Recruiting Tips for Parents Just Starting the Process

As my kiddo is wrapping up her 1st year in college as a "student-athlete" playing women's soccer, i've learned a lot as a parent. But of all the learnings, the one that stood out (by a LARGE margin) that I highly encourage all parents to discuss with their recruited player is this ....

**Choose the college your player loves FIRST, soccer program SECOND** (in that specific order)

For example: My kiddo had a great rookie year and played/started 75% of the pre and regular season. Once season ended, all hell broke loose as her coaching staff resigned/got fired, subsequently arrested by the FED's, and her school/soccer program became ground zero to the largest college scandal in decades..... My player also endured a late season concussion, and just recently another concussion in a spring game. At this point, given the long term affects of recurring concussions and her future goals/objectives, she's decided to sit out next year and will likely become the team manager until she graduates in 2022.

But at the end of the day, regardless of the injuries she's endured .....regardless of the $hitstorm within her soccer program..... she's stoked to be where she is, and doing what she's doing. Why?......she chose her dream school 1st, soccer program 2nd - and it's made all the difference.

Best of luck to all of parents of players in the process. Soccer can be a "golden ticket" of opportunity.....encourage/guide your player to use it wisely ;)
 
Most girls aren’t able to get their dream academic school and preferred dream soccer school all in one. Awesome for the few that do!
 
Zerodenero said:
As my kiddo is wrapping up her 1st year in college as a "student-athlete" playing women's soccer, i've learned a lot as a parent. But of all the learnings, the one that stood out (by a LARGE margin) that I highly encourage all parents to discuss with their recruited player is this ....

**Choose the college your player loves FIRST, soccer program SECOND** (in that specific order)

For example: My kiddo had a great rookie year and played/started 75% of the pre and regular season. Once season ended, all hell broke loose as her coaching staff resigned/got fired, subsequently arrested by the FED's, and her school/soccer program became ground zero to the largest college scandal in decades..... My player also endured a late season concussion, and just recently another concussion in a spring game. At this point, given the long term affects of recurring concussions and her future goals/objectives, she's decided to sit out next year and will likely become the team manager until she graduates in 2022.

But at the end of the day, regardless of the injuries she's endured .....regardless of the $hitstorm within her soccer program..... she's stoked to be where she is, and doing what she's doing. Why?......she chose her dream school 1st, soccer program 2nd - and it's made all the difference.

Best of luck to all of parents of players in the process. Soccer can be a "golden ticket" of opportunity.....encourage/guide your player to use it wisely ;)
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Great post. I agree. My kid just finished and went through some big time challenges but wouldn’t have traded it for anything. Loved where she was and got the most out of both academics and athletics
 
eastbaysoccer said:
IMO the brochures should not list who is committed. It keeps the coaches coming. It’s a benefit to the club and the teams. Verbals are non-binding.
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I've always felt it best to be honest and up front. Since I was the one making the brochure, I made sure to list the player's that had committed. Btw, the ones listed still received emails and offers after listing them as COMMITTED in bold red letters, that's on the coach and player in my book after that point
 
Zerodenero said:
As my kiddo is wrapping up her 1st year in college as a "student-athlete" playing women's soccer, i've learned a lot as a parent. But of all the learnings, the one that stood out (by a LARGE margin) that I highly encourage all parents to discuss with their recruited player is this ....

**Choose the college your player loves FIRST, soccer program SECOND** (in that specific order)

For example: My kiddo had a great rookie year and played/started 75% of the pre and regular season. Once season ended, all hell broke loose as her coaching staff resigned/got fired, subsequently arrested by the FED's, and her school/soccer program became ground zero to the largest college scandal in decades..... My player also endured a late season concussion, and just recently another concussion in a spring game. At this point, given the long term affects of recurring concussions and her future goals/objectives, she's decided to sit out next year and will likely become the team manager until she graduates in 2022.

But at the end of the day, regardless of the injuries she's endured .....regardless of the $hitstorm within her soccer program..... she's stoked to be where she is, and doing what she's doing. Why?......she chose her dream school 1st, soccer program 2nd - and it's made all the difference.

Best of luck to all of parents of players in the process. Soccer can be a "golden ticket" of opportunity.....encourage/guide your player to use it wisely ;)
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Great point Zerodenero, (btw - so sorry to hear about your DD's concussion), we had almost the same issue, we kept bringing up in discussions prior, "Would you want to attend school XYZ if you weren't playing soccer?", keep in mind something could happen to the coaching staff...(I'm sure it went in one ear and out the other), I received a panic text early August before our oldest had to report, "Coach XYZ has just been fired for something a player did during a recruiting visit!" while it all worked out, those things happen more than we know...hope your kiddo has a speedy recovery
 
Paddingtonsoccer said:
With this pending change on communication--and in general--what are the general thoughts on the use of third-party recruiting services? are they helpful? things like NCSA or NSR or probably others. And, what will the role of third parties be in light of changes for younger recruits?
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ONLY if you have no clue, no time, no interest and about $3K to spend. I had signed up with NCSA way back in the early start of the process ($750 for a basic package back then which included several phone sessions and 1 Highlight video), lol, (that's how I learned how to do the video's myself), also keep in mind, they will constantly try to "up sell" you however, I used the website for kind of a road map early on since I had no clue. I also did research on the NCAA website to get a better understanding, trust me, it's really not that hard or time consuming. The only reason I ended up using someone at the end was, it was putting a major strain on my relationship with my kid, she got tired of me asking, did you send that email, did you reply to coach xyz, I just wanted a normal relationship with my kid before she left and I'm really glad I did it that way. Plus, it also made it easier for me to work through the mentor for the final negotiations.
 
