Discovery and college

RocketFile said:
College coaches are generally NOT going to ECNL or Discovery or Premier or any other league games or league showcases on a fishing expedition to see what amazing recruits they may find.

They go to games of all stripes, even high school games in some markets, to see specific kids that they have specific interest in recruiting/assessing.

Sure, the showcases and high caliber events such as Surf Cup or Jefferson Cup attract a lot of coaches simply because there are many teams in a concentrated area for 2-3 days and they can see a dozen of the kids they are already interested in.

Is there a chance that your kid may make a splash and have a moment in front of a coach that was there to recruit someone else? Sure. But it would have to check lots of other boxes both ways from fit, to geography, to grades, to position, etc. for there to be a match.

Your kid gets on the radar screen in good old fashioned ways like reaching out to coaches from programs that they are interested in and explaining their interest and providing a video tape and bragging about their grades and other accomplishments. If your kid is at the right level and plays the right style and position the coach will make every effort to seem him/her play - wherever!

These pissing contests over which league or which showcase has the most coaches are hilarious and maddening because it reeks of both total ignorance of the process and a gross lack of self belief.
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Save your breath Rocket, this has been stated over and over and over again by lots of parents on this board who have already been through the process. I think that the reason so many are concerned by an almost zero factor, like which league you play in, is because some are holding out hope where effort should be. If the kid works hard, GETS THE GRADES, and puts in the effort to contact coaches, visit schools, research academic programs, etc., etc., they will have a much better chance at getting into the right school. However, I do know some that have taken bread crumbs from the wrong schools/programs just to save face and be able to tell friends and family that their investment paid off just to have it all far apart very quickly afterwards.
 
Dummy said:
We played Discovery as well and completely agree with your assessment - especially that talent is spread out. We also beat every DPL team we faced. We struggled against top SoCal ECNL teams. We did not play any DA teams this season, but we beat one last season. We probably would have struggled against top DA teams this season as well, but DA coaches were nevertheless openly recruiting our players.

D1 and academic D3 coaches from SoCal colleges would come to our Discovery games in Norco occasionally to watch the players on our team that they were recruiting. Because they are in the middle of their own seasons, it seems that is about as good as it gets.

The majority of the team is playing college soccer next year - some D1 and others academic D3. We were fortunate to have a great coach and dedicated families and players. That is what made the difference. We happened to be in Discovery, but we would have had the same experience in any league as long as our team’s internal management systems remained the same.

No college coach ever asked our players about what league our team played, but every coach asked about our players’ GPA and standardized test scores. We always kept this in mind, and it had the effect of limiting how much we all chased.

To the original poster, good luck finding what is best for your player.
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This is a well thought out post and well said. Completely makes sense and I am sure why your success was so good. Good luck to your girls.
 
Overtime said:
DPL is it's own closed league. Discovery in just another name for the highest tier of SCDSL. Moving from DPL back to SCDSL does not guarantee a spot in Discovery. Saying your team is dropping from DPL to Discovery implies that DPL is superior....minus Lengends (speaking of 02s) the teams in SCDSL Discovery and other levels regularly beat the DPL teams in CRL, showcases etc....There are clubs such as RSC and Beach where some of their SCDSL teams are stronger than their DPL teams.
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To say that DPL teams are regularly beat by Discovery Teams is completely ridiculous. Unfounded and absolutely not true!
 
timbuck said:
Save the money on showcases and buy a camera setup and video editing software.
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I never made one video of my daughter playing and she did okay. Coaches recruit players not teams or leagues. Reaching out to schools that a player is interested in and knowing the appropriate level of play is the real key. D1 soccer has over 320 teams on the women’s side and they vary widely in their level of play. A kid that is a star at Mississippi Valley State might not even be able to keep up with the drills that they run at UCLA, Stanford or Florida State.
 
MakeAPlay said:
...Reaching out to schools that a player is interested in and knowing the appropriate level of play is the real key..
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This is so important. I have posted previously about doing the homework on schools before the NCAA changed its rules on recruiting and the same philosophy still applies regardless of team/league the player is a part of. But the key is being realistic at the schools the player is interested in if they want to earn time during games. Not everyone can play at a top D1 school and that's not a bad thing.
 
