A New Recruting Timeline?

[beentheredonethat]

I was at a tryout recently where the DOC told the assembled parents that on the women's side of the college game many of the top schools are trying to get players to commit as early as their sophmore year. Obviously he was talking about the recruitment of the cream of our soccer talent but I wondered if this has an impact on the recruiting timeline?

Another question I had was given the NCAA contact rules as laid out in this thread http://talking-soccer.com/region3/viewtopic.php?t=6117 how is this being accomplished?

My daughter is a freshman...(going to be a sophomore). A good friend of hers, who is an ODP player has already been approached by colleges. This was during her freshman year of high school. So it's happening. Recruiting happens younger and younger.

[Cujo]

A college coach cannot initiate contact until July 1 of their final year. Any coach who is contacting ODP players or any player before then is going to land in hot water with the NCAA. They WILL suspend a program and bar them from tournament. They do not screw around like MIAA does. It does not matter how big or powerful the school is. NCAA will do it to D1 D2 or D3 - they do not care. There is a part of me that thinks this is just parental ego BS. In all likelyhood the student got a brochure talking about the school. I seriously doubt that they got a personal phone call from the head coach. Nobody is that stupid. The school will fire the coach without even thinking twice.

[Cujo]

Re: A New Recruting Timeline?

I was at a tryout recently where the DOC told the assembled parents that on the women's side of the college game many of the top schools are trying to get players to commit as early as their sophmore year. Obviously he was talking about the recruitment of the cream of our soccer talent but I wondered if this has an impact on the recruiting timeline?

Another question I had was given the NCAA contact rules as laid out in this thread http://talking-soccer.com/region3/viewtopic.php?t=6117 how is this being accomplished?

It is total and complete Bullpoop - do not believe everything you hear. Helicopter parents deal enough BS on a daily basis to fill a swimming pool. It is impossible for a student to commit in their sophomore year.

[beentheredonethat]

Cujo .. I think you may be a little naive here. I know in the basketball world the elite D1 and and future pro players are actually identified by the 8th grade. How it works in that world is a kid get recruited to play for a prep school (read recruite mill) like Notre Dame Prep out in Fitchburg which is connected through various intermediaries to some of the top college programs in the country. The players are basically shopped around and deals are struck in the background. There is nothing formal about what is taking place but you can rest assured that recruiting is taking place. For more evidence that the NCAA rules are circumvented every which way but honestly read this 3 part series from the globe http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball ... ?page=full. Though I have no delusions that college soccer is as high stake as men's basketball, I'm sure that some elements of the process have made its way to soccer.

A college coach cannot initiate contact until July 1 of their final year. Any coach who is contacting ODP players or any player before then is going to land in hot water with the NCAA.

If the player initiates the contact, the coach can talk to them. When my daughter was visiting colleges during her Junior year, she was told by many coaches that they have given verbals to many girls. These are mostly girls in the national pool. Some of these girls were all set before December of their Junior year.

I was told by a local Boston coach that the recruiting timeline has been slipping into the sophmore year. He was against this, he felt that was why the transfer rate was increasing.

[Susy Soccer]

My daughter is a freshman...(going to be a sophomore). A good friend of hers, who is an ODP player has already been approached by colleges. This was during her freshman year of high school. So it's happening. Recruiting happens younger and younger.

Most likely these are questionnaires sent out with a canned letter saying they can't contact her yet but would like to follow her. The questionnaires usually solicit information about club, school and academics and ask that the player let them know when he/she will be a tournaments like Disney or Las Vegas. If notified, coaches attending these tournament will come look at "young" players if they happen to be free during one of the games.

It is a different animal this year, I know a coach who is actually getting slated on another thread who is getting phone message after message already from college coaches trying to initiate and set up times for his players to call them. These are 15 and 16 year old girls. In his own words it is absolutely crazy. Colleges are getting very competitive this year, with so many programs out there.

Colleges can not call you but you can call them as much as you want. They can not call you back, you must keep calling them until you reach them. They also can't email you unless they are responding to your email but they often brake that rule once you have started emailing them. The other way they get around this is text messages, they are allowed to text message you.
With all that said Colleges are looking for kids to commit and many of the schools are finished recruiting for the 2008 class already. That forces kids to commit earlier because the money is drying up faster and faster. It is very unfortunate because the kids don't even get a chance to take those official visits and really see what the schools are like before commiting.

With all that said Colleges are looking for kids to commit and many of the schools are finished recruiting for the 2008 class already.

These would just be the top Divison 1 schools. The mid and lower D1 schools are still actively recruiting 2008's.

[Cujo]

With all that said Colleges are looking for kids to commit and many of the schools are finished recruiting for the 2008 class already.

These would just be the top Divison 1 schools. The mid and lower D1 schools are still actively recruiting 2008's.

If they are breaking the rules it is only a matter of time before they get caught. I am not being naive. If it is not in writing there is no agreement. It would be pretty stupid of a coach to put something into writing that would give the NCAA solid evidence of a rules violation. If a better recruit comes along prior to a formal written commitment being issued what good is a verbal agreement. If the player initiates contact as a Sophmore and the coach says I would love to have you come here and play what good is that? The coach may not even be there in two years. The turnover among soccer coaches is significant. Less so at D1's but there is alot of movement.

With all that said Colleges are looking for kids to commit and many of the schools are finished recruiting for the 2008 class already.

These would just be the top Divison 1 schools. The mid and lower D1 schools are still actively recruiting 2008's.

I didn't mean to say all schools but even some lower D1 schools are out of Money. I am sure there are plenty of schools out there still with money but I was very surprised that so many schools would be done by now.

I didn't mean to say all schools but even some lower D1 schools are out of Money. I am sure there are plenty of schools out there still with money but I was very surprised that so many schools would be done by now.

Could you please explain this?

I didn't mean to say all schools but even some lower D1 schools are out of Money. I am sure there are plenty of schools out there still with money but I was very surprised that so many schools would be done by now.

Could you please explain this?

My daughter is in the 2008 graduating class and was recruited by many schools (not NC type but good academic and some good D1 schools). In talking to these schools many would say they don't have any more money for the 2008 class, so they couldn't give her money this year unless someone backed out and money freed up. Other schools would offer her money but would want a commitment fairly quickly or they would not hold that offer for her. These Schools were Big East to Colonial Leagues and others.
My daughter did talk to many schools trying to find the correct fit with Academics and everything that goes with picking a college as an Athlete.
Most of these Colleges always leave some money available to up current players scholarships that do well. These colleges also can cut or not renew a scholarship if the person does not develop. It is my understanding that this happens more often than most of us want to believe and these scholarships are only a 1 year commitment.

I didn't mean to say all schools but even some lower D1 schools are out of Money. I am sure there are plenty of schools out there still with money but I was very surprised that so many schools would be done by now.

Could you please explain this?

If one of the girls were interested in a School, many times our coach would talk to the college coach and ask if they planned to give soccer money. The answer would come back as YES or no but we would like her to walk on but many times the answer was "we are out of money but if some frees up then we would offer her money".

Our coach was very honest with the girls and told them what was said. The Coaches are pretty honest with this also because they want to know where they stand.

Our Coach would also ask if the Schools Soccer program was fully funded. He said that information was important for later years. Although the NCAA allows D1 girls to have 14 Scholarships, some schools don't fund the full amount.