Recruiting Tips for Parents Just Starting the Process

Shucks gents....both far too kind as I'm Just anotha squirrel in the world trying to getta nut:)

What I was tryin to convey is as the year goes on, and recruits are determining where they want to allocate 4/5 years of their life after HS. Just a friendly reminder (not a new concept) for players/parents to leverage soccer (or any sport for that matter) as much as possible and to follow the school 1st, coaching/soccer 2nd. If ASU or "you name it state"is the right school/fit for your kid - great. But if your kid has the ability/opportunity of being recruited, do not underestimate/undervalue the "golden ticket" of being a recruited student athlete......look beyond coach/soccer.....think about maximizing the opportunity now to benefit for the future.
 
Shucks gents....both far too kind as I'm Just anotha squirrel in the world trying to getta nut:)

What I was tryin to convey is as the year goes on, and recruits are determining where they want to allocate 4/5 years of their life after HS. Just a friendly reminder (not a new concept) for players/parents to leverage soccer (or any sport for that matter) as much as possible and to follow the school 1st, coaching/soccer 2nd. If ASU or "you name it state"is the right school/fit for your kid - great. But if your kid has the ability/opportunity of being recruited, do not underestimate/undervalue the "golden ticket" of being a recruited student athlete......look beyond coach/soccer.....think about maximizing the opportunity now to benefit for the future.

spot on...and don't forget, it's their journey, not your's (you're just paying the other portion)
 
HELP!!!

Crap, we have to go through this again. DD is changing colleges. One of the 5 California universities that are interested in her want to see a 4-6 minute video of her playing. I took no videos this fall, so we have to pull the video off the coach's private You Tube. The other four college coaches saw her play in games.

Does anyone know a good reliable way to convert You Tube video to an editable format?
 
HELP!!!

Crap, we have to go through this again. DD is changing colleges. One of the 5 California universities that are interested in her want to see a 4-6 minute video of her playing. I took no videos this fall, so we have to pull the video off the coach's private You Tube. The other four college coaches saw her play in games.

Does anyone know a good reliable way to convert You Tube video to an editable format?
http://www.clipconverter.cc/
 
Great advice! My player will be playing a different position in college than she started off playing in U1o club. We were always big on her playing every field position. She switched over to her current position at U14 and although she will play the other position when needed she has never looked back. Also the position that she played in ODP is different than her college position but the coaches at her top 3 schools all loved the fact that she had at least 3 other positions that she could play at a high level.

Versatility is highly valued. I was told by a coach of a top 5 program that he likes to get his best 10 field players on the field and having players that play multiple positions allows that.

Thanks for the insightful tips. I was casually speaking to another parent from a smaller club who is a few years ahead of us since his daughter is several years older, but he mentioned that the coach you follow matters in college recruiting. He's obviously much deeper into it at this point, and I was simply intaking info and learning his perspective. I understand that big name clubs help and sure the coach certainly plays a role, but his pitch was that his coach was a famous ex-US Olympian and that makes a difference despite being from a smaller club, and that legacy/genealogy matters. Was wondering thoughts on that? Perhaps the idea is to latch onto someone with a name to present a compelling argument?
 
Thanks for the insightful tips. I was casually speaking to another parent from a smaller club who is a few years ahead of us since his daughter is several years older, but he mentioned that the coach you follow matters in college recruiting. He's obviously much deeper into it at this point, and I was simply intaking info and learning his perspective. I understand that big name clubs help and sure the coach certainly plays a role, but his pitch was that his coach was a famous ex-US Olympian and that makes a difference despite being from a smaller club, and that legacy/genealogy matters. Was wondering thoughts on that? Perhaps the idea is to latch onto someone with a name to present a compelling argument?

It might matter depending upon the coach and the school. The weird thing about recruiting is that it is a very personal journey and no two players have the same exact situation. My players situation was not helped along by a coach having a certain connection to a particular school but I do know players that were helped along by a coach's connections. In my opinion it definitely never hurts. I will say that legacy helps. A player that has parents that were athletes are a much lower risk and likely has a much higher ceiling. Again it all depends upon the player. Good luck to you and your player and the best bet is always to play good soccer.
 
It might matter depending upon the coach and the school. The weird thing about recruiting is that it is a very personal journey and no two players have the same exact situation. My players situation was not helped along by a coach having a certain connection to a particular school but I do know players that were helped along by a coach's connections. In my opinion it definitely never hurts. I will say that legacy helps. A player that has parents that were athletes are a much lower risk and likely has a much higher ceiling. Again it all depends upon the player. Good luck to you and your player and the best bet is always to play good soccer.
Appreciate it!
 
What are they looking for from field players?

Forwards:

Speed
First Touch
Bslsnce with and without the ball
Ability to receive a ball under pressure and turn away from pressure
Ability to make smart runs
Abiity to hold up play for other players to join in
Shot accuracy
Shot strength
Finishing
Vision (finding open teammates)
Offensive Headers
Defensive tenacity
Workrate
Technical skills

Midfielders:

First Touch
Technical skills
Decision Making (finding the right player to combine with)
Vision (making the pass to put players in dangerous scoring positions)
Ability to play out of pressure
Strength on the ball
Ability to combine with other players
Ability to defend 1v1
Workrate
Fitness


Defenders:

Speed
1v1 defending
First touch
Ability to play out of pressure without just "booting" it
Decision making
Organizational skills
Vocal
Defensive and Offensive headers
Technical skills
Strength
Leg Strength

Those with college players or committed players please feel free to add.
 
