Recruiting Tips for Parents Just Starting the Process

Real Deal said:
I don't understand. As it is now, your child can choose to wait to make a decision until junior year. Someone esle's can choose freshman year if she is ready and has good offers. Why not just make it a personal choice instead of a rule?

As I have stated before, if there must be a rule, I'd be hoping for allowing commits (verbal) in sophomore year instead of junior as I do feel that's the most realistic time frame and leaves plenty of opportunity for exploring options.
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DD committed during her sophomore year. She felt it was too early, but the timing is what it is when it comes to scholarship availability. Her college coach felt it was too early, but said they have to do what the other schools are doing to compete for players. I felt it was too early as DD really had no idea what she wanted to study at that time. The good news is she is very happy with her choice and is excited to start in the fall.

When you have kids committing during freshman and sophomore years, the parents have to be very involved in helping make the decision. I think it would be better if the players were more mature and better able to guide the process themselves since it has such a huge impact on their future. I don't see any reason the entire process could not be moved to junior year with the exceptions of unofficial visits.
 
Real Deal said:
I don't understand. As it is now, your child can choose to wait to make a decision until junior year. Someone esle's can choose freshman year if she is ready and has good offers. Why not just make it a personal choice instead of a rule?

As I have stated before, if there must be a rule, I'd be hoping for allowing commits (verbal) in sophomore year instead of junior as I do feel that's the most realistic time frame and leaves plenty of opportunity for exploring options.
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I don't feel it helps either side to commit early. Colleges would be better off if they didn't extend offers until seeing a more mature athletic body of work. Kids would be better off if they didn't have to grab quickly-diminishing scholarship money when they are 14 years old. The more time both sides have to get educated about their options and make an informed offer/decision, the better the chance that decision/offer turns out to be successful. And, because I'd like my kids to wait as long as possible to make that decision, it would be better for me if everyone had to wait just as long.
 
Hank Walker said:
I don't feel it helps either side to commit early. Colleges would be better off if they didn't extend offers until seeing a more mature athletic body of work. Kids would be better off if they didn't have to grab quickly-diminishing scholarship money when they are 14 years old. The more time both sides have to get educated about their options and make an informed offer/decision, the better the chance that decision/offer turns out to be successful. And, because I'd like my kids to wait as long as possible to make that decision, it would be better for me if everyone had to wait just as long.
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No point in really arguing since you probably don't have a kid in high school-- then you would know the pressures they face-- and also that a sophomore is 15/16, not 14. you'd also know that the maturity level, physically and mentally, between a sophomore and a junior is minimal. You'd know that all the testing is junior year and it is an extremely stressful time for kids so not the greatest to be flying around the country for unofficial visits. Finally, you'd realize that, as a parent, the difference between a 25% scholarship and an 80% scholarship is huge, and you'd appreciate that extra year to plan financially when you knew exactly where your kid stood in their sophomore year if you were lucky enough to have that option.
 
Hank Walker said:
I don't feel it helps either side to commit early. Colleges would be better off if they didn't extend offers until seeing a more mature athletic body of work. Kids would be better off if they didn't have to grab quickly-diminishing scholarship money when they are 14 years old. The more time both sides have to get educated about their options and make an informed offer/decision, the better the chance that decision/offer turns out to be successful. And, because I'd like my kids to wait as long as possible to make that decision, it would be better for me if everyone had to wait just as long.
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I feel like my player's situation was different. Both sides were in a first choice situation so nobody was settling. She had opportunities with her 2nd and 3rd choice schools so it wasn't a situation where she had a gun to her head. Committing early gave her current coaches 2 and a half years to direct her development. They had time to prepare her for the programs style of play and it helped her seamlessly transition to the team and the school. Her school had all of the players in her freshman class that weren't either in the Olympics or the 2016 U20 World Cup report in June for summer school and it has benefited all of them academically and athletically. This process isn't a one size fits all situation. There are many roads to Rome. I think that flexibility is key. Good luck to you and your player.
 
Zerodenero said:
Cali - I know you and a few of us old timers here have the Hatfield & McCoy thing going but dude... your flat out wrong....or not?
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Actually Zero, you are entitled to your opinion, but basically it is my opinion that you're flat out wrong. (Hopefully you didn't neglect proper grammar when you were busy preparing your kids how to pick a college in 6th grade.)

Zerodenero said:
Cali - I know you and a few of us old timers here have the Hatfield & McCoy thing going but dude... your flat out wrong....or not?

Question....You don't think the discussions a kid hears in the home, between parents/kids/siblings, sets a tone, sets a dream, sets aspirations that can become an ethos towards excellence?

This is just another example of the difference in our views. It may also be the reason why some of the parents on this forum have DD's who are going to Stanford, Princeton and Yale....that process was a mindset, And I am without a doubt, 100% certain it starts WELL before the 9th grade.
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To answer your question....yes, the conversations regarding college attendance when a child is growing up are definitely influential. But you seem to mis-understand the mindset of attending college and being able to adequately and knowledgeably understand the criteria to make the decision on which college to attend. Are you advocating that your 12/13/14 year old daughter understood the pros and cons of a large public university vs. small private institution because you had "discussions in your home with siblings"?