Toepoke said:
This is so important. I have posted previously about doing the homework on schools before the NCAA changed its rules on recruiting and the same philosophy still applies regardless of team/league the player is a part of. But the key is being realistic at the schools the player is interested in if they want to earn time during games. Not everyone can play at a top D1 school and that's not a bad thing.
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As the Fonz would say, “Correctomundo!” I have said it time and time again, there is a college program for any decent female soccer player that wants to continue playing and is willing to put in the work.
 
Speed said:
Our team is being dropped from DPL to Discovery. For those that play Discovery are there opportunities to be seen by college coaches? I assume Vegas would be the only showcase this level would be able to play? No surf cup, etc. Am I wrong? Appreciate any input.
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I'm assuming your concern is your kid is interested in playing at the collegiate level - semi short version is, it doesn't matter which "league" your kids team plays in however, what does matter is which tournaments they play in, ie, Jefferson Cup, Las Vegas Players Showcase, Surf etc., your kid needs to be "seen" and that's where the college coaches go to see if player's fit what they're looking for. If your kids team is NOT playing in any of the high profile tournaments, your odds are slim of playing on past the club level unless he/she is personally invited to attend the schools ID Camp (and not a mass email invite, he/she will know the difference when you get it), the other issue is, if the team is younger than U16 and hasn't played in the college ID tournaments prior, you run the risk of the team not getting in if they reach max numbers. They can always add their name to the tournament "guest" pool but, that's taking a risk he/she will get a call. *I received a really nice email from a player that guested with our team last year, she just committed and the coach from the school she committed to, pulled out the recruiting brochure from last year with her picture circled in red so, it does matter. Best of luck on his/her soccer journey!
 
MakeAPlay said:
I never made one video of my daughter playing and she did okay. Coaches recruit players not teams or leagues. Reaching out to schools that a player is interested in and knowing the appropriate level of play is the real key. D1 soccer has over 320 teams on the women’s side and they vary widely in their level of play. A kid that is a star at Mississippi Valley State might not even be able to keep up with the drills that they run at UCLA, Stanford or Florida State.
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Spot on. And parents and kids sometimes get hung up on level (D1, D2, D3 or NAIA) assuming D1 is always better than D2, which is always better than D3. Go look at which clubs and teams some of the top academic and athletic D3 schools recruit from-- often better than the D1 school in the middle of nowhere with decent academics.

The goal for all should be to get an education and a degree to help start a good career (or get into a good grad school). Do what you can to support your child getting into a good school and getting as much financial support as they can (athletic and/or merit-based). My daughter is going to a strong academic D3 that she got a lot more of her costs covered than many of her friends going to random D1 and D2 schools with questionable academics-- and her team would beat many of those teams if they played. But their mom and dad can proudly say their kid is playing D1 soccer...
 
Overlap said:
I'm assuming your concern is your kid is interested in playing at the collegiate level - semi short version is, it doesn't matter which "league" your kids team plays in however, what does matter is which tournaments they play in, ie, Jefferson Cup, Las Vegas Players Showcase, Surf etc., your kid needs to be "seen" and that's where the college coaches go to see if player's fit what they're looking for. If your kids team is NOT playing in any of the high profile tournaments, your odds are slim of playing on past the club level unless he/she is personally invited to attend the schools ID Camp (and not a mass email invite, he/she will know the difference when you get it), the other issue is, if the team is younger than U16 and hasn't played in the college ID tournaments prior, you run the risk of the team not getting in if they reach max numbers. They can always add their name to the tournament "guest" pool but, that's taking a risk he/she will get a call. *I received a really nice email from a player that guested with our team last year, she just committed and the coach from the school she committed to, pulled out the recruiting brochure from last year with her picture circled in red so, it does matter. Best of luck on his/her soccer journey!
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Thank you! This response confirms what I was thinking. And that is the level of the team can determine what tournaments they can go to and play in. Thank you for the detailed knowledge as I am forever grateful to learn about what I don't know. And yes, my kid does want to play in college hence the question.

That is nice that the players family followed up with you and that you gave them the opportunity to guest.
 
