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    College Scouts & Showcase Tournaments

    Can someone with any type of insight help me out. The GPS Thanksgiving Showcase is coming up. I looked at the schedule and there are 4 divisions in each of the older age groups(one even has 5 divisions).

    Each age has a "Super Group," which is really super for those people. I'm sure scouts will be watching these games.

    What are the chances that a college scout will wander the field of a 2nd, 3rd or 4th division of any age group? Is it wishful thinking on the part of these lesser teams, or is this just another chance to get some games in?

    A lot of coaches from U14-U16 like to tell the parents they'll get their kids exposure in these college showcases. Something tells me that the 8 a.m. game, in the 4th division, on the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend may have no parents on the sideline, let alone a college scout.

    #2
    Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
    Can someone with any type of insight help me out. The GPS Thanksgiving Showcase is coming up. I looked at the schedule and there are 4 divisions in each of the older age groups(one even has 5 divisions).

    Each age has a "Super Group," which is really super for those people. I'm sure scouts will be watching these games.

    What are the chances that a college scout will wander the field of a 2nd, 3rd or 4th division of any age group? Is it wishful thinking on the part of these lesser teams, or is this just another chance to get some games in?

    A lot of coaches from U14-U16 like to tell the parents they'll get their kids exposure in these college showcases. Something tells me that the 8 a.m. game, in the 4th division, on the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend may have no parents on the sideline, let alone a college scout.
    You are correct. Nobody will just wander by. If your player has contacted a particular coach, and that coach is interested, then yes they will come by for a look. Exposure at showcases is designed for those who have been proactive about things. If you're waiting to get "found", you should know it's pretty unlikely you ever will.

    Comment


      #3
      Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
      Can someone with any type of insight help me out. The GPS Thanksgiving Showcase is coming up. I looked at the schedule and there are 4 divisions in each of the older age groups(one even has 5 divisions).

      Each age has a "Super Group," which is really super for those people. I'm sure scouts will be watching these games.

      What are the chances that a college scout will wander the field of a 2nd, 3rd or 4th division of any age group? Is it wishful thinking on the part of these lesser teams, or is this just another chance to get some games in?

      A lot of coaches from U14-U16 like to tell the parents they'll get their kids exposure in these college showcases. Something tells me that the 8 a.m. game, in the 4th division, on the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend may have no parents on the sideline, let alone a college scout.
      If your child is a U14, unless they have already created a buzz about themselves by doing something like getting called into a national camp, no one is really looking at them at this point regardless of whether they are in the 4th group or the 1st. It just isn't their time yet.

      If you want to get your child recruited you have to understand the recruiting timelines of the different level programs because they don't all look for players at the same time and there is a cascading impact to all of it where the players valued at the bottom of one level become the ones typically valued at the top of the next.

      To complicate matters the timelines on the girl's side is much different than that on the boys. The girl's programs start recruiting the top level prospects in the spring of the 8th grade which is almost 2 years earlier than the same level prospect gets recruited on the boys side. There is also literally twice as much money on the girl's side than there is on the boys and that dramatically changes their realities.

      It usually takes about a year to 18 months from start to finish for a girl to get recruited. Because the boy's programs start recruiting later their time line is more compressed and probably takes 8 to 12 months. The top national level players usually will be the first to commit and the Ivy/D3 prospects will be the last. Generally both genders will substantially be done around the time early action letters go out in the fall of their class's senior year.

      The critical issue is understanding what level of college soccer your player projects to because that draws more or less your road map. What you are going to find is that college coaches will not care what field your child plays on if they are a legitimate prospect for their level program and they will go and even go watch high school practices if they are truly interested in them.

      One important thing to know as the parent is you really need to prepare your child for all of this recruiting stuff. Go talk to a few older parents. Most will talk about how their kids won't do what needs to be done and how frustrating that is. That is because their kids don't know what they want and are afraid of making a mistake. You are going to find that the parents who didn't prepare their children to make this decision end up with kids terrified of the college coaches and who exhibit all sorts of avoidance behaviors because of it. You'll be surprised at how few kids are ready to jump into this and how much stress gets created when parents try to push a kid who isn't ready. Unfortunately the college coaches won't wait for a kid to grow up once they are ready to recruit players so the wisest course of action is to get way out in front of all of this to start desensitizing your children and preparing them for making this decision. While there may not actually be a lot of college coaches standing on the sidelines of your child's game, you might want to point out a few standing on the sidelines of other games to your child so they start to get comfortable with them being there. That is step one and probably what the club coaches are really trying to do.