College attendance was never a option for my kids, as evidenced by the 529 accounts set up on their first birthday. College was always a priority, and, over the years, many visits were made to our alma maters, and other colleges for sporting events, plays, and other community events. They grew up in that environment, but that in no way made her ready to pick a school in her freshman year of high school. Maybe my kid is just stupid, but I don't think setting a tone/dream/aspiration makes them able to understand the difference between Stanford and Samford.

Zerodenero said:
The discussion/dialogue/pondering ideas start in 8th...7th....6th....hell, when they start to crawl. It starts in the home, From you, from me, and NOT left to the seeing where the cards lay :confused:
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Remember, you're the one saying to prepare your child in 6th grade to pick a college. My ill prepared daughter was too busy deciding what to watch between Lizzy McGuire or High School Musical...but that is because I'm a bad parent that "chose to see where the cards would fall". Excuse me if I didn't educate my player when she was 12 on the differences between urban/rural campus, geographical settings, majors offered, cultural considerations, and a plethora of other criteria necessary to make an informed college decision. Her decision to commit in early in her 10th grade year followed an accelerated program of campus visits, lists of pros/cons, and hours of reviews of academic majors offered at each institution. She elected to choose a campus that offered the largest catalog of available majors, so that she would have plenty of options when she was old and wise enough to fine tune her education specialty.

I tend to think that Hank has it right, compared to Zero...

Hank Walker said:
And to Zerodenero's point, I'm not saying that a family shouldn't have an academic plan and process that opens as many doors as possible for your kids at the end of high school. And yes, that process starts well before 9th grade but for me, it is a completely separate discussion from recruiting timelines.
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Good luck to you and your player!
 
MakeAPlay said:
Even the top fully funded schools don't have the allocated resources to offer official visits to anything other than committed players so changing any of the visitation rules was dumb.
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One of my players went on 3 official visits without a commitment.
 
MAP: "This process isn't a one size fits all situation. There are many roads to Rome. I think that flexibility is key."

VERY true Map-- guys, there is no really right or wrong way to do it-- every kid/parent/family is in a different situation...this hits the nail on the head.
What worked for my kid, may not work for someone else's and vise versa...
Although I absolutely agree with Zero-- start researching sooner rather than later...time goes fast!!
 
Real Deal said:
No point in really arguing since you probably don't have a kid in high school-- then you would know the pressures they face-- and also that a sophomore is 15/16, not 14. you'd also know that the maturity level, physically and mentally, between a sophomore and a junior is minimal.
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I've been through the process already with one kid who is in college, I'm in the middle of it with a high school kid and have a middle school kid that will be going through the process. I do understand the pressure and demands and feel strongly that formal rules put in place to give both sides more time to make good decisions, would be best for everyone. However, I do agree with MAP that there are many roads to Rome and we all obviously will do what we think is best.
 
Hank Walker said:
However, I do agree with MAP that there are many roads to Rome and we all obviously will do what we think is best.
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I'm living the many roads to Rome right now LOL! Round 1 - Late D1 recruitment Round 2 - very early D1 recruitment Round 3 - D2/NAIA/JC recruitment! All different animals!
Good Luck to all! And make sure those kids get GOOD GRADES or else its not going to be easy unless they are YNT!!
 
It is helpful to remember that what players post on social media and what parents talk about is not always what ends up happening. Our DD is starting to see the truth of that as one of her peers posted a commit to a top school many months ago and just this week now is posting a visit to another college with a much lower level soccer program. Either the commit wasn't legit, the financials didn't work out, or grades weren't there. If you have a great offer locked why are you looking at other colleges? So much pressure for these girls and parents have to keep it in perspective. A quality education and minimal debt is the key, when you are done with the four years most players move on to a regular job and life.
 
CaliKlines said:
Actually Zero, you are entitled to your opinion, but basically it is my opinion that you're flat out wrong. (Hopefully you didn't neglect proper grammar when you were busy preparing your kids how to pick a college in 6th grade.)



To answer your question....yes, the conversations regarding college attendance when a child is growing up are definitely influential. But you seem to mis-understand the mindset of attending college and being able to adequately and knowledgeably understand the criteria to make the decision on which college to attend. Are you advocating that your 12/13/14 year old daughter understood the pros and cons of a large public university vs. small private institution because you had "discussions in your home with siblings"?

College attendance was never a option for my kids, as evidenced by the 529 accounts set up on their first birthday. College was always a priority, and, over the years, many visits were made to our alma maters, and other colleges for sporting events, plays, and other community events. They grew up in that environment, but that in no way made her ready to pick a school in her freshman year of high school. Maybe my kid is just stupid, but I don't think setting a tone/dream/aspiration makes them able to understand the difference between Stanford and Samford.



