Soccer Scholarship odds

[Unregistered]

With so few scholarships available per year & now with the 4 yr guarantee at P5 schools, its not very likely a player gets more if they improve either. Significant scholarship money is a nice lottery type dream. Most are better off saving the 5-12k/yr they spend on chasing that elusive soccer scholarship.

The reality is if your child is motivated to dedicate themselves to something outside of school at a high level, it costs money, if it wasn't soccer it would be something else. Many kids are satisfied and happier doing many things on a "rec" level, and that is fine. I know I had a kid in a different activity and I mean activity, no competition involved, and it still cost us about 5K a year and no one was getting scholarships for it! It should be about the right fit for their extra time to be spent on their youth experience and whether or not the family can afford that cost, not that it will lead to a scholarship or not.

[Unregistered]

You can change your odds. Pretty simple. This is a probability business.

http://www.soccerwire.com/news/over-...e-commitments/

[Unregistered]

That advice is, of course, NOT to be followed if at all possible.

For girls, scholarship money will be committed by no later than December of the kid's junior year. For guys it is a bit later, but will be committed by the end of the Junior year. So, the big window for recruitment is beginning of sophomore year through beginning of junior year - again a little later on the back end for guys. (Physical growth for guys coming later. 16 year old girls are not going to be that different at 18. 16 year old guys versus 18 year old guys often is hugely different so coaches need to wait. )

So, unless you are planning to let your kid make their college decisions based on website pictures and where Sally's older sister went - parents need to be working with their kids on the basics starting as early as possible. Go to schools whenever and where ever you can. Do the official tours that all students get. Does your kids think they like big, medium, small? Urban cv college town v rural. Private/religious v public. Near home or is other geographic area possible? My kid liked every school, but after about 10 visits she got much more particular about what she liked and did not like.

This is when you can have some serious talks about finances. My daughter really was interested in SCAD. But even with a nice scholarship it would roll into about $45K a year. Not doable for us. Be realistic with your kid.


Work with your kid on academics. With girls it is goofy as you are making commitments and you don't even have test scores. Be realistic there too. Will your kid be able to handle the academics at the school and play? Yes there are academic admits but it's not fun being the dumbest kid in the class even in college. Why do they need the academic admit? Good reason or is the plan the kid will get smarter while putting 20 hours a week into soccer? Be realistic about majors too. Some majors do not work well with playing a college sport. Majors with lots of labs and research requirements, or those that require studio time. Studying while traveling is not hard, but if you can only miss 1 lab to get credit in a class, and you are traveling 4 lab days that is not going to work. You can read on a plane, but you can't paint or sculpt, or practice with a quartet.

Remember to keep on top of what it takes to stack academic money with athletic. Parents need to know what the rules are. Do not rely on high school counselors.

Practice. When your kid communicates with a coach they are interviewing. Colleges and grad schools have classes on how to do well in interviews. 16 and 17 year olds need help too. Dress the part (future team captain not cute coed), and have some good questions ready to ask. Also good answers to common questions, eg "Why do you want to come here?" Would your daughter be able to answer that sitting in the coaches office? Mine could not the first few times. After practicing quite a bit with some family friends she got more comfortable. By the end coaches were impressed with her confidence and maturity. It is hard though. Those college tours and overnights are long interviews

What must a parent do?

1. Help in the general culling process. What schools are potentially workable based on geography, family finances, academics. Go to as many as possible. Kid must get a feel for the place.

2. Help on the academics. Register with NCAA. Knowing guidelines on scholarships and school specific scholarships. Know deadlines. Be up on admission requirements. Is your kid an easy admit based on gpa and test scores?

3. Help on finances. What can you afford. Have documents ready for financial aid office. Do fafsa.

4. Help on preparation. Practice interviews, telephone calls, proofread emails. Help come up with questions for current players.

5. Do the research on the coaches and program. Why is your kid someone they want? What are the numbers in terms of attrition? Why do kids drop? What happens when they drop?

6. Be ready to talk $$ with the coach. Know what kind of package those numbers represent. One big thing I learned to do while my kid was off getting the coach your was to go to financial aid. (Make an appt.). If and when it got down to numbers with the coach I already knew where we likely stood assuming academics came out as anticipated (gpa and test scores). For my kid freshman dollars were small. She was not a superstar for the schools she was looking at. But, a 20 percent athletic plus good academic dollars made a $25K bill turn into $9K. Over time the 20 percent grew to 50 percent so now I am in for about $5K. If you are out of state be positive you know what the costs and offers are specifically for your kid. DO NOT ASSUME.

Finally, if you know some kid needs help: Make the offer. Invite them along on a regular look visit. Offer to help with interview practice. Talk to parents or guardians about what you learned on things like NCAA registration. How to email. How to set up a visit. Etc.

Thank you for the post. Taking a laissez faire parenting attitude regarding the future of 15-16 year olds is not wise IMHO. Yes, the player should own the process; no, that doesn't mean you have to be a helicopter parent. I appreciate that failure is a part of life, but I don't believe it's helpful to anyone (especially the player) if the player ends up dropping soccer because of a mistake or transferring or being miserable after making the wrong decision simply so the parent can say, "well, he/she learned a valuable life lesson."

[Unregistered]

That advice is, of course, NOT to be followed if at all possible.

For girls, scholarship money will be committed by no later than December of the kid's junior year. For guys it is a bit later, but will be committed by the end of the Junior year. So, the big window for recruitment is beginning of sophomore year through beginning of junior year - again a little later on the back end for guys. (Physical growth for guys coming later. 16 year old girls are not going to be that different at 18. 16 year old guys versus 18 year old guys often is hugely different so coaches need to wait. )

So, unless you are planning to let your kid make their college decisions based on website pictures and where Sally's older sister went - parents need to be working with their kids on the basics starting as early as possible. Go to schools whenever and where ever you can. Do the official tours that all students get. Does your kids think they like big, medium, small? Urban cv college town v rural. Private/religious v public. Near home or is other geographic area possible? My kid liked every school, but after about 10 visits she got much more particular about what she liked and did not like.

