Are there D1-D3 alternatives?

E

Evan Cook

BRONZE
After a few hours researching I am not really clear on what level a player needs to be at to play college soccer. Are there other soccer programs beside the D1,D2 and D3 I keep reading about? This is all new to me.

My daughter is a HS freshman this year. She said she would like to play soccer in college but feels she isn't good enough. Being realistic I agree, she has not been a top player on any of her teams though she has some play time in flight 1. She is a late bloomer so maybe things could change in the next couple years. Academics are a priority but if she could play soccer I think it would be a great experience for her.
 
Yes,
NAIA (small private/public schools) and NJCAA (junior college).
View this: http://www.scholarshipstats.com/soccer.html to get an idea of what is available as of 2017.

Many schools also have academic and merit scholarships available for student athletes that are used to supplement and/or provide for some athletes participating on team sports when no athletic scholarship is available. So, yes. With almost all schools walk-on opportunities exist.

Because athletic scholarships are limited, the better the grades and SAT/ACT the more opportunities exist. Coaches that need to fill out rosters love it when an athlete can qualify for other scholarships/grants (red headed league, daughters of the Mexican-American War, Left Handed Grant, brown-eyed student grant, etc., ... see: https://www.scholarships.com/scholarship-search)

Moreover, the D3 and NAIA schools tend to wait until the Junior or Senior year to make offers because the D1 schools have picked over the top talent, so they wait a little longer looking for those late bloomers.
 
Evan Cook said:
After a few hours researching I am not really clear on what level a player needs to be at to play college soccer. Are there other soccer programs beside the D1,D2 and D3 I keep reading about? This is all new to me.

My daughter is a HS freshman this year. She said she would like to play soccer in college but feels she isn't good enough. Being realistic I agree, she has not been a top player on any of her teams though she has some play time in flight 1. She is a late bloomer so maybe things could change in the next couple years. Academics are a priority but if she could play soccer I think it would be a great experience for her.
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NAIA, and many large NCAA schools also support club teams who have their own leagues and playoffs.
 
D3 schools have amazing academics and will have money for players, especially So Cal players.
The money is not considered "athletic" they find other ways to name the funds.
So Cal D3 choices are excellent. If she is considering leaving out of state for school it would be mid west, heartland valley and east coast. Rocky Mountain region is mostly D2.
 
I have a daughter that played NAIA. In soccer, they are very comparable to NCAA D2 schools as far as skills/talent. They do have lots of $$, but they are also private schools with a $40k-$50k annual tuition price tag, so weigh everything out before deciding.
 
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