Soccer and getting noticed. Speak from experience please..

46n2

SILVER ELITE
On forums we all have opinions, and more than half the time you find valuable information....
Pls only reply if you have experience with this one....
When did you see or better yet when did your child get called up.....
Im not talking Flight II to Flight I
Im not talking Flight I to DA or ENCL.

Im talking at what age did your BB/DD get notice and get the offer for National team/ODP/College/Pro..........
Id like to hear from parents that have experience with this......we all know that every kid is different but I'm hearing about a few kids that I know that are already getting the nods at 14 ??

Is that the new age to be shooting for (pre-teens) or is there still room for late bloomers around 17/18...to get groomed

Thanks
 
In between 8th grade and high school, my player was approached following Surf Cup in July by some very academically advanced D3 colleges (including Carnegie Mellon, a great school that also has a great soccer program). Up to that point, a college scholarship was not even being discussed in our house. After Surf Cup, it raised the stakes. Freshman year was all about getting her comfortable with the characteristics of a variety of schools (small/big, rural/urban, CA/other states, D1/D2/D3/NAIA) and getting exposure at showcases and other national events. She eventually committed in Dec of her sophomore year to a top 25 P5 program. She is not an ODP superstar (never got an invite), but she had the qualities that this program needed. I know of many colleges and universities that are still looking for high school seniors for this upcoming fall. But the problem is that you lose control at this late date. It takes the decision out of your hands and gives it to the school in need. She is still getting inquiries from schools, despite her committed and signed status. I hope your journey is a fun one...goes by quick. Good luck to you and your player.
 
My daughter had a couple significant injuries during her freshman and early sophomore years of high school. She got her first nibbles from college coaches in the summer between sophomore and junior year. We also took a couple road trips to visit different types of colleges, rural, big city, small, large campus, etc. She really got noticed when she skipped high school soccer her junior year and we attended several winter ID camps. All of the camps only had 30-50 players so it was easy to get noticed. We also took a couple trips to the northwest and northeast in February so she could experience the schools with cold and snowy weather. She absolutely hated the cold weather and ruled out those regions. We also took a trip to Florida and South Carolina in January to visit friends and attend a couple ID camps. We left both camps with a good number of coaches interested in her playing for them. Several of the coaches saw her play at showcases during the summer between her junior and senior years. It was one of those coaches that she eventually chose to play for and accept the in-state tuition and $11,000 soccer scholarship. The school had her major of choice and she got an extra $3000 academic scholarship. She had no ODP, YNT, and she played CSL Premier her last two years of club. Her coach was a former US National team player and had a ton of college contacts which helped.
 
#1 way to get noticed is to contact the coach you want to play for and then ask your club coach or DOC contact the coach you want to play for and vouch for your ability to play at that level. If the coach/DOC is respected by the college coach you will get looked at.
 
.....we all know that every kid is different but I'm hearing about a few kids that I know that are already getting the nods at 14 ??

Is that the new age to be shooting for (pre-teens) or is there still room for late bloomers around 17/18...to get groomed

Thanks

Not clear what the underlying question is. Is it about do some as young as 14 get call into YNT pool or get verbal offer? Or is it to say if a kid is a late bloomer, does he/she have a chance to play in college or YNT? Or both?

Kids do get called into the regional YNT camps and usually they are nominated by local scouts, who often is their club coach at these younger ages. USSF used to (I don' think they do any longer since DA now goes down to U12) have tryouts regionally for these younger ages.

Two example of kids I know - both were in U14 regional pool, one never played for the YNT but is now playing at Stanford and got significant minutes last season during their national title run. The other played for YNT and also did his stint at the FL residency, and will be playing for U of Portland next season. Stanford kid made verbal commitment at the beginning of 11th grade. The other in his Senior year.

Do late bloomer have a chance? Yes. Every college coach we've ever talked to have said that they take interest in those that take interest in them. That said, the rest of up to the player. The player has to fit the style of play, the team needs and coaches assessment of the player.

An example is our kid. He was invited to attend couple of different ID camps for two colleges that play each other in the same conference. One school took no interest thereafter and the other recruited him. Looking back, generally speaking, our kid is 5-11, slender build and is technical that plays forward, and schools that played possession style of game like him; whereas, more of over the top style of play school didn't see his value as there were always others that were bigger and faster (but not technical) that they took fancy to. I recall one particular ID camp, where the coach didn't believe he was a forward but put him in one the scrimmage games as that, and our kid scored 3 goals in the first half. The coach apologized to him and recruited him also. Our kid was recruited by 4 schools in the end.

The MNT (U23) does call in college players so if the players are doing excellently, they will be called in so its never too late.

The point is there is no one way to get there. There are many different paths and you just have to find what works for your kid.
 
On forums we all have opinions, and more than half the time you find valuable information....
Pls only reply if you have experience with this one....
When did you see or better yet when did your child get called up.....
Im not talking Flight II to Flight I
Im not talking Flight I to DA or ENCL.

Im talking at what age did your BB/DD get notice and get the offer for National team/ODP/College/Pro..........
Id like to hear from parents that have experience with this......we all know that every kid is different but I'm hearing about a few kids that I know that are already getting the nods at 14 ??

Is that the new age to be shooting for (pre-teens) or is there still room for late bloomers around 17/18...to get groomed

Thanks
My DD was a late loomer. For her it all happened her Jr year. Between Vegas Cup, Cap U and reaching out she was able to secure her scholarship. But the best advice I can give you is the importance of great/good grades.
 
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