Soccer and Education

[Unregistered]

There are very few kids that could make the men's USF soccer team. The real question is do you have your kid go to a FL state school which will cost you very little or send them to a private school at $40K per year so they can keep playing soccer. (This is more a boys' situation than girls)

This is the exact situation we are in on the girls' side.

[Unregistered]

This is the exact situation we are in on the girls' side.

I am sure it also exists on the girls side to some degree but really magnified on the boys side. There are a lot of big schools that don't even offer men's soccer (UF, FSU, Miami, most of SEC, etc) and then to make matters worse, a good portion of the roster spots on the schools that have men's soccer are taken up by foreigners.

[Unregistered]

I am sure it also exists on the girls side to some degree but really magnified on the boys side. There are a lot of big schools that don't even offer men's soccer (UF, FSU, Miami, most of SEC, etc) and then to make matters worse, a good portion of the roster spots on the schools that have men's soccer are taken up by foreigners.

All your points are correct, but the question is state school on FL prepaid & Bright Futures and not playing soccer vs. playing soccer at a private school costing $40k per year.

Given that all of the schools you mention do have women's teams I agree there are alot more spots for women. But, not all of them are good enough to play at the Upper D1 level. Or like my kid, want to go to a large state university.

[Unregistered]

Have a question to pose regarding our kids playing at the college level:

Say your son or daughter can get into any school in Florida based on their academics. Between Bright Futures, Florida Prepaid and most likely some help from the school based on merit there would be little or no additional out of pocket expenses for a 4/5 year degree.

Your son or daughter is also a decent ECNL/DA or ODP State soccer player but not an ascending National Leaguer with aspirations of going pro or making the US team.

Given the choice of going to a top rated school like UF (ranked 37th nationally) and not play soccer or going to to a school like USF (not ranked nationally or at least not in the top 100) and play soccer; what choice would you want your kid making?

USF is not a bad school and I am not bashing it; feel free to plug in any other example; GT over GA, Auburn over Alabama, Stanford over USC.

Point being, how would YOU guide your kid when they love a game they have been playing since the 4th grade and still have a chance to play competitively a little longer or look toward the long term future professionally. No one wants their kid to have regrets but an Engineering Degree from UF does carry more weight and opens more doors than Engineering degree from one from the other Florida schools; at least for the time being.

Your child should choose the school that they feel best about regardless of soccer based on the entire college experience and academics/majors. For the schools that don't have a soccer program, they have high caliber club teams that act as pseudo college teams. I can't speak for UF, but am familiar with FSU's club team (https://www.facebook.com/MensSoccerC...tateUniversity) It's really competitive and gives an outlet for the soccer while also being able to attend the university of your choice who may or may not have a soccer program. Good luck with your child's decision - there is no right or wrong answer and it'll all work out in the end.

[Unregistered]

^^^^ would like to add that to learn that you should visit a decent number of schools. We try to squeeze some in at tournaments and dragged the younger ones along with the oldest. Even if your kid wouldn't ever go to that school it's good to expose them to different places so they cant start to think about location, size of campus etc. If you feel like you've got a good mix then you'll feel more confident that you found "the one." Don't need to go crazy, but I know a few kids who only looked at two schools which I think is limiting. Yes you can always transfer if you don't like it, plenty of kids do. But you often times lose credits and certainly time in the process. If you're paying it's a great deal of money. Make informed decisions.

[Unregistered]

Your child should choose the school that they feel best about regardless of soccer based on the entire college experience and academics/majors. For the schools that don't have a soccer program, they have high caliber club teams that act as pseudo college teams. I can't speak for UF, but am familiar with FSU's club team (https://www.facebook.com/MensSoccerC...tateUniversity) It's really competitive and gives an outlet for the soccer while also being able to attend the university of your choice who may or may not have a soccer program. Good luck with your child's decision - there is no right or wrong answer and it'll all work out in the end.

There are a lot of good club teams out there - they play other schools (travel) and there's playoffs etc. A nephew up north has done it after getting cut from varsity first year. Team has tons of high level club kids and former V kids like him. He's having a blast doing it, the soccer is good and he has more time to focus on school.

[Unregistered]

Florida players won't always get to decide where they play or if they do get to play IN State.

11 D1 FL colleges
Estimate on average 6 players -66 are recruited
Estimate 1/3 come from other states or are international students
Estimate about 44 players from Florida each year will be recruited to play D1 in state. Some won't have their top choice. Players must cast their nets wider outside Florida especially since not as many D2 and no D3 schools or Ivy in Florida.

[Unregistered]

Florida players won't always get to decide where they play or if they do get to play IN State.

11 D1 FL colleges
Estimate on average 6 players -66 are recruited
Estimate 1/3 come from other states or are international students
Estimate about 44 players from Florida each year will be recruited to play D1 in state. Some won't have their top choice. Players must cast their nets wider outside Florida especially since not as many D2 and no D3 schools or Ivy in Florida.

Mine wasn't wedded to staying into FL and being flexible on location definitely gave her a lot of great options. I couldn't be happier with her choice, and I am glad she'll be living in a new region, experiencing different things etc.

[Unregistered]

Thank you

I would like to thank everyone for their input and ideas. Read a few things we had not thought about. Found out UF has pretty good club team that is competitive and also will look to reevaluate some D3 options not too far from home that have Engineering schools.

I was surprised and disheartened to hear that boys have such a hard time playing in Florida and close to home. I appreciate folks not getting chippy about me asking about my daughter since Title 9 clearly helps girls/women where soccer is concerned but hopefully not at the expense of men's collegiate soccer.