Overlap said:
ONLY if you have no clue, no time, no interest and about $3K to spend. I had signed up with NCSA way back in the early start of the process ($750 for a basic package back then which included several phone sessions and 1 Highlight video), lol, (that's how I learned how to do the video's myself), also keep in mind, they will constantly try to "up sell" you however, I used the website for kind of a road map early on since I had no clue. I also did research on the NCAA website to get a better understanding, trust me, it's really not that hard or time consuming. The only reason I ended up using someone at the end was, it was putting a major strain on my relationship with my kid, she got tired of me asking, did you send that email, did you reply to coach xyz, I just wanted a normal relationship with my kid before she left and I'm really glad I did it that way. Plus, it also made it easier for me to work through the mentor for the final negotiations.
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Like I have repeatedly said, “there are many roads to Rome.” Thank you for sharing. Enjoy the journey. Good luck to you and your player.
 
outside! said:
Have your player email and call the coaches of colleges they are interested in. It is not complicated, it just takes some time. This is work they will need to do with or without the third-party recruiting services, so in my opinion, no need to spend the money.
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Only after June 15 of their sophomore year.
 
Overlap said:
ONLY if you have no clue, no time, no interest and about $3K to spend. I had signed up with NCSA way back in the early start of the process ($750 for a basic package back then which included several phone sessions and 1 Highlight video), lol, (that's how I learned how to do the video's myself), also keep in mind, they will constantly try to "up sell" you however, I used the website for kind of a road map early on since I had no clue. I also did research on the NCAA website to get a better understanding, trust me, it's really not that hard or time consuming. The only reason I ended up using someone at the end was, it was putting a major strain on my relationship with my kid, she got tired of me asking, did you send that email, did you reply to coach xyz, I just wanted a normal relationship with my kid before she left and I'm really glad I did it that way. Plus, it also made it easier for me to work through the mentor for the final negotiations.
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interesting. I can see the part about keeping a normal relationship with your kid! What do you mean by a mentor? was this in addition to NCSA's platform?
 
shales1002 said:
Players can still email coaches. That did not change. They can begin talking to each other June 15th after sophomore year.
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There can be zero communication prior to June 15th after sophomore year. This is only for D1 schools.

http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/media-center/news/di-council-adopts-rules-curb-early-recruiting

“We feel strongly that it’s an incredible enhancement to our current situation and how students are being recruited,” Sell said. “At the end of the day, these changes will eliminate students in the ninth grade and younger being recruited while still providing access to our campuses early enough to make informed financial and educational decisions on where to go for college.”

The proposal for most sports would allow communication — either from or to a coach — June 15 after the sophomore year of high school and would allow visits beginning Aug. 1 before the junior year of high school.

A friend of mine also received this from Recruit Chute which sums up the new rules:

As of 5.1.19 all Division I college soccer recruits will be affected in the following ways:

✔️ Communication to and from a coach can only start after June 15th after 10th grade

✔️ Prior to those dates, zero communication is permitted between a college coach and club coaches or players. That includes any offers of a verbal scholarship

✔️ Visits can begin August 1st before 11 grade begins

✔️ Players can still visit schools before June 15th after 10th grade with no contact with coaches at the school

✔️ Players can still use RecruitChute for research and to build a list of schools their freshman and sophomore years

These regulations have been put into place to curb the early recruiting and provide athletes with more time to create an informed decision at which school is the best fit for them.
 
Paddingtonsoccer said:
interesting. I can see the part about keeping a normal relationship with your kid! What do you mean by a mentor? was this in addition to NCSA's platform?
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Yes, I ended up hiring Kim Smith from Varsity Sports Institute (I think their website is go-vsi.com), that was our daughter's summer of her Junior year going into her Senior year, she signed that summer before school started. She was getting a lot of interest from several of the recruiters at the time but, I had no idea what was legit and what was just trying to sell their services although, you do figure that out pretty quick
 
Great read.
Going through the SAME thing here.
Came into camp fit, then got hurt freshman year in training camp. She couldn’t travel with the team that season and was on campus while everyone was away during her first year. The blessing was that she met friends outside of soccer, joined a sorority and did some volunteer work, and had an outstanding GPA.
But her heart was broken that she couldn’t play and we were distraught she was away from home without us or soccer.
God does have a plan and she knows it.
 
Does anyone know of any nice small out of state colleges that recruit socal girls? My daughter just recently told us that she doesn't want to go to a big school and would like to get out of state or socal. Doesn't matter the division. As far as soccer goes she is looking for playing time and I looking for as much $ as possible. Smaller campus in a nice college town good academics and decent women's soccer atmosphere. She is a high school freshman and still has time but we have no clue what's out there outside of the big football schools and would like to start researching before showing interest and making contacts.
 
If you want athletic scholarship money then you will need to stick to D1 or D2. . There are so many schools and different environments that I would suggest she figure out a few things like geographic region, weather, area of study, then go on a few trips to get a flavor of some of the schools to start getting more of a focus. You can also use tools likeCollege Fit finder to sort the schools to what you are looking for (area of the country, majors, urban vs rural, size of school etc)
 
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