What are they looking for from field players?

Forwards:

Speed
First Touch
Bslsnce with and without the ball
Ability to receive a ball under pressure and turn away from pressure
Ability to make smart runs
Abiity to hold up play for other players to join in
Shot accuracy
Shot strength
Finishing
Vision (finding open teammates)
Offensive Headers
Defensive tenacity
Workrate
Technical skills

Midfielders:

First Touch
Technical skills
Decision Making (finding the right player to combine with)
Vision (making the pass to put players in dangerous scoring positions)
Ability to play out of pressure
Strength on the ball
Ability to combine with other players
Ability to defend 1v1
Workrate
Fitness


Defenders:

Speed
1v1 defending
First touch
Ability to play out of pressure without just "booting" it
Decision making
Organizational skills
Vocal
Defensive and Offensive headers
Technical skills
Strength
Leg Strength

Those with college players or committed players please feel free to add.

Nice list. I have been hitting my DD (striker) over the head with Defensive Tenacity and she wants no part of it (unless you steal the ball from her then it becomes WWF):)
 
Nice list. I have been hitting my DD (striker) over the head with Defensive Tenacity and she wants no part of it (unless you steal the ball from her then it becomes WWF):)

You are right to emphasize it. A team having forwards that track back can be the difference between a good and a great defensive team.
 
What are they looking for from field players?

Forwards:

Speed
First Touch
Bslsnce with and without the ball
Ability to receive a ball under pressure and turn away from pressure
Ability to make smart runs
Abiity to hold up play for other players to join in
Shot accuracy
Shot strength
Finishing
Vision (finding open teammates)
Offensive Headers
Defensive tenacity
Workrate
Technical skills

Midfielders:

First Touch
Technical skills
Decision Making (finding the right player to combine with)
Vision (making the pass to put players in dangerous scoring positions)
Ability to play out of pressure
Strength on the ball
Ability to combine with other players
Ability to defend 1v1
Workrate
Fitness


Defenders:

Speed
1v1 defending
First touch
Ability to play out of pressure without just "booting" it
Decision making
Organizational skills
Vocal
Defensive and Offensive headers
Technical skills
Strength
Leg Strength

Those with college players or committed players please feel free to add.
Soccer IQ.
Its something that is coveted by all coaches.
Understand the game.
 
Nice list. I have been hitting my DD (striker) over the head with Defensive Tenacity and she wants no part of it (unless you steal the ball from her then it becomes WWF):)

My DD is primarily a forward. Her defensive skills helped her become a starter as a college freshman. She beat out a junior that would not go on defense if her team lost the ball in their attacking third. My DD had the defensive skills to either win the ball back or slow down the other teams attack a good majority of the time. DD learned to play defense from an ex-Timbers and SD Sockers defender.
 
I figured that I would create a place for parents that have been through the process to share insights and answer questions for parents just starting the process or looking ahead to the start of the process. With so much misinformation out there I thought that having a thread to sort it out might be useful.


Its really a great which is taken by you

Cricket Helmets
 
anyone care to post a sample letter that worked for their kid?

if not, please pm them.

I dont want to have the daughter over or under-welm the coaches with to much/little info.

TIA
 
anyone care to post a sample letter that worked for their kid?

if not, please pm them.

I dont want to have the daughter over or under-welm the coaches with to much/little info.

TIA


Nothing fancy or elaborate. Use email and send it to the head coach and assistant coaches. A lot of the time the assistant coach is the one that does the leg work. Make sure you send a link to a short (3-4 minutes) impactful video, Vimeo or You Tube. I liked Vimeo better than You Tube. If you do not get a response within two weeks than follow up.
 
Besides being quick and fast the coaches liked my dd's motor and versatility.

What happens when you lose the ball? Do you win it back?

Can you do some things physically that most others can't? Like leaping in the the air over other kids. or great track speed. or great throw ins. These can separate you for the pack.
 
anyone care to post a sample letter that worked for their kid?

if not, please pm them.

I dont want to have the daughter over or under-welm the coaches with to much/little info.

TIA

Just about anything works as long as you write it from the coach's perspective. Think about this for moment, I know it sounds very rhetorical, but most are so busy writing how great you are, you forget that its about effective communication.

First, assume its read on smartphone screen, not a computer. This says, short and easy to read sentences with plenty of white space.

What do coaches care about? Pertinent physical info (DOB, height, weight, dominate foot), GPA and SAT/ACT scores and grad year. Link to the highlight video.

Game time and location info (and link to the schedule), with your team name, colors and jersey number.

Signature line with the player name, cell and email, and small avatar photo of the player headshot.

That's about it. Every time my kid wrote to a coach, he got a response from the coach. Since our experience is on the boys side, ymmv and maybe its bit different on the girls side.
 
I agree with poster who stated that they usually extend their offers to sophomores and start allocating out the $$ in that age group. For juniors they have less $$ left. So start early.

Make sure your child has an idea of what they really want in a school (academics, location etc) No sense wasting time with schools that don't meet those needs. My DD was very specific on things she wanted as far as location.

Also let your child know that college coaches are watching more than just them scoring or making a great play. In meetings with college coaches my daughter was told that they watched her body language, how she reacted in certain situations, and how she handled disappointment. They know what they are looking for. Also know that a coach may not be there to watch your child, but they may just get noticed while they're watching someone else.
 
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