Overlap said:
If your kids team is NOT playing in any of the high profile tournaments, your odds are slim of playing on past the club level unless he/she is personally invited to attend the schools ID Camp (and not a mass email invite, he/she will know the difference when you get it), the other issue is, if the team is younger than U16 and hasn't played in the college ID tournaments prior, you run the risk of the team not getting in if they reach max numbers.
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Some good stuff Overlap, but a personnel invite to an ID Camp is not required. While DD was on a top level team, she was noticed by her college coach at a winter ID camp at the school. He did not know who she was until that camp. The moral of the story, there are many ways to get noticed, but when the time comes the player needs to stand out.
 
Dummy said:
We played Discovery as well and completely agree with your assessment - especially that talent is spread out. We also beat every DPL team we faced. We struggled against top SoCal ECNL teams. We did not play any DA teams this season, but we beat one last season. We probably would have struggled against top DA teams this season as well, but DA coaches were nevertheless openly recruiting our players.

D1 and academic D3 coaches from SoCal colleges would come to our Discovery games in Norco occasionally to watch the players on our team that they were recruiting. Because they are in the middle of their own seasons, it seems that is about as good as it gets.

The majority of the team is playing college soccer next year - some D1 and others academic D3. We were fortunate to have a great coach and dedicated families and players. That is what made the difference. We happened to be in Discovery, but we would have had the same experience in any league as long as our team’s internal management systems remained the same.

No college coach ever asked our players about what league our team played, but every coach asked about our players’ GPA and standardized test scores. We always kept this in mind, and it had the effect of limiting how much we all chased.

To the original poster, good luck finding what is best for your player.
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This is a very good post above, Dummy (not a good name for you!),.....so I'm reposting it.

RocketFile said:
College coaches are generally NOT going to ECNL or Discovery or Premier or any other league games or league showcases on a fishing expedition to see what amazing recruits they may find.

They go to games of all stripes, even high school games in some markets, to see specific kids that they have specific interest in recruiting/assessing.

Sure, the showcases and high caliber events such as Surf Cup or Jefferson Cup attract a lot of coaches simply because there are many teams in a concentrated area for 2-3 days and they can see a dozen of the kids they are already interested in.

Is there a chance that your kid may make a splash and have a moment in front of a coach that was there to recruit someone else? Sure. But it would have to check lots of other boxes both ways from fit, to geography, to grades, to position, etc. for there to be a match.

Your kid gets on the radar screen in good old fashioned ways like reaching out to coaches from programs that they are interested in and explaining their interest and providing a video tape and bragging about their grades and other accomplishments. If your kid is at the right level and plays the right style and position the coach will make every effort to seem him/her play - wherever!

These pissing contests over which league or which showcase has the most coaches are hilarious and maddening because it reeks of both total ignorance of the process and a gross lack of self belief.
Click to expand...

The last paragraph by RocketFile hits the nail squarely on the head.
 
Speed said:
Thank you! This response confirms what I was thinking. And that is the level of the team can determine what tournaments they can go to and play in. Thank you for the detailed knowledge as I am forever grateful to learn about what I don't know. And yes, my kid does want to play in college hence the question.

That is nice that the players family followed up with you and that you gave them the opportunity to guest.
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Just know you can do this yourself, I did a ton of research back when my oldest was in 8th grade (way too early but, I was determined to learn how it was done), while your kid will have to do a lot of the actual communication, you don't need to pay for someone to do it for you, (unless you want to save your relationship with your kid :rolleyes:) I wish I knew sooner what I know now, there are many ways to make it happen, the best way is, having your kid send the emails to coaches at schools he'd like to attend, asking them to see him play, tell him not to expect a reply but, make sure to follow up with a "thank you" to all, they may or may not show up the first time and they may only see him play for a short period, just don't get discouraged and never give up as it can happen anytime Jr/Sr year, sooner if he's on their radar from seeing him play already. The MOST IMPORTANT ADVISE to your kid - GRADES MATTER, my oldest received what we thought was great package, her grades were not that good, her sister committed to the same school a few months back with terrific grades and her merit money was huge, while they're both attending the same school, one is attending for less than a CA UC school :eek: again, best of luck!....enjoy the journey as it goes really fast
 
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