# College Recruiting Websites



## all4fuun (Jan 12, 2019)

My son is a sophomore, we are at the beginning of college recruiting.
My question is has anyone used a recruiting site?
We checked out NCSA first, they seem pretty pricey, I am sure there are other sites
for less money that do the same thing.
I am looking for suggestions?


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## espola (Jan 12, 2019)

all4fuun said:


> My son is a sophomore, we are at the beginning of college recruiting.
> My question is has anyone used a recruiting site?
> We checked out NCSA first, they seem pretty pricey, I am sure there are other sites
> for less money that do the same thing.
> I am looking for suggestions?


Back when it mattered, NCSA had a free option (at the cost of only giving up an email address) in which they didn't perform any specific work for your player, but they beamed out free emails every week or so that had a lot of good info on the college recruiting process.  Is that still available?


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## CaliKlines (Jan 12, 2019)

We used College FitFinder. It is not a proactive website (they don’t do any work on behalf of your player) but it was an outstanding tool to keep track of everything coming in and going out, including phone calls, emails and specific interest from coaches. But you have to input all of the data...lots of cutting and pasting...if you are diligent, it is a great way to keep track of everything. There is also some good information on each school that includes coaches contact info. Not sure of the cost, as it was provided by the club (Legends) free of charge.

We looked into NCSA but felt like we could do the work, and better understand the process, by doing it ourselves. It also helps to have trust and faith in your player’s coach and club college coordinator to pass on coach interest from showcases and other events.


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## all4fuun (Jan 13, 2019)

espola said:


> Back when it mattered, NCSA had a free option (at the cost of only giving up an email address) in which they didn't perform any specific work for your player, but they beamed out free emails every week or so that had a lot of good info on the college recruiting process.  Is that still available?


The free option is pretty limited, I believe it just allows coaches to see your profile, but you cant not use the tools to find colleges your interested and email contact the coaches, that option is $900.


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## all4fuun (Jan 13, 2019)

CaliKlines said:


> We used College FitFinder. It is not a proactive website (they don’t do any work on behalf of your player) but it was an outstanding tool to keep track of everything coming in and going out, including phone calls, emails and specific interest from coaches. But you have to input all of the data...lots of cutting and pasting...if you are diligent, it is a great way to keep track of everything. There is also some good information on each school that includes coaches contact info. Not sure of the cost, as it was provided by the club (Legends) free of charge.
> 
> We looked into NCSA but felt like we could do the work, and better understand the process, by doing it ourselves. It also helps to have trust and faith in your player’s coach and club college coordinator to pass on coach interest from showcases and other events.


Our club is a big problem, no showcases scheduled, no help with college recruiting at least so far.  And let me just say this, its one of the big clubs, we are not happy.


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## espola (Jan 13, 2019)

all4fuun said:


> The free option is pretty limited, I believe it just allows coaches to see your profile, but you cant not use the tools to find colleges your interested and email contact the coaches, that option is $900.


My son started getting letters advertising college summer camps during his sophomore high school year, most with disclaimers that declared they were not recruiting letters.  We were fortunate that some of his coaches had ins with college coaches.


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## Kicker4Life (Jan 13, 2019)

Check out Scouting Zone.


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## Kicknit22 (Jan 13, 2019)

all4fuun said:


> Our club is a big problem, no showcases scheduled, no help with college recruiting at least so far.  And let me just say this, its one of the big clubs, we are not happy.


Let me just say this,  you’ll be doing a great disservice to yourself, and most importantly you player, if you rely heavily on club or Coach for college recruiting.  Your player needs to take ownership ASAP.  They can, and will, make it happen for themselves.   Your player alone can grab the attention of the school(s) they desire, through emails and phone calls.  Their coach should be relied upon for support, should one of them check in with them for a little background.  The team is the vehicle.  If that vehicle doesn’t go to any car shows, find a new vehicle. Don’t wait.


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## Fact (Jan 13, 2019)

all4fuun said:


> Our club is a big problem, no showcases scheduled, no help with college recruiting at least so far.  And let me just say this, its one of the big clubs, we are not happy.


I would start looking for guest opportunities with other clubs that are going to showcases.  If you have an interest in East Coast schools, the Disney Showcase in Florida is great in the Fall.  But there are other big east coast tournaments.  So I would start by figuring out what type of school you are interested in, level of play and general geographical location and then come up with a plan.  It makes no sense to jump to another club, even with a great college recruiting record, if they don’t focus on the type of colleges you are interested in.


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## Simisoccerfan (Jan 14, 2019)

Don't spend a penny on any of the recruiting services.   I have talked to plenty of college coaches and none of them spend any time looking at profiles online unless they are already recruiting your kid.   The bottom line is that your kid needs to be seen by the coaches at his/hers schools of interest playing meaningful competition.   This means that your kid needs to be on a top team playing showcases that draw these coaches.   Having a club coach with a lot of college connections is also great.   If you can get your coach talking college coaches it will help get them out to see you.  Otherwise you will need to attend camps and those are a crap shoot since most are only money makers for their programs.   

