Do defenders get recruited???

My DD committed as a HS freshman to Los Angeles Valley College. She's a defender. LAVC likes their defenders to sit back on the occasional; never the chaise. Sometimes they will shift to the wingback when they are looking for an elegant shape.
 
Carpediem said:
As a parent of a ulittle who plays primarily defense on a top team I was curious if colleges even look at defenders or does the offensive line tend to get most of the attention? Where they then look to transition them to defense as needed.
Thanks in advance,
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As a ulittle, have her learn everything. Mine was a striker at ulittle. A midfielder at umiddle and a defender now. Going off to college in a few weeks and was told that her strength to them was the ability to play everywhere. Larry Draluck told her many years ago to not be a position; be a player. She listened.
 
Zerodenero said:
One of my favorite examples of the above is future Stanford player CM....girlfriend is like a darker shade of cool-hand-luke. She Knows what she can do....and chooses when she wants to do it. Playing around w/d lines then BAAM!!!!.....Top corner of your net.

Sweet to watch....tough to defend.
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She is so much fun to watch. And so classy.
 
Zerodenero said:
One of my favorite examples of the above is future Stanford player CM....girlfriend is like a darker shade of cool-hand-luke. She Knows what she can do....and chooses when she wants to do it. Playing around w/d lines then BAAM!!!!.....Top corner of your net.

Sweet to watch....tough to defend.
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Love this- used to drive an hour to watch her play so my DD could see her. One day after a Surf ECNL game my daughter ran up to her and wanted her to sign her jersey- of a different club. CM smiled and said I don't like the jersey but I will sign it. She still has that jersey :)
Her and MM are quite wonderful people
 
mirage said:
Disagree with this statement. Not clear if you also mean that elite forwards are dime a dozen.

Elite forwards are VERY few and far between. Most forwards don't play a complete game - they don't defend and hold the ball either. Most just chase and shoot the ball, with occasional crosses.

Real forwards create space, open lanes and drag defenders with them so that they provide chances for other attacking players. They are also the first line of defense. And the ability to finish is more mental than physical alone. So many forwards don't finish well and buckle under pressure because there's high expectation of scoring every chance they get.

You rarely see really impressive forwards that plays the complete game with technical skills. They are not dime a dozen in most coaches mind that I am aware of....
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Legendary has it correct. I believe the poster is stating forwards are dime a dozen, but "finishers" are hard to come by.
 
mirage said:
Disagree with this statement. Not clear if you also mean that elite forwards are dime a dozen.

Elite forwards are VERY few and far between. Most forwards don't play a complete game - they don't defend and hold the ball either. Most just chase and shoot the ball, with occasional crosses.

Real forwards create space, open lanes and drag defenders with them so that they provide chances for other attacking players. They are also the first line of defense. And the ability to finish is more mental than physical alone. So many forwards don't finish well and buckle under pressure because there's high expectation of scoring every chance they get.

You rarely see really impressive forwards that plays the complete game with technical skills. They are not dime a dozen in most coaches mind that I am aware of....
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Agreed Mirage and would add an elite forward can change the game without ever touching the ball due to all of the factors you mentioned away from the ball...but most have no clue or are too lazy or not coached or don't have the soccer IQ...

Back on point the kids who received the most offers and interest from our team were our two center backs... playing at D3 level.
 
mirage said:
Disagree with this statement. Not clear if you also mean that elite forwards are dime a dozen.

Elite forwards are VERY few and far between. Most forwards don't play a complete game - they don't defend and hold the ball either. Most just chase and shoot the ball, with occasional crosses.

Real forwards create space, open lanes and drag defenders with them so that they provide chances for other attacking players. They are also the first line of defense. And the ability to finish is more mental than physical alone. So many forwards don't finish well and buckle under pressure because there's high expectation of scoring every chance they get.

You rarely see really impressive forwards that plays the complete game with technical skills. They are not dime a dozen in most coaches mind that I am aware of....
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Almost every team that my dd played this season had a forward that meets your criteria. Her team had 4. I can honestly say that this whole season I saw maybe 4 elite defenders. If you don't believe me just look at the college commitment lists for the top 10-15 schools. Look at SoCal. I can name a ton of 2017 forwards that are D1 bound. Not so many defenders.
 
NoGoal said:
Legendary has it correct. I believe the poster is stating forwards are dime a dozen, but "finishers" are hard to come by.
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Forwards that don't score become outside backs. Why am I going to "pay" a forward to cross balls. There job is to score. I will let an outside back cross balls all day long.
 
Legendary, the data on commits by position are available to answer your query and are as follows:
Class of 2017
Forwards: 395
Defenders: 419

Class of 2018:
Forwards: 227
Defenders: 220

Data include all commits not just 1 star or 5 star but all ratings combined...
 
pulguita said:
Forwards that don't score become outside backs. Why am I going to "pay" a forward to cross balls. There job is to score. I will let an outside back cross balls all day long.
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There are forwards and then there are finishers. Not all forwards finish at the college level. Team statistics proves this.
 
soccerobserver said:
Legendary, the data on commits by position are available to answer your query and are as follows:
Class of 2017
Forwards: 395
Defenders: 419

Class of 2018:
Forwards: 227
Defenders: 220

Data include all commits not just 1 star or 5 star but all ratings combined...
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Looking at those numbers though, defenders should have a much higher committment rate than forwards, because 95% of college teams play with 4 defenders. Where as (formations) teams play only 2 maybe 3 forward positions at most. Yet, the committment numbers are practically even.
 
soccerobserver said:
Legendary, the data on commits by position are available to answer your query and are as follows:
Class of 2017
Forwards: 395
Defenders: 419

Class of 2018:
Forwards: 227
Defenders: 220

Data include all commits not just 1 star or 5 star but all ratings combined...
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Thanks for this data SoccerO.

Bernie Sanders said:
If your kid is a great soccer player, get him, or her on the best team that he or she can play on, and let the coaches coach.
The most important thing for a parent, is to be honest with yourself about the ability of your child.
I have one who could play anywhere, and one who is very good, but not D-1 good.
The postition they play doesnt matter, as long as they have the ability to play at the level they are being recruited for, and there are plenty of colleges out there looking for all kinds of players.
I will add, that while your kid is young, encourage them to play all over the field.
A player who can play multiple positions with skill, is valuable.
My oldest has played every postition except keeper, in her time, and can move from holding, to outside, to attacking mid, striker or defender at any time.
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My kiddo, at the littles, would rotate between center mid and center back. She was always the best defender, but her speed and ball handling led the coach to split time. Now, she is a full time outside-back/winger, in a 4-3-3. In my opinion, I think the time she spent at center back really helped her see the game in front of her, so she really developed a great understanding of the entire game. I honestly think the rotating in her earlier years really helped her become the player she is now. She has grabbed the attention of a few great schools already due to her ability to both attack and defend from her position.
 
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