For parents who have been there, done that....

This is a great post! Every DD story is different. Here's is my DD story (very motivational, please read to the end):
When DD was 4 years old when she played rec soccer for the first time. She scored just about every time she got the ball. We were like I guess she likes soccer.
From 5-7 years DD was just have fun playing AYSO, we enjoyed watching her play. DD took a break from soccer from 8-9 years old, we forgot to sign her up because we have 3 kids and our schedules didn't allow the free Saturdays. DD played U10 AYSO and scored lot of goals but was not selected to the spring select teams. I still remember at the tryout they gave her a number and we were to go to the website in 2 days and check to see if her number was on the list. My DD just stared at the computer screen as we couldn't find her number, to say she was disappointed is a understatement. DD tried club and was labeled a "B" team player so we left club and decided to just allow her to have "fun" playing rec soccer. DD signed up for U12 AYSO and local indoor soccer leagues. DD scored lots of goals and her AYSO team went all the way to state tournament at the end of year, she made the spring select team and did very well at indoor soccer, DD was asked to play 2 years up at the local indoor leagues. Again DD tried out for club soccer again and was told she was not a "A" team player so we decided to take a break from organize soccer BUT DD did not want to stop training. THIS IS WHEN YOUR DD will decide what they want to do, trust me my DD could have quit soccer easily and we would of been fine with her pursuing something different but she had a dream of playing soccer so we supported her 100%. At 11-12 years old my DD trained every single day for 365 days straight she never took a break. I would even find her doing push-ups and sit-ups at night in her room my herself. I would take her to the park at night and she would kick, dribble, run and just flat out work hard every single day. She decorated her bedroom walls with soccer idols and motivation quotes. It was really shocking to us how much motivation she had to succeed even when she was not getting immediate results but we went with it and decided to help her as much as we could. At 11 years old we found her local soccer trainer who at the time only trained boys but he found a interest in our DD so he decided to take her on to make her the "best" soccer player in the world, that was exactly what he said and we were like "this guy is crazy" but DD loved his training sessions. DD enjoyed the challenge of beating boys in soccer so we took her to random parks in a not so good places of town so she could train every week with her trainer, this is where her skills started to rapidly increase. At 12 years old she tried out for club soccer again and was asked to play 1 year up on a "A" team on the best club in our town. We were very proud! At 13 years old she started to change physically and mentally. My DD got bigger, faster and stronger but just lacked experience playing club games. DD did great her 1st year of playing club and earned starting position by the end of the year playing 1 year up. It didn't take long for her to start scoring goals, learning how to play at a higher level and her team has won several tournaments and recently finished 1st place undefeated in league play. At 14 years old I took her to 1 college id camp where 25 colleges attended, DD was amazing at camp showing tremendous skills and scored a game winning goal in the final 11v11 game with dozens of college coaches watching and the game was filmed and sent out to colleges. DD started to get letters and brochures in the mail from top D1 schools and emails daily with camp invites. DD went to a local skills camp at our local D1 campus in town and the coaches were excited to see her there, they knew who she was and wanted to start the process of recruiting her right away. In six months time they kept track of her, shortly after seeing her play at there college id camp, we met with them on campus and my DD made a verbal commitment to our local D1 women's college soccer program at 14 years old (DD is freshman in HS, Class of 2020). My DD was the youngest player to ever be recruited by our local D1 school in any sport. DD has been asked to several national college id camps and to travel to Europe and play with a USA select soccer team this summer. Recently, DD was ranked #16 best forward and #48 best player in Southern California by TopDrawer soccer. We are NOT located in SoCal and DD doesn't play ODP or ECNL. To see my DD play checkout her youtube, #gokyra. The reason I wanted to share my DD story is because every player has a past and it's the reason my DD plays soccer and continues to train hard every single day. If you read all the way down to here thank you and good luck to all those DDs out there and remember to never give up and keep grinding. - Very Proud Soccer Dad
 