I agree College FitFinder is a great place to keep all of your kids recruiting material and profile.


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## mirage (Jan 15, 2019)

all4fuun said:


> My son is a sophomore, we are at the beginning of college recruiting........I am looking for suggestions?


Lets put the recruiting website/service aside for moment.

For 10th grader, your kid needs at least one highlight video (showing him with and without the ball in the position he is playing from elevated viewpoint, showing his vitals - height, weight, graduation year, cumulative GPA - and recommend talking and introducing himself in the video.).  Host that as a private video on Youtube or alike and prepared to include the link to coaches of interest, when contacting.

Identify school of interest without soccer first.  There's always a chance that the kid may quit or get injured and there is no soccer so its important to make sure that the school fits first.  Once you've identified at least half a dozen or so schools, then contact the coach as a function of tournaments your kid is playing.  Don't expect east coast school coaches to show up for a local tournaments.  Exceptions being Surf ManCity Cup and Surf Cup.  If your kid is playing DA, then its order of magnitude simpler as almost all coaches attend the DA showcases and playoffs.  Plan to attend 1~2 ID camps over the summer so that he can get a sense of what is expected. 

Update the highlight video by the end of the summer with recent (spring~summer) footages and updated vitals by the end of the summer.  We've found Winter ID camps to be more effective than summer in terms of players to coach ratio.

Coaches can contact the player starting September 1 of junior year so the communication can be routine.

Now back to the recruiting website/services.  College Fit Finder is a great website for aggregating all information onto a single website.  That said, the responsibility and ultimate outcome of being recruited falls onto the player and his family.  Yes you can hire someone to do the consulting and some of the leg work but I really have not seen big payoff from using them by anyone I know.  Also you need to explore and use the resources available at your club.  Some are better than others.  This include not just the college program at the club but more importantly, any personal relationships that coaches might have with college coaches.

The reason I set recruiting sites aside is because these coaches are not surfing the web looking for player videos or profiles.  There are waaaaay more players contacting them than they can recruit.  About the only thing these service website do, is to get your kid onto their fund raiser ID camp emails.  No serious recruiting.  Of course soon as I say this, someone will most likely rebuff this statement with exception but for the most part, really, that's all they do...

Coaches take interest in players that take interest in them.  Have your kid contact the coaches (subject line should have simple purpose and graduation year. e.g., Class of 2023 Playing at Surf Man City Cup this Memorial Wknd).  Expect email to be read on smartphone so keep the message simple and short. Grad year, GPA, position playing, Team and schedule of games)

Don't forget to register at the NCAA Eligibility Center website and take SAT/ACT earlier than later.  College coaches must meet minimum requirement specified by the institution that they coach at, above and beyond NCAA rules.

As time goes by, check back to this forum (and others) and post more questions but for now this should give you some sense of what needs to happen over the next 6 to 9 months.

For reference, my son was recruited by 4 schools and he is in his 2nd year.  His SAT was 1420 and ACT was 33. Subject SAT 800 Math, 760 Physics.  I bring this up because it was his grades that caught coaches eyes above and beyond field play.  In other words, all things being similar, coaches want players with higher scores to offset lower scores on the team.  If your kid is interested in high academic school, most of them have composite/average team scores they must meet.


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## SMUfan (Jan 17, 2019)

Santa Monica United FC College Weekend for Girls, (Ages 2000-2004)

When:    March 9th & 10th (Las Vegas Players Showcase is the following weekend)
Where:   Windward School (11350 Palms Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90066)
Who:      University of Michigan
                Cornell
                Williams
                University of Chicago
                Carnegie Mellon 

Please see the link below to sign up:

https://www.santamonicaunited.com/page/show/3389381-santa-monica-united-college-weekend


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## Supermodel56 (May 15, 2019)

Has anyone used College Committed?


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## CopaMundial (May 15, 2019)

Unique experience here. From my perspective, yes, it's great to be in DA and ECNL and you do get extreme exposure. But, if your kid is very focused on a specific field of study, geographic area (ours is heavy on east coast and knows exactly what she wants to study) and concerned about being an impact player, then you really have to do your homework.  I find that big name/big sports schools recruit early and pull from showcase and high profile tournaments.  But they also are at YNT games, trainings, ID2, etc.  If you aren't in those, you better be in the college coaches face and making sure they know who are!! And be realistic!

Now, if your kid is very specific in his/her studies and ideals on college life, your money might be best spent at ID camps and getting to know the coaches, making great highlight videos and make sure it's the right fit, on and off the field. I know a lot of people frown on ID Camps, but it's getting harder and harder for colleges to find talent and they are spread thin.  Many great east coast schools love for So Cal kids to come out and they recruit from those camps. Point is, there's no right or wrong way to get it done, even for the YNT kids. You still have to do your homework and you still have to make those calls or emails. And, remember, not every school recruits all their players in eighth grade. Be smart. Be patient.


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