Recruiting Tips for Parents Just Starting the Process

Wait, we have Logos? S is my logo, cool.

Let’s be nice to each other. Tudela is a newer small club that is achieving ECNL results.

First, if you are really good and you play on a ECNL or GA team, you have advantages. I noticed these during the recruiting process and this included recruiting from ECNL teams to join them. Any coach that watched my kid was usually impressed, but ECNL/GA gets 10x as many coaches watching. I could not convince my daughter to switch, and the happiness of our kids is really the most important thing here.

Second, Tudela is a great team and the girls have committed to some good colleges (not sure why the college hasn’t wanted them to social media yet, my daughters school said post everywhere - silly kid wants it to be perfect and didn’t want it to interfere with some of her other posts - should post tomorrow). My daughter has played against Tudela, played with a few of the girls, been recruited by them and been recruited by their current top rival.

That brings me to my third point. LAFC beat Tudela, won NPL division and advanced to Colorado. They aren’t having their girls being recruited like Tudela so Tudela is doing something right. I figure just as ECNL gets 100 coaches to watch just because they are ECNL, Tudela has a product that has built in advantages as well.

Lastly, you still need to communicate with these coaches. A bigger camp can be successful if they know your kid is coming and have shown some interest in email conversations. If your kid is the best one out there they also notice. Email after the camp each coach. A smaller one college camp is great as well if interaction has advanced to text, phone or zoom calls and mutual interest.

The bottom line is my kid chose a school where she knows they love her based on the attention and offer they gave her and the expectations they have for her. She now must prepare during the next year to compete for a starting job her first year in college.
 
GT45 said:
I am not on a soccer journey. I have been doing this a long time though with multiple kids going through the process. I don't look at logos on here. I read the threads and comment. Your post was misleading to people, and that was why I commented. 99% of the players who go to these ID camps in search of a top 20 Division I offer are not going to get a legit look. So let's be honest with parents on here. The first person who detailed how ID camps can benefit was right. Your response was giving false hope to people in my opinion. ID camps can benefit. But showing up as a random person at University of Top 20 program, is not likely to work for almost everyone.

When I said your club is an outlier, it is. It is a strong club that doesn't play ECNL or GA. That is an outlier. 99% of the top 20 college level female youth players play in those leagues. So your team/club is an outlier. That is not a negative term so not sure why you are defensive about that. My kids club is a top ECNL club. They develop players too.
Click to expand...
Agree 100% with what GT45 said. If your coach doesn’t have college connections it isn’t going to happen. I have been through this process with couple players. Are there times that an anomyly can happen? Of course, but please be honest for parents on this forum and don’t give false impressions. For the majority of players if they aren’t on an ECNL team or don’t have a coach with connections you can attend every camp in town and be amazing and you still can’t get the coaches attention at a top 25 program. There are too many amazing players to select from. I do believe there is a place for every decent player in college if you work hard at this process but you have to be flexible and open to options- not too 25 D1 programs.
 
Soccer43 said:
Agree 100% with what GT45 said. If your coach doesn’t have college connections it isn’t going to happen. I have been through this process with couple players. Are there times that an anomyly can happen? Of course, but please be honest for parents on this forum and don’t give false impressions. For the majority of players if they aren’t on an ECNL team or don’t have a coach with connections you can attend every camp in town and be amazing and you still can’t get the coaches attention at a top 25 program. There are too many amazing players to select from. I do believe there is a place for every decent player in college if you work hard at this process but you have to be flexible and open to options- not too 25 D1 programs.
Click to expand...

so... you agree 100% with what kjr said

smh nobody reads

been off the board for a while now i remember why! :rolleyes:
 
KJR said:
Apologies to anyone who can't read and was misled by: "I don't think there's one path for recruiting, so I appreciate that your experience is yours. I will say that ID camps (hosted by schools, not the big ones that promise "lots of coaches") were incredibly valuable to some of the girls on our team."

