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    Getting recruited from non-ECNL Team

    (Everything still applies for ECNL players with appropriate modifications)

    Now that players have, for the most part, decided to play or not play for one of the four ECNL clubs, I thought that I would pontificate on a plan to get recruited. Being on a good team or playing at the right events isn't enough.

    Maybe if you are the one in a generation player who has it all;
    Size, strength, pure speed, technical speed and tactical speed;
    You can just show up and you will be recruited.

    For everyone else, the key to getting recruited is to get seen while playing well, against good competition by the right college coaching staff.

    Not a real complex objective:
    • Get seen.
    • Play well.
    • Play good competition.
    • Identify the right college staff.

    I suggest that you start with the last point first – identify the right college staff. Not every player is a good fit with UNC, Stanford, ND, etc. You must have an honest discussion with your coaches, identify your strengths and weaknesses and determine which level of collegiate play is most suited for your game.

    Should you be looking at top 20 D1 teams, mid-level major conference teams? Are teams in the Ivy League or Patriot League a better fit? Would a top level D2 be a good fit or should you be looking for a less competitive situation. Be realistic about who you are and where you could be a productive player.

    Once you have identified the level of play that would best fit your game, start evaluating the schools that play at that level for things other than soccer: location, environment, costs, available majors, best fit for your academic level and post-graduate ambitions
    .
    From the soccer evaluation and the non-soccer evaluation identify a number of colleges (10-15) that are the best fit for YOU.

    With this list, look into their soccer programs. Who are the coaches, how long have they been there? What does the current roster look like, are they thin at your position? Make an effort to go watch these teams play. How do they play the game? Does their style of play fit with your skills?

    With this information, start a letter writing campaign with the head coach and lead recruiter. Let them know why you like their school, their program and the league that they play in. Show them that you have invested some time into learning about their program and that you are not just sending out mass mailings to random schools.
    Let them know about your soccer accomplishments and why you think that you would be a good fit with their program.

    Have your coach get in touch with the college coaches. Your coach should tell them about your team and why he (she) thinks that you would be a good prospect for them to evaluate. Have your coach find out where they are spending their recruiting dollars, which tournament they will be attending and would the college coach make an effort to evaluate you if your team was in attendance, or if not the team, if you were to guest play at those tournaments.

    Now you call the coach. (Remember that you can call them anytime, but there are restrictions on when they can call you, so keep calling until you talk directly to them.) When you get them on the phone reference the letters that you have sent them, your coaches call to them. Be prepared to let them know your level of interest, your soccer accomplishments and where your team will be playing.

    Given the emergence of ECNL, be prepared to offer a non-defensive explanation of why you are not playing on an ECNL team (costs, travel time, great training with current team, or even an honest, “our local ECNL team is really good and I felt that playing on my current team would get me more game experience – it was a tough decision, but I think that it has worked out for me”. Be mature and don’t bad mouth any other team. Make sure to ask directly if the coach will be willing to evaluate your play. Thank them for their time and consideration.

    With a commitment from the college coach to watch you play at an agreed upon event, have your coach confirm with the college coach your game schedule and inquire as to when the college coach will be there so that the coach can be sure that you are on the field and fresh when the college coach is there.

    Now play well! You don’t need to be concerned about the level of the competition, because if the college coach is at that particular event they are already aware of the level of competition and it must be acceptable or they would not have spent their recruiting budget to attend.

    And don’t worry about the game score or if your team won or lost. The coach was watching you and probably doesn’t really care who won or lost, but were evaluating your play based on the game situation. Where you protecting a lead? Did your team need to gain possession and get a score? They will be more concerned about your execution and your knowledge of the game situation, than they were influenced by whether your team won or lost.

    Now contact the college coach after the event and see what he thought of your play. Does the coach think that you would be a good fit with their program?
    Additionally, find out which soccer camps the coach will be participating in over the summer. (Many coaches will “guest coach” at another schools camp). Ask the coach if attending the camp would give him a better opportunity to evaluate you and which camp would he recommend.

    Finally, if the coach is interested don’t stop communicating with them! This is the time to ramp up your letters, keep them informed of your soccer progress, your academic progress and your continued interest in their program. Do not stop until you have signed the Letter of Intent with the school. A coach’s interest in your sophomore or junior year isn’t a done deal. Stay in touch!

    Getting recruited is a process. It is not just showing up with a good team at a high level event and expecting to be found. It is making yourself known to the right coaching staff prior to the event.

    #2
    Sound advice. Thumbs up!

    Rules don't change regardless of what club or league you play. The player must sell his/her self.

    Comment


      #3
      You're fantastic. thank you.

      Comment


        #4
        WOW!!

        Well stated!!

        Comment


          #5
          When you get to the point of asking the coach if you would be a good fit for their program, how direct are they usually? From your experience will they just string you along? What kind of feedback do players usually receive?

          Comment


            #6
            Do they string along?

            Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
            When you get to the point of asking the coach if you would be a good fit for their program, how direct are they usually? From your experience will they just string you along? What kind of feedback do players usually receive?
            It depends on the age of the player, the level of the college program and the classiness (is that a word?) of the coach.

            The really top programs are pretty straight forward: "We generally recruit players from the National Teams or players who are in the national pools. Thank you for your interest, but no."

            Closer to signing age (junior/senior) coaches are pretty straight forward. Especially with those who are not a fit, they don't want to waste their time and will usually tell the player that there doesn't appear to be a fit. Keep in mind that they might have 10 - 15 players that they are interested in and only have room for 6 or 7. If you are one of the 15, but not the top 6 or 7, they will keep you in play until they hear from their top picks. After that they may offer a walk on spot or a recruited player but no money.

            With the younger kids, the coaches will be more inclined to keep in touch with players to see how they develop and not burn any bridges. This is especially true for the programs that are not really at the top level. They have a harder time recruiting, so they will stay with potential players longer.

            Finally, the classiness of the coach. Most college coaches that I have experience with are pretty straight forward and nice people. If there are players who just plain are not the quality of player that they are interested in, they do not string the player along. They tell them up front that they don't think that they would be a good fit. It's the players who are borderline that these coaches struggle with, not their first choice, but they could contribute. They don't want to cut the ties and not get their top choices.

            If you are one of the top picks for that school, the coaches generally tell you that straight up. Along the way they will question you about other schools that you are looking at and where you are in the process. When coaches are allowed to communicate with the players, they will definitely be communicating with their top choices on a regular basis (and the players should also communicate to the coaches regularly).

            I'm not sure if that is stringing them along or not.

            Hope this helps.

            Comment


              #7
              [QUOTE=Observer from West Coast;1554864]It depends on the age of the player, the level of the college program and the classiness (is that a word?) of the coach.

              The really top programs are pretty straight forward: "We generally recruit players from the National Teams or players who are in the national pools. Thank you for your interest, but no."

              Closer to signing age (junior/senior) coaches are pretty straight forward. Especially with those who are not a fit, they don't want to waste their time and will usually tell the player that there doesn't appear to be a fit. Keep in mind that they might have 10 - 15 players that they are interested in and only have room for 6 or 7. If you are one of the 15, but not the top 6 or 7, they will keep you in play until they hear from their top picks. After that they may offer a walk on spot or a recruited player but no money.

              With the younger kids, the coaches will be more inclined to keep in touch with players to see how they develop and not burn any bridges. This is especially true for the programs that are not really at the top level. They have a harder time recruiting, so they will stay with potential players longer.

              Finally, the classiness of the coach. Most college coaches that I have experience with are pretty straight forward and nice people. If there are players who just plain are not the quality of player that they are interested in, they do not string the player along. They tell them up front that they don't think that they would be a good fit. It's the players who are borderline that these coaches struggle with, not their first choice, but they could contribute. They don't want to cut the ties and not get their top choices.

              If you are one of the top picks for that school, the coaches generally tell you that straight up. Along the way they will question you about other schools that you are looking at and where you are in the process. When coaches are allowed to communicate with the players, they will definitely be communicating with their top choices on a regular basis (and the players should also communicate to the coaches regularly).

              I'm not sure if that is stringing them along or not.

              Hope this helps.[/QUOTE

              Absolutely. I think another thing to add is that it really does not matter what club you are in. It is about the work you are willing to put in. If everybody on your team writes letters to coaches telling them your schedule at events and their interest in this or that school, coaches will come watch.

              The higher the team is ranked the more likely you will have a good turn out if the parents and the player make the effort to be recruited. The player can email and coach and then when they get a response they can call and talk to the coach. At any AGE!!! The coach can not talk to you, but the PLAYER (not Parent) can call the coach to discuss the school, ID camps, and or playing at that school at any time.

              It takes work but if you put the work in, you will be recruited.

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                Sound advice. Thumbs up!

                Rules don't change regardless of what club or league you play. The player must sell his/her self.


                absolutely, it is all about the Player and Parents writing letters, keeping coaches in the loop of upcoming tournaments and the player even calling Coaches.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                  Sound advice. Thumbs up!

                  Rules don't change regardless of what club or league you play. The player must sell his/her self.
                  Be on the best and highest ranked team you can be on, and write tons of letters stating interest and schedule and the coach's will come. Just like the rest of us, they do look at rankings.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Great post!!!! Thank you!!!

                    If my kid really wants to play for a school and just wants a spot (scholarship would be nice but would play for nothing) when do we flat out tell the coach we just want a spot?

                    Comment


                      #11
                      It starts with the emails

                      Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                      absolutely, it is all about the Player and Parents writing letters, keeping coaches in the loop of upcoming tournaments and the player even calling Coaches.
                      Keep in mind college coaches get a whole lot of emails. Be persistent. You can call, but they can't call you back until the beginning of your junior year. They can text now where they couldn't before. Your club coach is the gatekeeper before junior year, so keep him/her in the loop.

