2021 Women’s D1 Soccer Talk!!!!

My daughter is finishing her sophomore year playing for a DA club (which i now no longer DA). The club has been really good about the recruitment process and guiding us along the way. Her team is pretty good and she has also played some ODP so she has had some exposure to college coaches/scouts watching her play. No early commitment opportunities (not sure how we would have handled that- above story is very unfortunate), but there does seem to be interest. Things we have learned along the way
1. Visit schools whether officially or unofficially (she wants to go east and had the opportunity to visit several over a week long trip last summer really opened her eyes to what she wants and what is available out there)
2. Commit to the school not the program (again above story bears that out)
3. Don't count on the scholarship money being there or being there the entire time
4. IVY league doesn't give athletic scholarships (academic/need/), so if athlete gets hurt or coach change funding stays

Definitely an interesting time in the life of girls/women's soocer
Good Luck and Stay Healthy!
 
socalkdg said:
Colleges are always contacting them for senior keepers.
Click to expand...

I think that there are a number of GK parents on this site whose kids committed early and who are (or were) pretty involved with their local GK communities so draw from a pretty big pool. There are always coaches looking for a really good GK b/c they get caught in between classes but it really common for top schools (or schools from top conferences) and top GKs to be matched pretty early (or was before the change in the recruiting rules of the last couple of years). At least for the ones who are expected to contribute early in their college careers.
 
Really happy with the change in recruiting. With my daughter still growing she should be close to her full height by the end of sophomore year, plus putting on a few pounds of muscle to her slender frame.
 
socalkdg said:
Really happy with the change in recruiting. With my daughter still growing she should be close to her full height by the end of sophomore year, plus putting on a few pounds of muscle to her slender frame.
Click to expand...
Bro, I was just telling my wife that. When my little goat was being looked at as an 8th grader, it was so weird. Look, I love sports and I watched Shea Cotton, "I thought he would be Lebron" as 8th grader and he was real good. Easy top goat. Mind was 4 11'. Now, she's 5 5' and has a nice soccer frame. I've learned not to use certain words to describe a girl athlete's body who likes to surf and go to the beach :)
 
socalkdg said:
Colleges are always contacting them for senior keepers.
Click to expand...
Most of the D1 schools that my DD is interested in committed their 2021 GKs very early. D3s are still looking for sure. It is difficult to get noticed when you are not playing DA (previously) or ECNL. She is very good keeper but not Stanford or UCLA good. We are still looking but not optimistic.
 
TOSDCI said:
Most of the D1 schools that my DD is interested in committed their 2021 GKs very early. D3s are still looking for sure. It is difficult to get noticed when you are not playing DA (previously) or ECNL. She is very good keeper but not Stanford or UCLA good. We are still looking but not optimistic.
Click to expand...

There seems to be a difference between well-ranked west coast schools, which pick up girl GKs early, and well-ranked east coast schools, which seem to run later. Except for UNC which signs girls early and often.
 
Soccer43 said:
there are plenty of options besides Stanford and UCLA. coaches are still recruiting last minute from the seniors at Vegas Cup to fill gaps and openings. Just stay flexible and open.
Click to expand...
Is there a way to find out which D1 schools are still looking to fill a GK spot for 2021 other than contacting each coach individually? I see some information on Top Drawer Soccer but I don't think that is accurate.
 
I don’t know of any easy way to answer that question. There is a list on top drawer soccer that lists what recruiting spots are still open and even if it isn’t accurate it might be a good place to start. Most importantly your player should have an idea of where she want to go to school and start there. You have to be happy with the school above everything else. Hopefully everyone will be back playing soon and going to showcases is important. If you have a good coach you can ask for direction there also.
 
TOSDCI said:
Is there a way to find out which D1 schools are still looking to fill a GK spot for 2021 other than contacting each coach individually? I see some information on Top Drawer Soccer but I don't think that is accurate.
Click to expand...
1) I’d start by calling colleges that just hired a new coaches. They want their own people and kids could be transferring out.

2)look at rosters of colleges your dd is interested in. Look at how many goalies they have and what year they are.

3)ask your DOC to make some calls. They aren’t doing anything right now.
 
Top drawer is not accurate nor reliable.

check rosters of colleges your kid is interested in. If they don’t have a starter returning next fall have your coach reach out to their coaches and ask how confident they are who they have coming back/coming in can do the job for them.
 
full90 said:
Top drawer is not accurate nor reliable.

check rosters of colleges your kid is interested in. If they don’t have a starter returning next fall have your coach reach out to their coaches and ask how confident they are who they have coming back/coming in can do the job for them.
Click to expand...

assuming a "normal" fall collegiate season, for a 2021 GK, the player (and parent) will want to look at the entire roster of GKs of target schools. Not a problem if there is a soph who may be a starter as a Jr in the fall b/c few GKs will start as frosh so being a frosh when that GK is a Sr (fall of '21) is a good opp if they don't have a target GK coming in 2020 or 2022 or maybe currently a frosh on the roster. Even though TDS is not always reliable, it often is for top players and GKs are easy to find and figure out whether they are going with high expectations to contribute (you need to look at TDS and the roster like it is a puzzle). The analysis is a lot easier in many ways than it is for field players - you can see if there may be an opportunity or if there is little expectation. My kid wanted the best opportunity to contribute as early as possible and it absolutely impacted the schools she spoke to and why one that may have been a great fit but tends to work their target GKs in two-year stretches (sit for two, start for two) was dropped.

Of course, it won't matter if there is an expected stud GK if a younger, less heralded one, arrives and kicks ass. The high-level recruit may have a larger margin of error but no coach wants to put a key player out there who will give them less opp to win compared to the player on the bench (few schools have the luxury of rotating GKs like Stanford has done to a great degree the last couple of years during the season).
 
gkrent said:
No GK coming out of High School is "experienced" except maybe a couple of YNT keepers and even then don't have the actual "experience" needed to play at the highest collegiate level.
Click to expand...

Try telling that to Cal's GK, who was the freshman Pac-12 player of the year and second team all-American as a freshman. She is defiantly going places.
 
SoccerJones said:
Try telling that to Cal's GK, who was the freshman Pac-12 player of the year and second team all-American as a freshman. She is defiantly going places.
Click to expand...

She was the reason that they upset UCLA. She had 12 or 13 saves some of the WTF type. UCLA was a much better team but she was able to work her magic. She is a unicorn though. i would take Stanford's keeper over any keeper in college IMHO.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top