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Thank You
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A huge thanks to he people of the City of Lenexa, for passing the new sales tax increase. This is going to greatly help the sport of soccer grow in the Lenexa. Read more!
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Huw Williamsw is the League Director of Heartland Soccer Association and one of the original founders of KCFC Alliance. He recently posted the following perspectives regarding the girl’s college recruitment process, and he graciously agreed to allow us to post this on our web site. We think you will find this exceptionally insightful if you have a daughter (or son) considering playing soccer at the collegiate level.
GIRLS COLLEGE RECRUITMENT PROCESS
The recent trend in Women’s college soccer circles is to recruit early! Some players are actually making college commitments in their high school freshmen year; many more are making their decisions in the sophomore year. The majority of the process is completed by the end of the athlete’s junior year (over 60% of my current U17s are already committed with many of the other girls getting close).
This "commit early" trend can create challenges for both the college coaches and the athletes. A great deal can obviously change from the time a player is a 15 year old to the time she is 18-19 and ready for college. A great deal can also change within the college program. However, the fact is women’s college soccer programs recruit early and as such families must prepare accordingly.
Here are some thoughts on what to expect:
SALES
1. Parents and players must become “sales agents” - you must initiate the contact with potential programs.
2. There are more athletes out there who want to play college soccer than there are roster spots available.
3. Parents, the athlete and (in my opinion) the club coach must work together and be proactive.
4. Make your first contact in May of your freshmen year – send information regarding tournaments your team will be participating in, include your State Cup schedule.
5. Contact by e-mail and be specific why you are interested in their program.
6. Do NOT send a generic e-mail to a mass data base of coaches.
7. Make sure you get the coach’s name correct!!!
8. Include brief academic and soccer profile.
9. Provide the coach with detailed contact info on your club or high school coach.
10. Follow the e-mail up with a call.
11. NCAA restrictions prohibit coaches from returning e-mails and calls.
12. College coaches can return e-mails after Sept 1st of the athlete’s junior year.
13. College coaches cannot return calls until July 1st prior to the athlete’s senior year.
14. You may not talk with a coach off campus prior to the completion of the high school junior year.
15. College coaches can only have open unlimited communication via phone, off camps talks etc after the player has signed.
16. However college coaches do want families to be persistent and continue to call them. They can talk with you as long as you initiated the call.
17. The more “personalized” the relationship becomes the more interest the coach usually shows the player.
18. Be sure to communicate with your club coach on which schools you have contacted and are interested in.
19. Ask and expect your club coach to help in the communication process.
20. College coaches can communicate through your club and or high school coach. Many coaches will send e-mails to club coaches who then forward the e-mails directly to the players.
21. Continue to stay in contact with the college coaches.
22. Do not take offense if you do not hear from the college coach as often as you would like.
23. Be reasonable in the amount of contact you initiate with the program. Daily calls, updates will become detrimental.
24. Parents need to be careful about being perceived as the “nuisance parent”. If there are legitimate questions obviously ask, don’t be the “over the top” parent who is too pushy. Have the player do most of the communicating.
25. Coaches will stay away from some players because of the parents.
26. When communicating with college coaches, athletes should be confident and self assured, but they should also be respectful and a little humble. Making a college coach feel like you are doing him a favor just to be considering their program would not be viewed positively!!
AVAILABLE SCHOLARSHIPS
1. Fully funded NCAA programs have 14 scholarships to divide among their players.
2. Not all NCAA D1 programs have the full 14 scholarships.
3. D2 programs have 9.9 scholarships
4. D3 – no scholarships
5. Most programs have anywhere from 20-35 players.
6. Most offers will be a package offer – meaning it will include soccer money, academic money and any other form of financial aid.
7. Coaches want to preserve the scholarship budget as much as possible, so academics are VERY important.
8. If two players are of similar abilities and fit the same need for a coach, he will often choose the player that will receive more academic money so that he has to use less of his soccer money. This leaves more money for other prospective recruits.
9. “Full rides” are not common.
10. Top level goalkeepers often attract more money.
11. The vast majority of recruits are not “blue chip” superstars.
PLAYER PROFILES
1. Your club team should have player profiles available online and as a hard copy to be distributed in Showcase events.
2. College coaches will often have players fill their own player profiles.
3. Be sure to complete the form immediately.
SHOWCASE TOURNAMENTS
1. Look at the tournament website for a list of coaches who will be attending.
2. Send e-mails to the programs who are attending stating your interest in them.
3. Send e-mails to other area schools who might not be listed.
4. Also send information to other coaches who are not listed as attending – many coaches have friends who often act as “scouts” for them in local tournaments.
5. Send follow up e-mails after the tournament.
COLLEGE CAMPS
1. Many players are seen/scouted in camps.
2. Attending a college camp gives the indication you are interested in their program.
3. Coaches can talk with players while on their campus.
4. Camps can be a two way evaluation process – athletes can check out the facilities and get a feel for the coaching staff’s demeanor.
CAMPUS VISITIS
1. You may visit a campus at any time at your own cost.
2. If you are visiting a school, be sure to let the coaches know you are doing so.
3. Coaches may also invite you to attend an organized “unofficial visit”.
4. Unofficial visits are huge for college coaches as open communication can occur on campus.
5. Unofficial visits usually start during the end of the sophomore and early junior years.
6. At these visits parents usually take a tour of the campus with the player, visit with the soccer coaching staff and others such as academic advisors, trainers etc.
7. The players often will spend the night on campus with one of the program’s current soccer players.
8. These trips will usually include other recruits.
9. This is an opportunity for the player to have a brief insight to college life at the school and to bond with the current players and other potential new players.
10. It is important that the player asks a lot of questions during the visit. Ask questions to the coaching staff and just as importantly with the current players. They will give an indication on what the program is really like.
11. Make sure you find out what the demands are on a soccer player. What do they do during the season? What do they do during the off season?
12. Do not be too judgmental if the host player is not warm and fuzzy. It is probably not the host player’s first choice to spend her weekend entertaining a high schooler. Some host players are very good at this – others are not as good.
13. However, do look for red flags – team doesn’t seem to get along, too much of a party atmosphere, team does not have good things to say about the coaches etc.
14. Official visits (paid by the institution) for girls happen during the senior season and are most commonly NOT recruiting trips, but rather an opportunity to have players who have already verbally committed on campus together for a fun weekend
CHOOSING A SCHOOL
1. Things to consider include:
• Location
• Academics
• Soccer program
• Soccer coach
• Style of play
• Size of school
• Cost
2. Be realistic about your level of play
3. Look at schools that vary in the level of play – don’t miss your chance to play in college because all of the schools you contacted were above your level of play
OTHER THOUGHTS
1. Remember the college coaching fraternity is a small and close one. College coaches talk and share ideas and opinions on potential recruits with each other.
2. Do not be rude to one coach and think other coaches won’t hear about it.
3. Many schools will have the assistants do the recruiting. It would not be a good idea in this case to demand to deal with the head coach only.
4. The signing date is the first Wednesday of February
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