      Comment


        #4
        The bigger problem with the GPS showcase is that there are not a lot of college coaches attending.

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
          If your child is a U14, unless they have already created a buzz about themselves by doing something like getting called into a national camp, no one is really looking at them at this point regardless of whether they are in the 4th group or the 1st. It just isn't their time yet.

          If you want to get your child recruited you have to understand the recruiting timelines of the different level programs because they don't all look for players at the same time and there is a cascading impact to all of it where the players valued at the bottom of one level become the ones typically valued at the top of the next.

          To complicate matters the timelines on the girl's side is much different than that on the boys. The girl's programs start recruiting the top level prospects in the spring of the 8th grade which is almost 2 years earlier than the same level prospect gets recruited on the boys side. There is also literally twice as much money on the girl's side than there is on the boys and that dramatically changes their realities.

          It usually takes about a year to 18 months from start to finish for a girl to get recruited. Because the boy's programs start recruiting later their time line is more compressed and probably takes 8 to 12 months. The top national level players usually will be the first to commit and the Ivy/D3 prospects will be the last. Generally both genders will substantially be done around the time early action letters go out in the fall of their class's senior year.

          The critical issue is understanding what level of college soccer your player projects to because that draws more or less your road map. What you are going to find is that college coaches will not care what field your child plays on if they are a legitimate prospect for their level program and they will go and even go watch high school practices if they are truly interested in them.

          One important thing to know as the parent is you really need to prepare your child for all of this recruiting stuff. Go talk to a few older parents. Most will talk about how their kids won't do what needs to be done and how frustrating that is. That is because their kids don't know what they want and are afraid of making a mistake. You are going to find that the parents who didn't prepare their children to make this decision end up with kids terrified of the college coaches and who exhibit all sorts of avoidance behaviors because of it. You'll be surprised at how few kids are ready to jump into this and how much stress gets created when parents try to push a kid who isn't ready. Unfortunately the college coaches won't wait for a kid to grow up once they are ready to recruit players so the wisest course of action is to get way out in front of all of this to start desensitizing your children and preparing them for making this decision. While there may not actually be a lot of college coaches standing on the sidelines of your child's game, you might want to point out a few standing on the sidelines of other games to your child so they start to get comfortable with them being there. That is step one and probably what the club coaches are really trying to do.
          That is a very thoguhtful post and having been through all of this would agree. Keep in mind that is may be better to focus on going to camps of the schools your D may be interested in, or camps where those coaches may be. Showcase tournaments are somewhat of a crap shoot - yes the coach may come by if your D emailed them with interest but you then have to hope the kid is in, decent competition so can look good etc. With a camp you have a couple of days to look good and they get a better look in general.
          I might also add that almost everyone aims too high (we did, but figured ity out in the end before it was too late). Several of my kid's pals went to D1 schools and now it is clear they are not likely to play (ever prbably). Maybe they are happy they can train w team and are happy with the school, which ultimately of course is critical.

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
            If your child is a U14, unless they have already created a buzz about themselves by doing something like getting called into a national camp, no one is really looking at them at this point regardless of whether they are in the 4th group or the 1st. It just isn't their time yet.

            If you want to get your child recruited you have to understand the recruiting timelines of the different level programs because they don't all look for players at the same time and there is a cascading impact to all of it where the players valued at the bottom of one level become the ones typically valued at the top of the next.

            To complicate matters the timelines on the girl's side is much different than that on the boys. The girl's programs start recruiting the top level prospects in the spring of the 8th grade which is almost 2 years earlier than the same level prospect gets recruited on the boys side. There is also literally twice as much money on the girl's side than there is on the boys and that dramatically changes their realities.

            It usually takes about a year to 18 months from start to finish for a girl to get recruited. Because the boy's programs start recruiting later their time line is more compressed and probably takes 8 to 12 months. The top national level players usually will be the first to commit and the Ivy/D3 prospects will be the last. Generally both genders will substantially be done around the time early action letters go out in the fall of their class's senior year.

            The critical issue is understanding what level of college soccer your player projects to because that draws more or less your road map. What you are going to find is that college coaches will not care what field your child plays on if they are a legitimate prospect for their level program and they will go and even go watch high school practices if they are truly interested in them.