                      Division 2 allows contact a bit earlier and Division 3 doesn't have contact restrictions since they can't offer athletic money.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        I wouldn't say it from the start

                        Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                        Great post!!!! Thank you!!!

                        If my kid really wants to play for a school and just wants a spot (scholarship would be nice but would play for nothing) when do we flat out tell the coach we just want a spot?
                        Maybe after they tell you they like her but they have no money left or they are saving the money for another position or player. In that case remain persistent. I have seen players get offers for books or as a preferred walk on because they knew they wanted a particular school and wanted to play soccer there. Their offers took some time to come around, but their persistence paid off. I'm not sure how much they got to play once they got where they were going. I did hear that a player from a team in this year's Elite 8 started as a preferred walk on but made her way to a starting position.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Originally posted by Observer from West Coast View Post


                          Have your coach get in touch with the college coaches. Your coach should tell them about your team and why he (she) thinks that you would be a good prospect for them to evaluate. Have your coach find out where they are spending their recruiting dollars, which tournament they will be attending and would the college coach make an effort to evaluate you if your team was in attendance, or if not the team, if you were to guest play at those tournaments.
                          This is great advice but, unfortunately, many club coaches will not contact college coaches on behalf of their players. Those kids that are fortunate have coaches that will help their players in any way possible.

                          Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                          absolutely, it is all about the Player and Parents writing letters, keeping coaches in the loop of upcoming tournaments and the player even calling Coaches.
                          Good advice but know that coaches don't want parents writing letter and they don't want to hear from parents. They want the kids writing the letters and they want to hear from the kids. Some coaches will cross kids off of their list that are having parents do the work. If a parent is writing a letter, it better be written as if it is coming from the kid.

                          All of this is great advice but where do ID camps fit into the picture? Many schools have ID camps merely to serve as money makers but many also have them in hopes of identifying talent. My youngest, a 16, is interested in a school that, unfortunately, has not been able to attend her events and games. She likes the location of the school, the atmosphere of the school, the academics, etc. we toured the school and met with the coach. She is now registered to attend an ID camp. It was a 2 day camp with the option to attend one or both days. She is attending both days but I have reservations about that. Attending both days can be good or bad. If a player does great on the first day and then slips a bit in the second day a coach could cross them off from consideration. Conversely, the kid does only ok on the first day but then shines on the second they might be considered. It seems a bit risky. Are ID camps even worth attending?

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Always a risk

                            ID camps can be good if you approach it properly. Just showing up and hoping to be noticed isn't the best approach. Do a mini-campaign: Drop the coach a letter, call the coach and ask if the coach will be able to evaluate you at the ID camp. Would it be possible at the conclusion of the camp for the college coach to give you an assessment of how you did in comparison to other players they are recruiting? Have your club coach get in touch with the college coach and promote you.

                            (To the poster who said that the club coaches don't contact college coaches on behalf of the players - either get a new club coach or ask directly if the club coach doesn't think you are college talent. The club coach may only contact college coaches for players that they feel are truly a good fit for the school and is protecting their reputation by not promoting marginal players).

                            Comment


                              #15
                              This is really good advice from the poster above. Our son (pre junior ) had been through this going to camp stuff and has had some success with it. What we've seen:

                              Absolutely your son or daughter should write the coach before camp. At the bigger camps there are tons of kids , so it is harder for coaches to spend equal time looking at everyone. They will generally keep there eyes open to se anyone who dominates, but they are looking closer at kids they know of and may be interested in ( ie either have a super reputation and heard of them or else the kid wrote witj a letter that caught the coaches eye)

                              It will be easier If you're prescreened ie acadmey team odp team ecnl or recommended by a coach to get a longer look but if you are good enough many coaches don't care where you come from.

                              Your kid will get a sense if they are on the radar after camp. If they are pre junior year coaches are limited in communication to you but they still give hints. Some won't answer an email at all. Others send "form" camp invites Others if interested will give the kid a detailed camp evaluation if asked for ( are allowed to) - for our kid it ranged from don't see you here at this point in time , to other coaches saying you were way ahead for your year what's your game schedule etc- and the camp invited will be personal notes " I'm not allowed to send you recruotmg material but please feel free to call me anytime here's my cell number " - very clear hints both ways. Of course after junior year the contact can be way more direct.

                              If you are worried about going to a multi day camp cause the kid might not perform well to be honest it might not be the best fit for him or her yet- he she has to standout to have a realistic chance , or else at least blend in and improve later if still younger.

                              That said it's ok to make mistakes at camp. The top coaches know a good touch and intelligence they do this for a living , a few mistakes will have little impact on opinion with a player that has this.

                              Hope this helps. So camps are very worthwhile if the kid starts a relationship first and plays at a good enough level for the school ( and grades etc count in a big way too).

                              To be honest many who say camps are worthless didn't get the eye of the coach beforehand or aren't at the right level yet of the coaches roster they are looking for. Our experience is the coaches really so tell you where you stand ( yes or no) as clearly as they can under the rules.

                              Good luck. !

                              Comment

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