Sincerely regret not being honest with parents on here when I wrote: "I totally agree that you and your kid have to be objective about what level they can compete at--and also what level they want to compete at. Otherwise you're setting yourselves up for disappointment."

Maybe I was distracted by noticing users' logos instead of just commenting on posts I sort-of read. That's clearly the way a veteran youth soccer parent does it.

Is your big "gotcha" point that it's difficult to get recruited by a top DI program? Because that's blindingly obvious to everyone. It's just numbers. Pretty sure I didn't promise people that they could just roll up and have things work out, no matter what club they come from (btw, I saw plenty of kids from "top ECNL clubs" trudging off the field after ID camp scrimmages, complaining to their parents that they'd been put on bad teams and hadn't been able to show well.) Most of our girls weren't looking for top-20 teams, but they found it useful to target the ID camps of schools they were interested in and go--even if they weren't explicitly invited by the coach. It shows interest in the program and can get you on the coach's radar more effectively than emails/highlight videos (which coaches often go back and look at after they've seen you at their camp, even if they missed it the first time.) So, for Parents Just Starting the Process, consider that. Or don't. It's different for everyone, as I stated above, for those who missed it the first time. Or second, third, or fourth times.

Have a great Sunday, everyone. I'm off this thread.
Click to expand...
I did not say that top kids in ECNL programs are any more fortunate at these ID camps. I said it is that way for 99% of youth soccer players. Your condescending persona is unimpressive. You are the one who implied that your club 'develops' players. As if the others do not.
 
FilpoFutbol9 said:
yo i appreciate you sharing your teams experience. the dude went from not believing you to acting like you'd hidden your identity to saying you misled everyone. i got what you were saying and have heard the same thing from other people. anyway congrats to your dd and her teammates. no jealousy here! ok maybe a little but i've seen yr team play :p
Click to expand...
Are you serious??? I simply tried to simmer the hope that kids will get top 20 offers out of random ID camps. Turns out they conceded that was correct. I did not say they hid their identity. I said I wanted to learn more about their situation. I also did not say they misled everyone.

Feel free to dump money into ID camps. I promise it will be a bad investment in 9 out of 10 of them. But, the coaches will appreciate your donation to their checking account.
 
You need to communicate with these coaches that will be at the camp. A bigger camp can be successful if they know your kid is coming and have shown some interest in email conversations, watched some highlights. Also, if you want to go far away, some of these camps are the only way to meet these coaches in person without spending lots of travel money. I liked the 5-12 coaches camps much more than the 25-50 coaches.

If your kid is the best one out there they also notice. Make sure your kid talks to the coaches they are interested in. Some will be interested and tell you to contact them. Email after the camp each coach. Set up a zoom call to discuss the college, what they are looking for, and what your player if looking for.

A one college camp is great as well if interaction has advanced to text, phone or zoom calls and mutual interest. This is where you hope to seal the deal. You kid will know if the college is the right one. How is the whole coaching staff, how are the current players since they usually help out. Afterwards should be a conversation between player and coach on what is the next step, are you looking for a 2024 striker and do you think there is a spot for me. Then email/text afterwards, and close the deal.

Lower D1, D2, D3 and NAIA may use this camp to make their final decisions. The closer the camp, the more you should go to. If you have to fly to a camp, you better be sure to have already spoken with them, gauged thier interest in your player and your players interest in the school, the go if you feel you are close with the college.
 
FilpoFutbol9 said:
yo i appreciate you sharing your teams experience. the dude went from not believing you to acting like you'd hidden your identity to saying you misled everyone. i got what you were saying and have heard the same thing from other people. anyway congrats to your dd and her teammates. no jealousy here! ok maybe a little but i've seen yr team play :p
Click to expand...
We've heard of a few strong teams who have chosen to stay together with good coaches, have the same results as yours, with or without ECNL/GA. The key is being realistic about the quality of your child's soccer skills. A lot of parents who bring kids to Soccer ID camps are unrealistic but a few are true ballers from smallers clubs and the coaches can see it. Coaches use the ID camp experience to connect with the few stars at the camps and follow their games to see how they play in their high school and club games. Yes, 99% of kids that go to strong college soccer programs have no chance at all because their soccer skills are not at that level but if coaches see the 1% player, they will follow up.
 