This is a great post! Every DD story is different. Here's is my DD story (very motivational, please read to the end):
When DD was 4 years old when she played rec soccer for the first time. She scored just about every time she got the ball. We were like I guess she likes soccer.
From 5-7 years DD was just have fun playing AYSO, we enjoyed watching her play. DD took a break from soccer from 8-9 years old, we forgot to sign her up because we have 3 kids and our schedules didn't allow the free Saturdays. DD played U10 AYSO and scored lot of goals but was not selected to the spring select teams. I still remember at the tryout they gave her a number and we were to go to the website in 2 days and check to see if her number was on the list. My DD just stared at the computer screen as we couldn't find her number, to say she was disappointed is a understatement. DD tried club and was labeled a "B" team player so we left club and decided to just allow her to have "fun" playing rec soccer. DD signed up for U12 AYSO and local indoor soccer leagues. DD scored lots of goals and her AYSO team went all the way to state tournament at the end of year, she made the spring select team and did very well at indoor soccer, DD was asked to play 2 years up at the local indoor leagues. Again DD tried out for club soccer again and was told she was not a "A" team player so we decided to take a break from organize soccer BUT DD did not want to stop training. THIS IS WHEN YOUR DD will decide what they want to do, trust me my DD could have quit soccer easily and we would of been fine with her pursuing something different but she had a dream of playing soccer so we supported her 100%. At 11-12 years old my DD trained every single day for 365 days straight she never took a break. I would even find her doing push-ups and sit-ups at night in her room my herself. I would take her to the park at night and she would kick, dribble, run and just flat out work hard every single day. She decorated her bedroom walls with soccer idols and motivation quotes. It was really shocking to us how much motivation she had to succeed even when she was not getting immediate results but we went with it and decided to help her as much as we could. At 11 years old we found her local soccer trainer who at the time only trained boys but he found a interest in our DD so he decided to take her on to make her the "best" soccer player in the world, that was exactly what he said and we were like "this guy is crazy" but DD loved his training sessions. DD enjoyed the challenge of beating boys in soccer so we took her to random parks in a not so good places of town so she could train every week with her trainer, this is where her skills started to rapidly increase. At 12 years old she tried out for club soccer again and was asked to play 1 year up on a "A" team on the best club in our town. We were very proud! At 13 years old she started to change physically and mentally. My DD got bigger, faster and stronger but just lacked experience playing club games. DD did great her 1st year of playing club and earned starting position by the end of the year playing 1 year up. It didn't take long for her to start scoring goals, learning how to play at a higher level and her team has won several tournaments and recently finished 1st place undefeated in league play. At 14 years old I took her to 1 college id camp where 25 colleges attended, DD was amazing at camp showing tremendous skills and scored a game winning goal in the final 11v11 game with dozens of college coaches watching and the game was filmed and sent out to colleges. DD started to get letters and brochures in the mail from top D1 schools and emails daily with camp invites. DD went to a local skills camp at our local D1 campus in town and the coaches were excited to see her there, they knew who she was and wanted to start the process of recruiting her right away. In six months time they kept track of her, shortly after seeing her play at there college id camp, we met with them on campus and my DD made a verbal commitment to our local D1 women's college soccer program at 14 years old (DD is freshman in HS, Class of 2020). My DD was the youngest player to ever be recruited by our local D1 school in any sport. DD has been asked to several national college id camps and to travel to Europe and play with a USA select soccer team this summer. Recently, DD was ranked #16 best forward and #48 best player in Southern California by TopDrawer soccer. We are NOT located in SoCal and DD doesn't play ODP or ECNL. To see my DD play checkout her youtube, #gokyra. The reason I wanted to share my DD story is because every player has a past and it's the reason my DD plays soccer and continues to train hard every single day. If you read all the way down to here thank you and good luck to all those DDs out there and remember to never give up and keep grinding. - Very Proud Soccer Dad

Needs work on her left.
 
Wow in 3 mins since post went up! Thanks for the quick advice and watching a video. She has been working hard on left foot!
I would also advise, when she juggles don't have her use her knees and keep the ball low. Don't let the ball go higher than her knees. Lastly, have her try juggling using her left foot only.

Congrats on your DDs verbal commitment.
 