This is when you can have some serious talks about finances. My daughter really was interested in SCAD. But even with a nice scholarship it would roll into about $45K a year. Not doable for us. Be realistic with your kid.


Work with your kid on academics. With girls it is goofy as you are making commitments and you don't even have test scores. Be realistic there too. Will your kid be able to handle the academics at the school and play? Yes there are academic admits but it's not fun being the dumbest kid in the class even in college. Why do they need the academic admit? Good reason or is the plan the kid will get smarter while putting 20 hours a week into soccer? Be realistic about majors too. Some majors do not work well with playing a college sport. Majors with lots of labs and research requirements, or those that require studio time. Studying while traveling is not hard, but if you can only miss 1 lab to get credit in a class, and you are traveling 4 lab days that is not going to work. You can read on a plane, but you can't paint or sculpt, or practice with a quartet.

Remember to keep on top of what it takes to stack academic money with athletic. Parents need to know what the rules are. Do not rely on high school counselors.

Practice. When your kid communicates with a coach they are interviewing. Colleges and grad schools have classes on how to do well in interviews. 16 and 17 year olds need help too. Dress the part (future team captain not cute coed), and have some good questions ready to ask. Also good answers to common questions, eg "Why do you want to come here?" Would your daughter be able to answer that sitting in the coaches office? Mine could not the first few times. After practicing quite a bit with some family friends she got more comfortable. By the end coaches were impressed with her confidence and maturity. It is hard though. Those college tours and overnights are long interviews

What must a parent do?

1. Help in the general culling process. What schools are potentially workable based on geography, family finances, academics. Go to as many as possible. Kid must get a feel for the place.

2. Help on the academics. Register with NCAA. Knowing guidelines on scholarships and school specific scholarships. Know deadlines. Be up on admission requirements. Is your kid an easy admit based on gpa and test scores?

3. Help on finances. What can you afford. Have documents ready for financial aid office. Do fafsa.

4. Help on preparation. Practice interviews, telephone calls, proofread emails. Help come up with questions for current players.

5. Do the research on the coaches and program. Why is your kid someone they want? What are the numbers in terms of attrition? Why do kids drop? What happens when they drop?

6. Be ready to talk $$ with the coach. Know what kind of package those numbers represent. One big thing I learned to do while my kid was off getting the coach your was to go to financial aid. (Make an appt.). If and when it got down to numbers with the coach I already knew where we likely stood assuming academics came out as anticipated (gpa and test scores). For my kid freshman dollars were small. She was not a superstar for the schools she was looking at. But, a 20 percent athletic plus good academic dollars made a $25K bill turn into $9K. Over time the 20 percent grew to 50 percent so now I am in for about $5K. If you are out of state be positive you know what the costs and offers are specifically for your kid. DO NOT ASSUME.

Finally, if you know some kid needs help: Make the offer. Invite them along on a regular look visit. Offer to help with interview practice. Talk to parents or guardians about what you learned on things like NCAA registration. How to email. How to set up a visit. Etc.

Can't believe that you actually took the time to write this. And what's more, actually thought anyone wanted to get your advice or take the time to read it. Don't know who is sadder, the person who posted this or the people who actually read it and think it's helpful.

[Unregistered]

Can't believe that you actually took the time to write this. And what's more, actually thought anyone wanted to get your advice or take the time to read it. Don't know who is sadder, the person who posted this or the people who actually read it and think it's helpful.

Can't believe you took the time to read and then post a totally inane comment.

[Unregistered]

Can't believe that you actually took the time to write this. And what's more, actually thought anyone wanted to get your advice or take the time to read it. Don't know who is sadder, the person who posted this or the people who actually read it and think it's helpful.

And yet you read it and then posted. It would be funny were it not so moronic.

[Unregistered]

Can't believe you took the time to read and then post a totally inane comment.

I totally own this process. My kid is too lazy to get into the recruiting process but I sure as heck am going to get this done. My home office has been turned into a hub with charts and white boards and three phone lines in. I have contact info for every D1 head coach and all assistant coaches and we send blast emails every Tuesday. I email video to college coaches and follow up with thoughtful questions that supposedly are from my daughter.

I have more to say but I am just heading in to have a face to face meeting with the high school coach about playing time. I'll tell you the rest later.

[Unregistered]

I totally own this process. My kid is too lazy to get into the recruiting process but I sure as heck am going to get this done. My home office has been turned into a hub with charts and white boards and three phone lines in. I have contact info for every D1 head coach and all assistant coaches and we send blast emails every Tuesday. I email video to college coaches and follow up with thoughtful questions that supposedly are from my daughter.

I have more to say but I am just heading in to have a face to face meeting with the high school coach about playing time. I'll tell you the rest later.

read this first

http://highschoolsports.syracuse.com...er-been-worse/

[Unregistered]

read this first

http://highschoolsports.syracuse.com...er-been-worse/

Being an involved, pro-active parent and being civil don't have to be mutually exclusive. As coach and parent, I've been involved with plenty of parents who helped their kids, provided advice, and were very involved in the recruiting process without once complaining about playing time or harassing the coaches or being an arse with the college coaches. I do agree, however, that it's getting worse.

[Unregistered]

read this first

http://highschoolsports.syracuse.com...er-been-worse/

Coach wouldn't lose his job if he would just play my DK more.

[Unregistered]

Doesn't take much to get an offer to Portland State. They are winless this year. I've seen rec teams with more skill. School of last resort for players.