  • Like
Reactions: KJR
Messi>CR7 said:
How effective are these camps (individual school or multi schools) for top D3 or lower level D1 schools?
Click to expand...
According to college coaches we know, the camps are as effective as the quality of the soccer player, the player's academic fit, and the follow up after the camp. 99% of players who go to Soccer ID camps, will not get recruited because their soccer skills are not a good fit.
 
socalkdg said:
Sad news my daughter never got a chance to do an official visit with any colleges. :(

Great news she accepted an offer today. Had two showcases the past two weekends, one where she guest played with another team at ManCity Cup, then with her club team at Legends Showcase. Between all the videos she has on her YouTube channel, keeping her Instagram updated (with my videos), our club coaches helping out, and constant badgering with emails (until they say they aren't interested, keep coming up with reasons to email).

She thought she wanted to go out of state and visited on school and they liked her a lot, but she realized she felt too far away from home, plus summers would cut dramatically with "Optional player led training starting in June". Additionally coming from socal she loves the diversity of our great state and didn't feel that at the school. About this time she also felt she had a clear number one locally.

Fast forward to her sending out about 25 emails before the first showcase (then having field times and numbers changing so she had to send out emails again.) She also opened up about the possibility of playing D2, and wasn't as high on her number one because she didn't feel any love coming from the coaching staff. Some new schools joined in on the pursuit, including Cal who she had some wonderful conversations with their keeper coach. One school had three coaches watch her this past weekend, spoke with her club coaches, and then spoke to her and another player on her team. She really liked them. Also turns out they had ECNL games there this weekend as well, so many of the coaches had a chance to watch their games besides showcase games. This was important because the school that had watched her was able to see other keepers during the same weekend.

Monday after the tourney they texted and asked if she could come for a tour Wednesday (today). It was separate from her teammate who will come see them next week and it makes sense as they don't want players knowing what other players are getting, plus each player has different needs. She did a two hour tour with 3 current players, then 1 hour with the head coach and my wife. (I never get to go to these, probably for the better). They told her she was the best keeper they had seen, they want to sign immediately, and they expect her to compete with the senior keeper her freshman year. They then made a great offer(better than I expected). For some reason they said they wanted to talk to me. They called, told me everything, and I asked my daughter if there was anything about the school she didn't' like. She said everything was great and wanted to say yes but mom said wait for dad.

After hearing all the details my daughter texted him, he called back, and she accepted the offer.(FYI kids and parents should not share exact details, my wife was going to tell her Dad and I had to remind her that he will end up telling everyone on the team at one of the games). He then called her club coach to let him know. Haven't seen my wife and kid this happy in a long time and great to know we still have 1 more year of club, 1 year of High School, and then 4 years of college. Thanks to everyone that has given advice on her and I'll continue to share as well.
Click to expand...

Congrats! What school will she be attending?
 
Emma said:
The key is being realistic about the quality of your child's soccer skills. A lot of parents who bring kids to Soccer ID camps are unrealistic but a few are true ballers from smallers clubs and the coaches can see it.
Click to expand...
This 100%. Unfortunately, most parents--even at U17--still don't understand the difference between an average player, good player, and great player. To the surprise of many parents, merely playing for a "top" team or club doesn't affect a college coach's opinion re player ability.
 
Aside from just asking the coaches directly, is there a way to find out which schools use the max number of scholarships allowed and which aren't fully funded? To put it a different way, I assume some D1 schools can't afford to fund the 14 max scholarships allowed for womens soccer per NCAA rules, so they only use some portion of the 14? Or some D2 schools can't afford the 10 allowed?
 