This is a great post! Every DD story is different. Here's is my DD story (very motivational, please read to the end):
When DD was 4 years old when she played rec soccer for the first time. She scored just about every time she got the ball. We were like I guess she likes soccer.
From 5-7 years DD was just have fun playing AYSO, we enjoyed watching her play. DD took a break from soccer from 8-9 years old, we forgot to sign her up because we have 3 kids and our schedules didn't allow the free Saturdays. DD played U10 AYSO and scored lot of goals but was not selected to the spring select teams. I still remember at the tryout they gave her a number and we were to go to the website in 2 days and check to see if her number was on the list. My DD just stared at the computer screen as we couldn't find her number, to say she was disappointed is a understatement. DD tried club and was labeled a "B" team player so we left club and decided to just allow her to have "fun" playing rec soccer. DD signed up for U12 AYSO and local indoor soccer leagues. DD scored lots of goals and her AYSO team went all the way to state tournament at the end of year, she made the spring select team and did very well at indoor soccer, DD was asked to play 2 years up at the local indoor leagues. Again DD tried out for club soccer again and was told she was not a "A" team player so we decided to take a break from organize soccer BUT DD did not want to stop training. THIS IS WHEN YOUR DD will decide what they want to do, trust me my DD could have quit soccer easily and we would of been fine with her pursuing something different but she had a dream of playing soccer so we supported her 100%. At 11-12 years old my DD trained every single day for 365 days straight she never took a break. I would even find her doing push-ups and sit-ups at night in her room my herself. I would take her to the park at night and she would kick, dribble, run and just flat out work hard every single day. She decorated her bedroom walls with soccer idols and motivation quotes. It was really shocking to us how much motivation she had to succeed even when she was not getting immediate results but we went with it and decided to help her as much as we could. At 11 years old we found her local soccer trainer who at the time only trained boys but he found a interest in our DD so he decided to take her on to make her the "best" soccer player in the world, that was exactly what he said and we were like "this guy is crazy" but DD loved his training sessions. DD enjoyed the challenge of beating boys in soccer so we took her to random parks in a not so good places of town so she could train every week with her trainer, this is where her skills started to rapidly increase. At 12 years old she tried out for club soccer again and was asked to play 1 year up on a "A" team on the best club in our town. We were very proud! At 13 years old she started to change physically and mentally. My DD got bigger, faster and stronger but just lacked experience playing club games. DD did great her 1st year of playing club and earned starting position by the end of the year playing 1 year up. It didn't take long for her to start scoring goals, learning how to play at a higher level and her team has won several tournaments and recently finished 1st place undefeated in league play. At 14 years old I took her to 1 college id camp where 25 colleges attended, DD was amazing at camp showing tremendous skills and scored a game winning goal in the final 11v11 game with dozens of college coaches watching and the game was filmed and sent out to colleges. DD started to get letters and brochures in the mail from top D1 schools and emails daily with camp invites. DD went to a local skills camp at our local D1 campus in town and the coaches were excited to see her there, they knew who she was and wanted to start the process of recruiting her right away. In six months time they kept track of her, shortly after seeing her play at there college id camp, we met with them on campus and my DD made a verbal commitment to our local D1 women's college soccer program at 14 years old (DD is freshman in HS, Class of 2020). My DD was the youngest player to ever be recruited by our local D1 school in any sport. DD has been asked to several national college id camps and to travel to Europe and play with a USA select soccer team this summer. Recently, DD was ranked #16 best forward and #48 best player in Southern California by TopDrawer soccer. We are NOT located in SoCal and DD doesn't play ODP or ECNL. To see my DD play checkout her youtube, #gokyra. The reason I wanted to share my DD story is because every player has a past and it's the reason my DD plays soccer and continues to train hard every single day. If you read all the way down to here thank you and good luck to all those DDs out there and remember to never give up and keep grinding. - Very Proud Soccer Dad

D02, congrats!

Question....based on her story, skill set, rankings etc, it is a tremendous achievement for her to attend/play college ball...again, congrats. But I am curious why she decided to commit so early instead of contining to source other opportunities/looks from more acclaimed universities/athletic programs in the central/nor cal area?
 
D02, congrats!

