The Following are points for players to consider when taking on the recruitment process:

·      Can I play at my dream school?

·      A lot of times, players grow up dreaming of playing Division 1 NCAA College Soccer. But the reality is, with the current climate of college soccer, including the transfer portal, many schools are looking to bring in national level players or players with college experience (Junior College or lower division transfers). We have seen too many players make decisions based on one extreme or the other: choosing a school only for Soccer, or only for Education.

There IS a college soccer program for ANY player that has the ability and desire to play, but at the same time, not every school is the right fit for the player.

DON’T give up on your dream because you do not think you can play at the level you have always dreamed of. There are multiple pathways, you just need to find the right one for you. Choose a school and place you will be happy with or without soccer. If a player is not happy off the field it will reflect on the field!

The best way to start your college recruitment process is to make a list of potential colleges and rank them from 1 to 10. 1 being the college that you most dream of based solely on playing soccer and 10 being the school that, due to your academics, you could attend but not play soccer..

This strategy has multiple benefits:

Creating a list requires the player to research colleges more in depth than just being a fan. This research helps players and families truly focus on what the player wants:

1.        Educational

What do you want to do with your life and focus on if Soccer is not your end goal? What does success look like for you?

2.        Geographical

How far from home are you willing to go to attend school?

Are you limited to in state due to finances?

3.        Athletic

What level, realistically, do you see yourself playing?

If you were to become injured, what would your backup plan be?

4.        Strategic

Do you want to attend a 4-year D1 institution right after high school or could you start at a junior college or lower division in hopes of using the transfer portal to get where you want to be?

Once you create your list, we suggest you focus on the schools in the 4-6 spots. These will more than likely be the schools that will check all of the boxes and be the best options for you to focus on.

Now that your list is made and you have the core groups of schools to focus on, you can begin your process of communication, roster & match research, and strategic planning.

1.        Communication:

It is essential that most, if not ALL, of the communication to a college soccer program comes from the player themselves. College coaching staffs are some of the busiest coaches in the game. They have players contacting them constantly to try to be seen, receiving emails, messages, and many other reach outs on various platforms available to players. With their own busy seasons, players, and recruitment schedules; they may not get back to players quickly or even within the first several communication attempts. DON’T GIVE UP!

Players that show consistent interest in a program through communication, that keep coaches updated on their schedules, that send reminders, and that find ways to reach out (even if the college doesn’t return messages on a consistent basis) are the ones that will eventually get seen. Players that send one email or one message or a highlight reel, then give up will most likely not get any attention from the school they are interested in. One contact will not do the trick; you must follow up.

Make sure you have all the communication information correct.

1.        Know the correct spellings of their coaching staff’s names. There is nothing worse than sending someone an email or message and not getting their name correct.

2.        Make sure the college you are messaging even has a program for your gender. We have seen players message colleges that do not participate in soccer due to such things as Title IX.

3.        Be specific and personal in your messages. College coaches talk. Especially in the same conferences. If you send the same generic message to multiple schools, more than likely they will disregard your emails as they are impersonal.

4.        Tell them why you are interested in their schools beyond the soccer program. If a coach feels that soccer is not the only reason that you would be on campus, it goes a long way in showing the coaches that you have done your research on their school and not just their program.

5.        Let them know what your position is financially. If you are able to get financial support that isn’t athletic whether scholastically or through other avenues like military, economic or heritage scholarships/funding, it helps a program to know that they may not need to use their money to have you in their program.

KEEP COMMUNICATING EVEN IF YOU DON’T GET INITIAL RESPONSES.

2.        Roster & Match Research:

College Programs are the extension of their staff, not necessarily based on the school themselves. Once you have decided upon your 3-4 focus schools research their rosters to see if you fit.

1.        What is the background of their coaching staff? Are they international coaches or are they domestic? Where else have they coached and how long have they been a college coach? New coaches are more often looking to forge their own path. Depending on where the coach is from, and where they have coached before, you can find out if you fit their systems and styles of play. Again, you do not want to be anywhere you are not happy. It will reflect on and off the field.

2.        What are the backgrounds of the players on the current roster? You can tell a lot about how you would fit into a program or not by the makeup of the current team. If you look up a roster and 90% of the players are from a foreign country, you can see the trend of where the staff likes to recruit. If you don’t quite compare to the measurements (height and weight) of the players on the roster, then that could be another sign of how the staff recruits and may overlook you, not based on talent, but based on physical profiling.

3.        What school years are the players on the current roster? (Specifically at your position) This will also be a good clue to whether you will be considered by the program. If you are a striker (9) and the college you are interested in is showing multiple players in your position, and they are underclassmen or juniors, then more than likely the staff will not feel the need to bring in “another” striker. This will result in less time being given to you and more being given to a player in a position they need. If you can play multiple positions, hit on the ones they need (per your research) first and tell them you can play the other positions.

