips, don't forget the grades and test preparation. Most important thing is finding the right academic fit. Try to narrow your preferences but keep your options open. It is hard to find time for everything, so plan and organize your visits, timing can be complicated. Get started as soon as possible. It should all come from the kid, and realistically they won't be ready without encouragement and help from the parents, schools and coach. It can be overwhelming.

Agree. Everything being equal between two players, academics will make the difference. (I'm not talking about the 5 star players.) If a player can get some academic scholarship money and allow the coach to use some athletic scholarship money on others, that is a tremendous help.
Also, get an advocate, get an advocate, get an advocate - most likely your club coach. Given the limits on allowed contact during a players first couple years of high school, you need to have a go between helping out. For some, it's easy - they like a school and the school likes them and it's a done deal. But that's not the norm for 95% of players.

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One bit of advice my daughter received before making her commitment was to make sure it was a school she really would like to attend regardless of soccer. She took that to heart and has committed to a medium size D1 school that she felt was the best fit for her personality. She received a couple better offers from other schools but did not feel the same connection with the school, the coach and her future teammates as with her first choice.

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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????

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One of the pieces of advice I've gleaned about school selection is to look at the security of the coach. Look at their record to see if it looks like they may be on the hot seat or are very safe. A coach that is worried about their job may pull out all stops and not treat their players well because they are so stressed about their job. I've heard it's worse at D1 schools. At smaller schools, NAIA and DIII especially, the focus on winning is not nearly as paramount (although the coach does have to produce some results). I know our club coach and our DOC have a pretty good idea as to how secure various coaches are. It's probably a good idea to ask your coach and DOC their thoughts. Not saying don't go to a school with a coach that has a lot of pressure on them, it's just good to go in with your eyes open.

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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????

That's a fair question. It takes a ton of time. The fitness requirements are far more than they expect going in. If they think playing a lot over the summer will keep them in shape, the first few days of camp will probably be very difficult. Players can lose a lot of playing opportunities because of poor results in the first fitness test. A decent student with discipline should be able to do fine academically if they were a decent student before. It's the other fun college stuff that causes problems. If the other stuff is important, something will have to give, and unfortunately it's usually grades. No soccer playing career aspirations. Playing because it's fun, challenging and teammates are a lot of like minded people with similar interests. Money increases based upon the value the coach thinks is brought to the team. If you're a contributor and expected to be a bigger contributor next year, you'll get more money. Academic money should always be a major consideration.