Hopefully this thread continues and helps some other folks. Cheers!

[Unregistered]

All your points are correct, but the question is state school on FL prepaid & Bright Futures and not playing soccer vs. playing soccer at a private school costing $40k per year.

Given that all of the schools you mention do have women's teams I agree there are alot more spots for women. But, not all of them are good enough to play at the Upper D1 level. Or like my kid, want to go to a large state university.

I guess it depends on whether you can afford it or not. If you can't it is an easy decision. If can afford, you still have to decide if worthwhile. On the positive side, many of the private schools offer academic scholarships. This brings the cost down, but still double or triple what you would pay at a state school.

[Unregistered]

I've been poking around other state boards to see what's going on with GDA elsewhere and came across this from CT. I've had one child go through an intense process already so much of this rang true with. I know it will be different this round with an athlete but in the end is really is about where's the best place for them to learn and thrive

https://newrepublic.com/article/1187...kids-elsewhere

[Unregistered]

I would like to thank everyone for their input and ideas. Read a few things we had not thought about. Found out UF has pretty good club team that is competitive and also will look to reevaluate some D3 options not too far from home that have Engineering schools.

My son was requited by Berry College in GA. They are a D3 school which has a pre-engineering program. You do three years at Berry and the last two at Georgia Tech. We considered it but my son ended up playing at D2 school here in FL which had a similar program.

[Unregistered]

Florida players won't always get to decide where they play or if they do get to play IN State.

11 D1 FL colleges
Estimate on average 6 players -66 are recruited
Estimate 1/3 come from other states or are international students
Estimate about 44 players from Florida each year will be recruited to play D1 in state. Some won't have their top choice. Players must cast their nets wider outside Florida especially since not as many D2 and no D3 schools or Ivy in Florida.

I developed these stats and wrote this post in 2014. Your numbers are probably a bit too positive:

The prospects for playing in-state NCAA Division I soccer are poor for FLA girls. 247 women play for the 11 NCAA Division I women’s soccer teams (Jax, FGCU, FIU, Stetson, UNF, FAU, USF, FSU, UF, Miami, and UCF) in Florida. 5 recruiting classes (including redshirts), make up most college rosters, which means an average recruiting class 4.5 girls per school. NCAA DI Florida school rosters include 131 Florida girls, which is about 53% of the total D1soccer players. Therefore, each of the 11 DI Florida teams recruit about 2.4 Florida girls per year.

For the major conference (ACC, SEC, and American Athletic) teams (FSU, UF, UCF, USF, and Miami) the numbers get worse for Florida girls. There are 130 girls on major conference team rosters. Of those 130 there are 49 FLA girls, about 37% of the players. Florida major conference schools recruit an average of less than 10 girls per year or 2 Florida girls per year per team.

Better get working because the odds are slim...even for girls.

[Unregistered]

I developed these stats and wrote this post in 2014. Your numbers are probably a bit too positive:

The prospects for playing in-state NCAA Division I soccer are poor for FLA girls. 247 women play for the 11 NCAA Division I women’s soccer teams (Jax, FGCU, FIU, Stetson, UNF, FAU, USF, FSU, UF, Miami, and UCF) in Florida. 5 recruiting classes (including redshirts), make up most college rosters, which means an average recruiting class 4.5 girls per school. NCAA DI Florida school rosters include 131 Florida girls, which is about 53% of the total D1soccer players. Therefore, each of the 11 DI Florida teams recruit about 2.4 Florida girls per year.

For the major conference (ACC, SEC, and American Athletic) teams (FSU, UF, UCF, USF, and Miami) the numbers get worse for Florida girls. There are 130 girls on major conference team rosters. Of those 130 there are 49 FLA girls, about 37% of the players. Florida major conference schools recruit an average of less than 10 girls per year or 2 Florida girls per year per team.

Better get working because the odds are slim...even for girls.

The odds are low not matter how you slice it - less that 2% of all HS boys and 3% of all HS girls will play at the D1 level. Granted in certain leagues those numbers are much much higher - those are just overall numbers. But, add in the lower number of schools in FL and the size of the schools, resources, etc then the odds of playing in state are extremely low.

http://scholarshipstats.com/soccer.html

[Unregistered]

I developed these stats and wrote this post in 2014. Your numbers are probably a bit too positive:

The prospects for playing in-state NCAA Division I soccer are poor for FLA girls. 247 women play for the 11 NCAA Division I women’s soccer teams (Jax, FGCU, FIU, Stetson, UNF, FAU, USF, FSU, UF, Miami, and UCF) in Florida. 5 recruiting classes (including redshirts), make up most college rosters, which means an average recruiting class 4.5 girls per school. NCAA DI Florida school rosters include 131 Florida girls, which is about 53% of the total D1soccer players. Therefore, each of the 11 DI Florida teams recruit about 2.4 Florida girls per year.

For the major conference (ACC, SEC, and American Athletic) teams (FSU, UF, UCF, USF, and Miami) the numbers get worse for Florida girls. There are 130 girls on major conference team rosters. Of those 130 there are 49 FLA girls, about 37% of the players. Florida major conference schools recruit an average of less than 10 girls per year or 2 Florida girls per year per team.

Better get working because the odds are slim...even for girls.

Interesting but your post was 2014. Don't you think it is more like four recruiting classes (with a handful of red shirts) on rosters and Florida colleges are trying to recruit more Florida players these days as now Florida clubs are playing in higher leagues.