Remember, you're the one saying to prepare your child in 6th grade to pick a college. My ill prepared daughter was too busy deciding what to watch between Lizzy McGuire or High School Musical...but that is because I'm a bad parent that "chose to see where the cards would fall". Excuse me if I didn't educate my player when she was 12 on the differences between urban/rural campus, geographical settings, majors offered, cultural considerations, and a plethora of other criteria necessary to make an informed college decision. Her decision to commit in early in her 10th grade year followed an accelerated program of campus visits, lists of pros/cons, and hours of reviews of academic majors offered at each institution. She elected to choose a campus that offered the largest catalog of available majors, so that she would have plenty of options when she was old and wise enough to fine tune her education specialty.

I tend to think that Hank has it right, compared to Zero...



Good luck to you and your player!
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Hatfield.....once again, another fantastic illustration that ya just can't get your head out of the weeds. Connect the dots dude!!...And the grammar correction - LOL.

I'm looking forward to another 4yrs of justifications, rationalizations, and excuses all while parading the pom-poms for you/yours.

Love you Cali :)
 
gkrent said:
I'm living the many roads to Rome right now LOL! Round 1 - Late D1 recruitment Round 2 - very early D1 recruitment Round 3 - D2/NAIA/JC recruitment! All different animals!
Good Luck to all! And make sure those kids get GOOD GRADES or else its not going to be easy unless they are YNT!!
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Is your late D1 recruit getting money athletic money? How about the early one? What are the differences you're experiencing between the two?
 
Dubs said:
Is your late D1 recruit getting money athletic money? How about the early one? What are the differences you're experiencing between the two?
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Late recruit received minimal money her first year (about 15% of total cost of attendance), next year coach was fired but luckily she was just the kind of player new coach loved and received much more each year she played (as coach made changes to roster), including her 5th redshirt semester. The early one received a much more substantive offer for all 4 years. The primary difference was that we didn't know what we were really doing with the first one, and didn't really get her into a quality youth program until her sophomore year in High School. She had a lot of talent and if she played in a better club prior to that she probably would have gotten a lot of exposure earlier. The early recruit was a stand-out keeper that has two ODP National Championship rings and a several YNT call-ups (no caps unless you count sitting on the bench during an international game LOL) so she had a ton of early exposure and also had a GK coach with some great connections making calls for her. Current player is an above average late bloomer who continues to show upside, but is not a pillar of academics, so we have had to reach out more to colleges that would be a fit for her academically, including the local JCs. Many of the D2s and also JCs do not have huge travel budgets to recruit (some only recruit from their camps!) so we have done well attending ID camps and keeping in touch with certain schools. She has a couple of offers and will probably make a decision this summer (she's junior).
 
gkrent said:
Late recruit received minimal money her first year (about 15% of total cost of attendance), next year coach was fired but luckily she was just the kind of player new coach loved and received much more each year she played (as coach made changes to roster), including her 5th redshirt semester. The early one received a much more substantive offer for all 4 years. The primary difference was that we didn't know what we were really doing with the first one, and didn't really get her into a quality youth program until her sophomore year in High School. She had a lot of talent and if she played in a better club prior to that she probably would have gotten a lot of exposure earlier. The early recruit was a stand-out keeper that has two ODP National Championship rings and a several YNT call-ups (no caps unless you count sitting on the bench during an international game LOL) so she had a ton of early exposure and also had a GK coach with some great connections making calls for her. Current player is an above average late bloomer who continues to show upside, but is not a pillar of academics, so we have had to reach out more to colleges that would be a fit for her academically, including the local JCs. Many of the D2s and also JCs do not have huge travel budgets to recruit (some only recruit from their camps!) so we have done well attending ID camps and keeping in touch with certain schools. She has a couple of offers and will probably make a decision this summer (she's junior).
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Gotcha. Appreciate the breakdown.
 
gkrent said:
.....Current player is an above average late bloomer who continues to show upside, but is not a pillar of academics, so we have had to reach out more to colleges that would be a fit for her academically, including the local JCs. Many of the D2s and also JCs do not have huge travel budgets to recruit (some only recruit from their camps!) so we have done well attending ID camps and keeping in touch with certain schools. She has a couple of offers and will probably make a decision this summer (she's junior).
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There is nothing wrong with a JC to get a kid used to the academic level of college work and to help them figure out what they truly want to do with their life. Some kids need that to be successful as a transfer into a university. Academics should always come first. Good luck with the process.
 
Paddingtonsoccer said:
Can someone explain what the path looks like to attend a JC and still have soccer be in the picture as part of the transfer process and decision?
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It all depends on the JC. Start by contacting the coach. JC's do not have the same restrictions as the D1's when it comes to player coach contact. The level of play varies greatly between JC's and can be really good or absolutely awful. The level of play can even vary between years since the players move on every two years. In San Diego County, historically, the top two JC programs have been Mesa and Miramar, but Miramar had an off season this past fall. Both Mesa and Miramar offer very good academic programs. California JC's have a program that can fast track a student into a California UC or CS. This saves the student and family a lot of money. The last estimate I saw comparing JC to CS yearly costs was CS will cost $16000 more per year. JC's also offer certiofication programs for students that just want the skills needed to do a job and are not worried about going to a 4/5 university. One of my daughters 21y/o friends, played JC soccer, finished the Mesa radiology technician certification and passed her state test and is now making $60,000 a year.

http://www.cccaasports.org/sports/wsoc/2017-18/standings
 
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