4.        Watch their matches. There are multiple platforms that you can watch colleges play. In person is always the best, but if the college is further than you would like to travel for a match, go on YouTube, find apps, figure out how to see them play. This is another way to figure out if you would fit into their system. Style of play is a huge thing. If the style in which that school plays is not one that you are comfortable with, then it may not be a good fit.

3.        Strategic Planning:

Getting recruited is a game. Just like on the field, you need to have a plan to get in front of the coaches you are wanting to choose you over another player.

How are you going to do that?

1.     Match Highlights and Film. Sending match highlights and film in initial communication may not be the best way to gain the attention of a coach. (Hey Coach Abbey, I am really interested in playing for your program, attached is my highlight film…) If I have not spoken to you on any level prior to this, I more than likely will skip this email and move on to players that I am more interested in. You must catch their attention first. Go back to the communication points. Highlight reels are good once you create a base communication with the staff and they ask for them. Keep in mind, highlight reels are great, but usually only show the player in a certain light. Creating a highlight film that builds too much expectation could go against you when they finally see you in person. They aren’t just looking for what you do well, they’re focusing on if you can consistently do it. What you do off the ball? How do you react to mistakes? What is your overall body language when things are going right, and when things are going wrong? How do you interact with your teammates and your coaching staff? All of these things are major factors that a 30 second highlight reel of you scoring 5 goals and making one good slide tackle can’t show. Offer “Full-Match” Footage when the time is right. Through our Veo Films, all you need to do is send them a link.

2.     Find out where they will be. YES…100% of ID Camps are a money maker for college programs. But…used correctly, and through thorough research, you can use them to your advantage. College coaches run in tight circles. Especially assistants, who 9 times out of 10, are the ones actually recruiting the players. Assistant college coaches don’t make the best salaries. Sometimes they have to supplement income by coaching in clubs like ours. But most times, they will go coach at other programs summer and ID camps to make extra money in the off season. If you research and ask enough questions you can stop wasting money going to these events and find the ones that your specific staff will be at. Anytime you can get in front of the staff is a bonus and allows them to see you past the film. This also allows you to try to build a relationship beyond emails and messages. If the college you are interested in is hosting their own event, be there. If another college you aren’t interested in is hosting an event and your desired college staff will be there, be there too.

3.     Gain interest from Rival Schools. Try to create interest from schools that directly affect the success of the school you are interested in. All schools compete in conferences throughout the season. The goal of this objective is to create stock in you through their competition. If a rival school in the same conference shows interest in you, then you can leverage that with your school of interest. At the end of the day, no school would want to lose out on a player that wants to play for them to their biggest competition. Even if you have little to no interest in a program, it will not hurt to reach out and try to create a situation where you get on multiple schools' radars within the same conference to draw greater interest from your target.

4.     Send your club schedules. This one might be hard to hear. Due to the lack of enough collegiate level players being on high school teams, you are not going to be recruited out of High School. Unless your desired college is located in close proximity to your high school, they are not coming to see you play at a high school match. They simply do not have the time and budget to go to matches that do not have a large number of quality collegiate level players on the same field. This is not the case in club soccer and is the primary way players are recruited. Once you have set up a good line of communication, send your club league and tournament schedules. Ask what events they will be attending and see if any of them are ones your team is heading too as well. Figure out a way for the staff of the college to see you in a match.

5.     Get your club involved.  Ask your club coach/director to help. Many club coaches and directors have contacts you may not know about. Once you have made the decisions on schools and a good connection within the schools you are interested in, ask your coach or director if they would follow-up with the schools you are talking to. It is important to note, that club coaches and directors also have a responsibility to be honest with college coaches about players. If they keep sending players to institutions that fail either on or off the field, that will have a direct impact on future players that come from that club. So make sure you don’t ask the wrong person to help you out. Make sure you have already established a line of communication with the college, so the questions being asked of you are more detailed because the college already knows who you are. Random emails and messages from a club coach or director is just as hit or miss as a player's communication if the program doesn’t know the player.

Lastly, one of the most important things to consider is whether or not going after the 4-year D1 institution is the best pathway for you. Again, with the transfer portal in today’s game, college recruitment is totally different than it was even 10 years ago. Most 4 years schools offer general education classes the first two years of attendance and very few specific major focused courses for Freshman and Sophomore students. Seriously consider the option of going to a Junior College or lower D2, D3 or NAIA college for the first two years to determine:

·      Can you handle playing soccer and being a student at the same time?

·      Can you be successful as a player at the college level?

·      Is playing soccer in college something you really want to do for four or more years?

·      Can you save money on a 4-year institution while you figure all of this out?

If you are successful at that level and you can handle the day-to-day student-athlete role, then you can go into the transfer portal as a Junior, with two years college soccer experience, having a much greater understanding of what it takes at that level. Maybe that D1 school you have been dreaming about will take notice and you find your path, your way.

In Summary:

1.        Be Realistic with yourself when finding your schools.

2.        Communication needs to come from you the player.

3.        Be strategic in how you get in front of your schools.

4.        Make the right decision on your path

If you really want it, you can take it. But it is on you.