            One important thing to know as the parent is you really need to prepare your child for all of this recruiting stuff. Go talk to a few older parents. Most will talk about how their kids won't do what needs to be done and how frustrating that is. That is because their kids don't know what they want and are afraid of making a mistake. You are going to find that the parents who didn't prepare their children to make this decision end up with kids terrified of the college coaches and who exhibit all sorts of avoidance behaviors because of it. You'll be surprised at how few kids are ready to jump into this and how much stress gets created when parents try to push a kid who isn't ready. Unfortunately the college coaches won't wait for a kid to grow up once they are ready to recruit players so the wisest course of action is to get way out in front of all of this to start desensitizing your children and preparing them for making this decision. While there may not actually be a lot of college coaches standing on the sidelines of your child's game, you might want to point out a few standing on the sidelines of other games to your child so they start to get comfortable with them being there. That is step one and probably what the club coaches are really trying to do.
            Great post. My kids used showcases as just a starting off point with colleges. They emailed the coaches who were listed to be attending. The coaches that responded and actually showed up to watch gave us an indication as to which schools might be interested. The next step was further communication with those coaches, researching the school to see if it was an academic fit. Then attending that school's summer camp followed. The showcases serve a purpose as a starting point.

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
              That is a very thoguhtful post and having been through all of this would agree. Keep in mind that is may be better to focus on going to camps of the schools your D may be interested in, or camps where those coaches may be. Showcase tournaments are somewhat of a crap shoot - yes the coach may come by if your D emailed them with interest but you then have to hope the kid is in, decent competition so can look good etc. With a camp you have a couple of days to look good and they get a better look in general.
              I might also add that almost everyone aims too high (we did, but figured ity out in the end before it was too late). Several of my kid's pals went to D1 schools and now it is clear they are not likely to play (ever prbably). Maybe they are happy they can train w team and are happy with the school, which ultimately of course is critical.
              Camps can be just as much of a crap shoot. Coaches at many camps only look at the kids they have invited, everyone else gets shoved off onto a different field with player coaches.

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                Great post. My kids used showcases as just a starting off point with colleges. They emailed the coaches who were listed to be attending. The coaches that responded and actually showed up to watch gave us an indication as to which schools might be interested. The next step was further communication with those coaches, researching the school to see if it was an academic fit. Then attending that school's summer camp followed. The showcases serve a purpose as a starting point.
                I had my daughter start with academics and work backwards. If it was an academic fit, did it have a major in the area that she's interested in? Is a good size for her (she doesn't see herself at a huge school) and in a location she thinks she'd like? If it passed all those tests it went on the list. No point contacting coaches at colleges that she can't get into or don't fit her other needs.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                  I had my daughter start with academics and work backwards. If it was an academic fit, did it have a major in the area that she's interested in? Is a good size for her (she doesn't see herself at a huge school) and in a location she thinks she'd like? If it passed all those tests it went on the list. No point contacting coaches at colleges that she can't get into or don't fit her other needs.
                  If you are talking about the D1 level with a goal of getting an athletic scholarship and actually playing this is very simplistic advice that can have rather negative ramifications. This is actually how an academically minded soccer player ends up riding the bench for a place like Stanford, Duke et al. It is really no different than the kid who with a straight soccer focus who ends up riding the bench at a place like UNC or Penn St. There is just way too much that goes into finding that "right" fit to simplify down to pick the school with the best name. Heck most of the kids don't even know what they want to study in college when they show up, never mind picking the school based upon it 2-3 years earlier when they commit.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                    Camps can be just as much of a crap shoot. Coaches at many camps only look at the kids they have invited, everyone else gets shoved off onto a different field with player coaches.
                    This is a common lament from parents who don't really understand what they are doing or how to use clinics. They are usually lost in the whole showcase mindset so clinics end up being just hit or miss types of things for them.

                    To use clinics properly you have to know going in that the coach is likely going to be looking for exactly the level player you child is. Too many parents send their children to a clinic at a school like BC when they really are a more appropriate match for a school like Fairfield and then complain that the clinic didn't produce any results. They never will produce results if that is how you approach them. When it comes to recruiting you only send your player to clinics where they actually have a shot at playing.