Sike said:
Aside from just asking the coaches directly, is there a way to find out which schools use the max number of scholarships allowed and which aren't fully funded? To put it a different way, I assume some D1 schools can't afford to fund the 14 max scholarships allowed for womens soccer per NCAA rules, so they only use some portion of the 14? Or some D2 schools can't afford the 10 allowed?
Click to expand...

I would not trust anyone other than a coach or administrator (if you know a player on the team, I'd use that for corroboration but I would not bank on the player as controlling info unless I 2d sourced through a coach/administrator and I'd treat any parent's information as "likely" at best). It's a critical question, especially if the player is considering a state school that is not in his/her home state since that can impact the extent of funding. The only thing I know about my own kid's school is what her offer/award was/is. Beyond her award, I don't know if they fully fund up to 14 although I believe they do (any school that has FBS football probably funds all 14 scholarships BUT whether it is in-state or includes out-of-state would be a question to ask, I'd think)
 
The athletic scholarship side is a black hole. Teammates don't discuss it with each other nor do most parents. Impossible to find published data too. The only thing you can trust is the deal presented to your kid. It is also not the norm for scholarships to be guaranteed for 4 years. I believe only the Power 5 and Notre Dame guarantee scholarships. At most colleges it is renewed annually and can change. Even in the Power 5 schools coaches can pressure players to transfer. Also don't believe parents that say their kid got a full athletic scholarship for soccer. That is exceedingly rare.
 
Simisoccerfan said:
The athletic scholarship side is a black hole. Teammates don't discuss it with each other nor do most parents. Impossible to find published data too. The only thing you can trust is the deal presented to your kid. It is also not the norm for scholarships to be guaranteed for 4 years. I believe only the Power 5 and Notre Dame guarantee scholarships. At most colleges it is renewed annually and can change. Even in the Power 5 schools coaches can pressure players to transfer. Also don't believe parents that say their kid got a full athletic scholarship for soccer. That is exceedingly rare.
Click to expand...

I agree with this 100%
 
Simisoccerfan said:
The athletic scholarship side is a black hole. Teammates don't discuss it with each other nor do most parents. Impossible to find published data too. The only thing you can trust is the deal presented to your kid. It is also not the norm for scholarships to be guaranteed for 4 years. I believe only the Power 5 and Notre Dame guarantee scholarships. At most colleges it is renewed annually and can change. Even in the Power 5 schools coaches can pressure players to transfer. Also don't believe parents that say their kid got a full athletic scholarship for soccer. That is exceedingly rare.
Click to expand...
I agree -- my daughter has several teammates playing college soccer from D1 to D3 and the only thing we absolutely know is that the Ivy league doesn't give athletic scholarships! We also think we know that scholarships are done on an annual basis and nothing else :)
 
KJR said:
Yes. Our club is the logo in my profile picture--congratulations on figuring it out. The fact that you think a commitment to developing players makes us an "outlier" is part of the problem with youth soccer, and (again) kind of the whole point of our club. The fact that the only thing you can imagine is that a club coach needs "connections" to generate interest in his players is both predictable and, frankly, disappointing.

As for your other doubts? I never said that girls received offers at the ID camps--only that the camps were helpful. They got our girls on coaches' short lists, which started the process that led to offers. In my kid's case (as I wrote) it was eight months later, after seeing her play--and after she got offers from two rival programs. The reason I brought it up was to respond to someone else's impression that camps are useless unless a kid has been specifically invited to attend. In my experience, I don't necessarily agree and wanted to share that, because this thread is called "Recruiting Tips for Parents Just Starting the Process."

Feel free to start another thread called, "I Don't Believe What People Say." But don't misrepresent me just because there's a narrative you want to cling to.

Best of luck with the rest of your youth soccer journey.
Click to expand...
if your club isn't in ecnl or ga. your not good enough for college
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top