Question....based on her story, skill set, rankings etc, I am curious why she decided to commit so early instead of contining to source other opportunities/looks from more acclaimed universities/athletic programs in the central/nor cal area?
D02, congratulations... Some posters on here feel like they have to second guess your family's decision because they think they know better. I'm sure she is thrilled with her decision, and again, congratulations and enjoy it!
 
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D02, congratulations... Everyone feels like they have to second guess your family's decision because they know better. I'm sure she is thrilled with her decision, and again, congratulations.
No cali. Not judging at all....Truly interested. Your dd, my dd and a whole lotta dd on this forum have great stories. All different. All respectable. Just enjoy reading about the process my friend.
 
D02, congrats!

Question....based on her story, skill set, rankings etc, it is a tremendous achievement for her to attend/play college ball...again, congrats. But I am curious why she decided to commit so early instead of contining to source other opportunities/looks from more acclaimed universities/athletic programs in the central/nor cal area?

As parents we just try to put our kids in the best situations possible. DD had a list of ten D1 schools she is interested in. She was contacted by most of them one way or another but for some of the top schools it was hard to assess there interest in her at 13 years old (that's when her process began). Junior year is when "officially" the D1 schools can recruit players but the rate of early commits is very high most top D1 schools already have there players and scholarship money allocated by then. DD was looking at schools during SoCal and NorCal tournaments the past year. Most of those top D1 schools started to commit players my DD age. 1 year up the rate of players making verbal commits increased x3. 2 years up x5. We didn't feel pressure at all to give a verbal commit but when you look at the facts women's college soccer programs recruit youth players. To sum it up, our local D1 school really showed a very high interest, will allow DD to grow athletically and academically (avg college GPA on team was 3.7). In the end they told DD to take her time and they would wait until she knew it was where she wanted to go. DD waited several months before deciding on D1 CSU Bakersfield, which is a great school for her and the soccer program has improved drastly in past 2 years. Hope that helps!
 
D02, congratulations... Some posters on here feel like they have to second guess your family's decision because they know better. I'm sure she is thrilled with her decision, and again, congratulations and enjoy it!

Thanks Cali, We are truly happy for DD. DD is super excited!! She just recently attended another id camp at CSU Bakersfield and met players from Washington, Oregon and Colorado all high level ECNL players coming to play for the school in the next few years. Exciting stuff!!!
 
Thanks Cali, We are truly happy for DD. DD is super excited!! She just recently attended another id camp at CSU Bakersfield and met players from Washington, Oregon and Colorado all high level ECNL players coming to play for the school in the next few years. Exciting stuff!!!
Congrats of your DD's commitment!!!
I just have a small question, are you still looking at other colleges? Why are you putting her in more ID Camps? Exposure to other players?
 
Congrats of your DD's commitment!!!
I just have a small question, are you still looking at other colleges? Why are you putting her in more ID Camps? Exposure to other players?

Not looking at other colleges. The college soccer id camp she went to was the college she verbally committed too. DD was youngest player there. Most of the players were out of state 1998-2000, it was definetly good exposure for DD to play against much older players.
 
No cali. Not judging at all....Truly interested. Your dd, my dd and a whole lotta dd on this forum have great stories. All different. All respectable. Just enjoy reading about the process my friend.
Funny, Cali got defensive as if it was his DD. Makes you go hummmmmmm!
 
Funny, Cali got defensive as if it was his DD. Makes you go hummmmmmm!

Well...it certainly reads that way.

But hey....Be it Cal...Cal Tech...and yes, Cal State. All great opportunities and it pretty dang awesome. So to that, I truly say congrats to D02's Dd....congrats!

But you, me and a bunch of other posters w/D1 committed DD's know that taking an early bird (a freshman) offer from a state school is sorta like being a freshman and deciding to marry a girl after the first kiss. There's a whole lotta fish in the sea....go out a bit further, head to the deeper water, you'll find/catch much bigger fish.

I'll wrap my final thought with this...... to the parents with DD's getting offers as freshman. Unless that college, is her #1, dream school, favorite athletic program ever.....It pays to collect the cards another year until at least her sophomore year.

