Recruiting Tips for Parents Just Starting the Process

Multi Sport said:
Agree on some of your points but disagree that these recruiting services are worthless.

If you understand that these companies, just like club soccer, are businesses and need to make money then you will have a better understanding of what to expect. Be smart, use their FREE services to your advantage. We did this for our DD and it paid off.

You can't lump all the recruiting companies together. My sister and her husband back East were both involved with a recruitment company (not soccer) and were very picky with whom they signed up. They only did this for about a year because it demanded a lot of their time.
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Did you use this service?
Anything in Goal Nation is usually garbage so I ask sincerely.
 
We did not use recruiting services. I suppose they aren’t worthless if one gets a return on investment. If you want hand holding then it could be for you.

Nothing wrong with a business. IMO you don’t need to pay.
 
Again you do not need to use these services. It’s all free!!!!! People who come into this blog and say “use them” are people who run these businesses.
 
Striker17 said:
Did you use this service?
Anything in Goal Nation is usually garbage so I ask sincerely.
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We used the free version of Cap U for about 6 months. Then we paid for one month of the service and we were able to view the schools who were viewing our DDs profile and she began to compile a list of those schools.

I agree that most of the work can be done without using these companies. Before we used the Cap U services I reached out to my sister (D1 player in another sport, HoF at her school, # retired, Collegiate Player of the Year so she has cred at her Alma Mater ) and asked her if she could ask the womens soccer coach if this is legit. Short answer is yes..
 
eastbaysoccer said:
Again you do not need to use these services. It’s all free!!!!! People who come into this blog and say “use them” are people who run these businesses.
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eastbaysoccer said:
We did not use recruiting services. I suppose they aren’t worthless if one gets a return on investment. If you want hand holding then it could be for you.

Nothing wrong with a business. IMO you don’t need to pay.
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Hand holding? Ok..
 
Another a piece of advice. When you make your 2 minute video. 2 minute max, keep it unlisted on you tube. Do not tag it or share with family and friends. When u email coaches send them the link and you’ll be able to track if they watch and for how long. It’s free!
 
As for camps again. We used them to rule schools out. My dd got to take tours of the schools and meet the coaches.

It’s apparent that coaches have invite certain players to watch. If you have been personally invited via telephone or thru your DOC consider yourself lucky.

Some schools only invite small numbers and screen (which violates NCAA rules) while most being in as many as possible. If you attend a camp call the coach and make sure there is a cap of the number of people invited. 30 or less.
 
We used captain U also. You can sign up for free. I always felt the emails we received were blast emails trying to get you to come to their ID camp. Coaches make fun of this services and find them annoying. They would like to her from your dd.
 
Questions to ask the coach:

1) how many recruits in my class are u looking to bring in. Are you done and how many spots do you have? When do you expect to fill all the spots?

2) can I major in what I want and play soccer simultaneously? What is the GPA of the team and majors of the other players?

3) is my scholarship guaranteed over 4 years and if I were injured would it still be honored?

4) will I have an opportunity to play in my freshman year?

—————

Watch live stream of team. Know how they are doing. Mention u saw them play to the coach.
 
eastbaysoccer said:
We used captain U also. You can sign up for free. I always felt the emails we received were blast emails trying to get you to come to their ID camp. Coaches make fun of this services and find them annoying. They would like to her from your dd.
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You do get emails asking you to attend camps and those are obvious attempts at fund raising but that is when us, as parents, need to step in. In our case, there were three schools that viewed our DDs video on Cap U more then half a dozen times and my DD reached out to them. She made trips to all three. Counter that with three schools who made contact with her via Showcases that led to two trips. She signed with one of the Cap U schools. But that's our story..

On your point of "hand holding". There are people that need that. Not because they don't have the smarts to do it themselves but maybe there are other things like a language barrier. English is my Moms second language and my Dads third and if it wasn't for my sister being such a standout I'm sure they would have needed some "hand holding". You also discount the kids who may be in a single parent household. Maybe the parent doesn't have the time and it's all up to the kid. These services can help the kid get the exposure they lack.

Maybe you are one of the parents who has/had a kid who has D1 schools sending them letters daily so your kid is set, or you have done some big time research and figured out how to navigate these tricky waters? I don't know. You have posted a lot of good information that people can use, props for that. Hopefully parents can use what is posted here to help their own kids in their attempts to get a soccer scholarship.
 
Multi-sport:

Totally agree with you. Some people need a little help. Very tricky waters indeed.

For single families and families who are less educated the process and expense can be daunting.
 
Single families where Kim are dad are working full time. Or if you speak little English.....To save money:

1) Ask another parent to make a really good video of your kid. Pay them.

2). Attend a camp (maybe UCSD) where there will be LOTS of coaches there. Find out who they are and have your daughter make contact before the camp.....and then after. Bigger bang for your buck.

2) use your DOC or coach to make contact for you with the same coaches u saw at UCSD.

3) for D1 call the coaches. Be very direct.
“ I am very interested”
“ you can contact my club coach”

4)make a short BIO
Name
Height
Position
List soccer accolades
List measurable if impressive: track times, vertical leap, bench and leg press.
Video link-
 
Mystery Train said:
That's a great story. Especially love Cromwell's quote about playing multiple sports. Thanks for sharing.
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I knew about the story and even mentioned to some of my friends when she was a freshman that I thought that she was the best recruit from the 2015 class even though she was the last domestic recruit that they committed! She committed after most of the 2016 class was committed! The funny thing is @NoGoal had told me about her right after she committed because he had seen her play for the Eagles and he told me she was the real deal.
 
Susie Penn said:
CIF SS
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I read today that CIF SS limits two camps per player, per season. They have to be hosted by a college and college coach. You need the HS head coach, Athletic Director and CIF SS admin approval prior to attending. Does anyone know if all this is true?? What a pain. Why does San Diego have so much more restrictions than our other CIF counterparts?
 
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