As a coach of both college and older
age group youth teams, I am often asked by parents and player how to best
get seen by college coaches and how to win scholarships. I thought I might
share with the list a posting I wrote for them as it might help your
players.
This past weekend, I had my first official college recruiting trip. I
went to the CASL (Raleigh) Shootout. For those of you who have been, you
know what kind of event this is, but for those of you who have never
attended such an event, I will tell you that it is something that will
change your life as a soccer player.
I thought I might offer some words of advice to those of you seeking
wisdom on how to make yourself more presentable to college coaches, and
how to help yourself get a college scholarship.
- Be realistic.
You need to have very realistic impressions of how good a
player you are, and what your chances are of playing in college. Those
of you who are playing on TOP soccer teams generally know you are. Here
I am talking about Colorado Rush, San Diego Surf, Texas Challenge, Ohio
Premier, Busch SC, etc. The opportunity for you to realize your dreams
of playing at a very high college level are quite good, but certainly
not guaranteed. Those playing for smaller or less strong clubs really
are going to have to
take a hard look at where you want to play.
- Focus on your education.
The number of female soccer players who earn a
living after college in the sport is incredibly small. This means that
when you graduate, you will need to have a good education. Select a
school where
you can do well. If you go to a high school that is in a small town and
has 15 people in a class, don't assume that if you go to a large school
like Ohio State or Florida state, and you have 500 people in your
freshman
biology class, that you will do well. If you go to school in the
northeast, is moving to the desert southwest REALLY a smart thing? Don't
pick your
school based on soccer alone.
- Work at your grades and test scores.
Believe it or not, college coaches will usually look at your GPA,
class rank, and SAT/ACT scores before they watch you play. The better
your grades, and the better your test scores, the more attractive you
are to most college coaches. This doesn't mean you need to be on the
Dean's list to get into your school (usually) but it means that
the college coach will have to spend less money on your scholarship
which greatly increases your chances of getting to play where you'd like
to play.
- Have a complete set of fundamentals
before you ask a coach to come watch you.
If you want to play striker at a large school, you need to be able
to receive, turn and shoot under pressure and at match speed. With both
feet. Your shots need to be on target and strong enough to beat a good
goalkeeper. College coaches are not looking for players to sit the
bench. They are looking for players who can come right out of high
school and start. This is how teams get better. So when you watch UNC or
Stanford, and you decide that
is where you want to play, you must ask yourself honestly if you could
step on that field and be better than at least 5-7 of the girls
starting. If not, you need to get better, or choose another school where
you will have a better chance.
- Contact schools early.
When you are a Junior, and you begin selecting
schools, send emails to the coaches at the schools you are interested
in. This is especially important if the school is some distance away.
Most colleges have very tight budgets and coaches must decide quite
early who they are going to go see. Quite often coaches will recruit at
a few specific tournaments and that will be all. They will generally go
to the largest tournament in their home state, and 2-3 national
tournaments like WAGS,
Raleigh Shootout, Orange Classic, Dallas Cup, USA Cup, Surf Cup, etc. If
you want to get seen by larger schools, you need to get yourself to
these tournaments.
- When you make your college profile,
include your intended major AND the size of school you are interested
in.
If you've decided that you don't want
more than 20 kids in your classes with you, don't call up UF or
Portland.
- Don't be afraid of smaller schools.
If you are a good player, don't ignore smaller schools. Very often
small schools will make very generous offers to strong players. Many
players who would only get small scholarships at large schools and
limited playing time, would often be able to a attend school for free,
or very cheaply. If you are a senior and an ODP state player or Region
player, call a few small schools in your state and see what they have to
offer. Quite often you'll find they will bend over backwards to have
you, and the team will appreciate having you. Many smaller schools play
larger schools anyway so the level of competition if often quite
similar.
- Keep your parents involved at every
step.
The most important relationship in the life of scholarship athlete
is the one between your parents and the coach. When your parents and the
coach have a good relationship, it usually benefits everyone. Your
parents can talk to college coaches on your behalf (during the legal
time periods), and can smooth the way for you to be able
to play at the schools of your choice.
- Be polite.
If you've written a school and you ask them to come see you play and
they do, be thankful. Nothing turns off a college coach faster than
having a player ignore or disregard them. You don't have to fawn all
over the coach, but let them know you appreciate the effort they put
into coming to see you. In my own case, I spent several hundred dollars
(of my own money) to go watch 5 players. I left my home at 4am, worked
18 hours on Saturday, 8 hours Sunday, and got home at 11pm. Each player
I spoke with was very polite and thankful. Those players may not come to
my school, but I
appreciated them listening to what I had to say and acting interested.
Send thank you letters if a coach comes to see you. The coach will
potentially spend tens of thousands of dollars on you. Let them know
that you are willing to spend 35 cents on a letter to say thanks.
- Be happy with what you get.
If you do your research and find out that a school is the right
place for you to play then go there and enjoy it to the best of your
ability. Don't go and be angry that you maybe didn't get into your first
choice school. If you are a good player your teammates may resent you
feeling that way because maybe that was their first choice. If your
school doesn't have a shoe contract, or only buys uniforms every other
year instead of every year like your club might, don't get angry. Be
thankful and remember that there are over 20,000 girls every year who
never even get selected by ANY college and never get to realize their
dream of playing at the next level. If you find that you don't like the
coach or you can't stand your teammates, don't blame the coach. It's up
to you to do the research on the school, spend time with the coach, meet
some players, and ask the right questions before you accept the school
offer.
- FINISH SCHOOL.
Even if you don't play soccer, you are there to get a degree. Do
that much. If you have to transfer to another school to finish school,
then do so, but make sure you finish school.
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