                    The real benefit to clinics isn't really in the id process, the value is more in the relationship building phase that is essential when creating a good solid "fit". If your kid projects to be a good solid fit for a school like Fairfield what you do is start sending them to their clinics as early as possible so that the coaches there get familiar with your child and your child gets familiar with them and the school. A clinic can be just as much a tryout for the coach as it the player if you use it correctly.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                      I had my daughter start with academics and work backwards. If it was an academic fit, did it have a major in the area that she's interested in? Is a good size for her (she doesn't see herself at a huge school) and in a location she thinks she'd like? If it passed all those tests it went on the list. No point contacting coaches at colleges that she can't get into or don't fit her other needs.
                      Spot on, my older daughter did the same thing, she contacted some of the coaches from schools that had her major and would be the best academic fit. However she also contacted coaches that weren't listed under the coaches attending and I think a couple showed up. They only watch a half and move on to other recruits. I'm doing the same thing with my other daughter for this weekend, she contacted a few that would fit her intended major, school size, etc. I think so many people are under the impression Coaches are there to watch all players and their child will be noticed, that's not the case. They respond to communication, and it may take a few emails etc., but when they see a genuine interest and the school's a fit they will suggest doing an overnight with their current players. This was especially helpful with my older daughter because she was able to determine how she liked the school overall and the program.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by fattydaddy View Post
                        Spot on, my older daughter did the same thing, she contacted some of the coaches from schools that had her major and would be the best academic fit. However she also contacted coaches that weren't listed under the coaches attending and I think a couple showed up. They only watch a half and move on to other recruits. I'm doing the same thing with my other daughter for this weekend, she contacted a few that would fit her intended major, school size, etc. I think so many people are under the impression Coaches are there to watch all players and their child will be noticed, that's not the case. They respond to communication, and it may take a few emails etc., but when they see a genuine interest and the school's a fit they will suggest doing an overnight with their current players. This was especially helpful with my older daughter because she was able to determine how she liked the school overall and the program.
                        Gotta laugh at this one. How does an 8th grader know what her major is going to be? If you are just starting the recruiting process in the sophomore or junior year when kids start to have some inkling of what they want to study in college, you are really pretty late to the dance. The practical side of recruiting is that if you miss a window it means you drop competitive levels since as noted it takes roughly 12-18 months to get a deal done. For example, a girl that is just starting now in her sophomore year is almost by definition a either an Ivy or bottom tier D1 prospect. Push the starting point back a year and that pretty much leaves D3 schools as the most likely landing spot.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                          The bigger problem with the GPS showcase is that there are not a lot of college coaches attending.
                          ???? I'm not a big fan of GPS, but they have over 170 college coaches already signed up to attend. Doesn't seem bad for a tournament over Thanksgiving weekend.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                            Gotta laugh at this one. How does an 8th grader know what her major is going to be? If you are just starting the recruiting process in the sophomore or junior year when kids start to have some inkling of what they want to study in college, you are really pretty late to the dance. The practical side of recruiting is that if you miss a window it means you drop competitive levels since as noted it takes roughly 12-18 months to get a deal done. For example, a girl that is just starting now in her sophomore year is almost by definition a either an Ivy or bottom tier D1 prospect. Push the starting point back a year and that pretty much leaves D3 schools as the most likely landing spot.
                            Referring to me? my daughter's in her Jr. Year-U17; both of my daughter's knew they weren't D1 material and D3 is fine with them, they just want to play and know they're not going pro. As I said she has an intended major and should have an idea of a major being a Jr. in HS. We started for both when they were in their Sophomore years.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                              Gotta laugh at this one. How does an 8th grader know what her major is going to be? If you are just starting the recruiting process in the sophomore or junior year when kids start to have some inkling of what they want to study in college, you are really pretty late to the dance. The practical side of recruiting is that if you miss a window it means you drop competitive levels since as noted it takes roughly 12-18 months to get a deal done. For example, a girl that is just starting now in her sophomore year is almost by definition a either an Ivy or bottom tier D1 prospect. Push the starting point back a year and that pretty much leaves D3 schools as the most likely landing spot.
                              Neither kid knew what they wanted to major in, but both were pretty dialed into the fact that they were STEM types. It's not hard when they love the maths and sciences and when English and Social Studies work was always like pulling teeth. I'm sure there are plenty of kids who are the reverse.

                              That is certainly enough to get started filtering schools.

                              Comment

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