Goalkeepers & college recruiting - tips, tricks and lessons learned

MWN said:
My advice for every parent of a HS kid fixing to go to college, regardless of sport, is focus, focus, focus on your SAT/ACT as much as your grades. I screwed up with my daughters and was very lax on the SAT/ACT. My daughter that graduated with a 4.4 (had 6 AP courses that transferred) couldn't get accepted to a single UC school. She got into every State school, but her SAT score was around 1320, and she need at least 1700+.
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A perfect score for the current SAT is 1600 (used to be 2400), so I wouldn't be TOO hard on your kid if he or she doesn't get a 1700+. ;-) There's a separate score for the optional essay portion, but it's not included in the total score.
 
What is your favorite college recruiting web site for GKs and why? I am getting bombarded by emails - Total Global Sports, Scouting Zone, NCSA Soccer - and I think some others. We haven't done anything with them outside of a showcase, but this is the year I will try to start figuring out what to do. Any feedback appreciated.
 
mulliganmom said:
What is your favorite college recruiting web site for GKs and why? I am getting bombarded by emails - Total Global Sports, Scouting Zone, NCSA Soccer - and I think some others. We haven't done anything with them outside of a showcase, but this is the year I will try to start figuring out what to do. Any feedback appreciated.
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NCSA is what we used and very very highly recommend it. The other sites don’t have personal recruitment (that I know of). You do have to pay for the service but it was worth every penny. All the others you mentioned have very minimal information, tutorials, videos or any significant education resources on recruiting. They have basic recruiting but I have not heard of anyone who actually committed to a college program through their recruiting services.
 
Keepers_Keeper said:
NCSA is what we used and very very highly recommend it. The other sites don’t have personal recruitment (that I know of). You do have to pay for the service but it was worth every penny. All the others you mentioned have very minimal information, tutorials, videos or any significant education resources on recruiting. They have basic recruiting but I have not heard of anyone who actually committed to a college program through their recruiting services.
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Can you expand more on this? How much is "worth every penny" and how much NCSA helped in the recruiting process.
 
Eagle33 said:
Can you expand more on this? How much is "worth every penny" and how much NCSA helped in the recruiting process.
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NCSA offers different levels of services which range in price from a couple hundred to around $12-1500. The top package includes video editing (I think 4 videos), unlimited access to their coach, SAT/ACT test prep services, and many other services. The video service is great - I personally haven't used it (yet) but will at the end of the season. I know others who have and NCSA took tons of raw video (from streamsport film) and the highlight video was great (actually made the player look better on video :). The caveat is this...you get out of it what you put into it. And by 'you' I mean your player, not the parent. The player needs to write the emails, do the research, contact the recruiting coach, have the conversations, contact the college coaches, etc. The thing we appreciated with NCSA is that there is TONS of information and one place that tracks corresondence, activity, etc. Our club did not offer much in the way of college recruiting info. In fact, I sort of by default became the team go-to resource (based on our experience with NCSA) and try to 'pay it forward' by helping other parents understand all the NCAA rules, D1/2/3 differences, etc.

For keepers, there is a soccer section just for keepers - how to make training videos, etc. NCSA also now offers a service that 'types' the players athletic personality profile - kind of like Myers Briggs assessment. This is actually REALLY helpful for GK's because it helps them identify what type of athlete they are and they can assess their teammates as well. This gives them insight into how to communicate, direct and interact with their team. http://athletetypes.com/athlete-typ...9q9mv-hH9Isn-SN7_Y-3Tcqtsi7IxQ&_hsmi=66012857

Also important to note, the recruiting process doesn't stop when a player verbally commits. NCSA is still helpful and provides information on how to keep in touch with coaches, prepare financially and academically, and is available through the athlete's senior year of college in case a transfer is needed. You can also get discounts (we did) so don't be afraid to ask if they have any scholarship. They also give referral incentives ($100 Target gc for each) which is helpful if you have others on the team that are interested.
 
I know quite a few colleges coaches and all of them told me that they highly encourage players to do all this work by themselves. They don't want to get e-mails or phone calls from parents and suggest to stay away from recruiting services, and many of them don't even bother reading e-mail unless it comes from a player.
Any kid nowadays can put together 2 min highlight video.
For example, my kid created his personal website, put together highlight videos and getting very good response from colleges. Luckily he played DA for past 3 years, so there is plenty of footage of him playing available.
The best suggestion I heard from college coaches: when sending e-mail, make sure to put Name, Graduation Year, GPA and "Video attached" in a subject line.
 
It seems to me like the recruitment process for boys begins much later than girls. Is this correct? And when should a male player begin to send emails with highlights to college coaches? I have first hand experience working in college admissions but the recruiting part is not my area of expertise. Thanks for sharing any experience you can.
 
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