You/your kid will walk away from the table having known you picked the best hand;)
 
Well...it certainly reads that way.

But hey....Be it Cal...Cal Tech...and yes, Cal State. All great opportunities and it pretty dang awesome. So to that, I truly say congrats to D02's Dd....congrats!

But you, me and a bunch of other posters w/D1 committed DD's know that taking an early bird (a freshman) offer from a state school is sorta like being a freshman and deciding to marry a girl after the first kiss. There's a whole lotta fish in the sea....go out a bit further, head to the deeper water, you'll find/catch much bigger fish.

I'll wrap my final thought with this...... to the parents with DD's getting offers as freshman. Unless that college, is her #1, dream school, favorite athletic program ever.....It pays to collect the cards another year until at least her sophomore year.

You/your kid will walk away from the table having known you picked the best hand;)

ZD as always you give out some very sage advice. Sometimes it is hard not to get wrapped up in the excitement of getting a first offer. To many players transfer after their first year of college because of rushing decisions or getting caught up in the excitement. Taking the time to generate and consider additional opportunities is always a great idea when a player is so early in the process.
 
As parents we just try to put our kids in the best situations possible. DD had a list of ten D1 schools she is interested in. She was contacted by most of them one way or another but for some of the top schools it was hard to assess there interest in her at 13 years old (that's when her process began). Junior year is when "officially" the D1 schools can recruit players but the rate of early commits is very high most top D1 schools already have there players and scholarship money allocated by then. DD was looking at schools during SoCal and NorCal tournaments the past year. Most of those top D1 schools started to commit players my DD age. 1 year up the rate of players making verbal commits increased x3. 2 years up x5. We didn't feel pressure at all to give a verbal commit but when you look at the facts women's college soccer programs recruit youth players. To sum it up, our local D1 school really showed a very high interest, will allow DD to grow athletically and academically (avg college GPA on team was 3.7). In the end they told DD to take her time and they would wait until she knew it was where she wanted to go. DD waited several months before deciding on D1 CSU Bakersfield, which is a great school for her and the soccer program has improved drastly in past 2 years. Hope that helps!

Congratulations! One of my players ODP teammates had an excellent first year at Bakersfield and loves it. She is from Bakersfield so she obviously knew what she was getting into. It sounds like your player has done a lot of hard work to put herself in that position. Congratulations!

Now the really hard work begins. Colleges offer players scholarships based upon where they think that the player will be at 18-22. The key is to continue to develop and to be ready to contribute on day one. Good luck to you and your player.
 
Congratulations! One of my players ODP teammates had an excellent first year at Bakersfield and loves it. She is from Bakersfield so she obviously knew what she was getting into. It sounds like your player has done a lot of hard work to put herself in that position. Congratulations!

Now the really hard work begins. Colleges offer players scholarships based upon where they think that the player will be at 18-22. The key is to continue to develop and to be ready to contribute on day one. Good luck to you and your player.

My DD knows that player. If it's the one I am thinking of she received freshman player of the year in WAC and is rated top 50 freshman in college soccer last year. We went to all the games last year and will continue to do so my DD enjoys watching the team play. The head coach also received head coach of the year award in the WAC last year. They are building a really nice soccer program and in the process of upgrading facilities. The basketball team at the school is also really doing well which helps all the sports programs! My DD has three years to watch the team and see the development of college players which is a plus, we like to watch players off the ball to see there movement patterns and my DD studies each player's body language to help understand how to improve her game play. DD plays for the best club in our town, eats right, trains with boys and workouts daily. We just built a gym at our house and we will be getting her a strength and conditioning trainer soon when she turns 15. It's exciting to watch your kid want to improve everyday. My DD is very honest, humble and hungry to keep getting better everyday, she has been told your not good enough in the past which has sparked a fire that keeps burning every single day (see my original post in this thread). Keep working hard all the DDs out there and you can do accomplish anything!!! Also thank you for the positive comments and advice the reason I posted was too encourage other parents to see that your going to have ups and downs during the process and I am sure my DD will still have some ups and downs in the next few years but in the end your DD will ultimately decide the outcome, just enjoy watching them play!!!
 
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