A D1 athlete’s perspective on recruiting

[Unregistered]

early recruiting is not confined to phenoms. It has stared to become about cost certainty as opposed to just talented kids who will get offers from many places.My kid had offers in 8th grade even though we made it very clear that we were not allowing her to even consider them.

For teh kids that are really coveted, there is no FOMO, its more a fear of other not perceiving them as elte unless they commit early

if you have been through it, you realize that when you commit very early( freshman or before) you are really just giving up opportunity for nothing. There is no obligation. you may as well continue to look around. There is nothing in writing and things do change over time.

Not really true. My daughter committed roughly 6 months earlier than we had planned and that happened because we basically got offers from the top 3 schools she was interested in and those coaches set a time frame for acceptance that we had to respond to. I found that managing the offer timeline was the trickiest part of the whole process and it involved a lot more give and take than often gets portrayed here. You have to know that once you ask for an offer the clock starts ticking because coaches want an answer. Coaches do look upon a non answer as an actual answer and will move on if they don't think that your player is serious about their offer. We worked things so the offers we were actually looking for all dropped relative to each other. That way my daughter wasn't pressured into taking an offer out of fear that one of the other's wouldn't materialize. Once they were in we had to react or the offers definitely would have be rescinded.

[Unregistered]

Not really true. My daughter committed roughly 6 months earlier than we had planned and that happened because we basically got offers from the top 3 schools she was interested in and those coaches set a time frame for acceptance that we had to respond to. I found that managing the offer timeline was the trickiest part of the whole process and it involved a lot more give and take than often gets portrayed here. You have to know that once you ask for an offer the clock starts ticking because coaches want an answer. Coaches do look upon a non answer as an actual answer and will move on if they don't think that your player is serious about their offer. We worked things so the offers we were actually looking for all dropped relative to each other. That way my daughter wasn't pressured into taking an offer out of fear that one of the other's wouldn't materialize. Once they were in we had to react or the offers definitely would have be rescinded.

This is useful advice. Can't be easy to align the timing of offers from her first choice schools, but it is a good thing to shoot for. Any dos/don'ts on communicating with coaches on timing of an offer?

[Unregistered]

Very helpful. I’ve read on here coaches should tell their players what schools or types of schools they should look into. At 9th and 10th grade how do you even begin search schools? I find my kid only talks about certain schools her teammates are talking about. My daughter also talks the West coast. Outside the big conference schools how are parents helping their kids navigate school choices outside this area?

[Unregistered]

Very helpful. I’ve read on here coaches should tell their players what schools or types of schools they should look into. At 9th and 10th grade how do you even begin search schools? I find my kid only talks about certain schools her teammates are talking about. My daughter also talks the West coast. Outside the big conference schools how are parents helping their kids navigate school choices outside this area?

You have to actually start the process now in the 7th grade by taking every opportunity to visit college campuses so that they can start to visualize what the heck you are talking about. The younger you start the more time you have and the less pressure creeps into the situation. You have to be subtle about it all though. They are very young. Start with visits to your own college(s). Talk about what it was like to live on campus. Talk about favorite classes. Talk about all the funny things you remember about college. Take them to “the big game.” They’ll soak it up and that way when you start your initial discussions about possible target schools they’ll have some initial idea of what they might want. Then you use visits to narrow that all down.

[Unregistered]

This is useful advice. Can't be easy to align the timing of offers from her first choice schools, but it is a good thing to shoot for. Any dos/don'ts on communicating with coaches on timing of an offer?

It all depends upon how you approach it. I personally think that if you go out on a fishing expedition you usually wind up catching things you end up not being sure you want and the offers come in on their coaches time frame, not yours. We approached it like a fact finding mission and we only dealt with schools that were on her target list. When a school that wasn’t on that list expressed interest we had a quick pro-con discussion whether or not to put them on it. All that meant was we would research them. We also had a rule. If we added a school it went in at #10 and we had to drop one as well. The timing of things really comes down to organization and discipline. We had our list. It was ranked and that gave us our road map. We started with phone calls and drop in type visits to watch games or attend their clinics. The goal was to build information and comfort level. We constantly refined and reordered the list. We didn’t even start doing “unofficial” visits until we were certain we were interested in an offer. We only went on 3 and we arranged them all the same month because we expected offers to come at those visits. When they came they all had a time frame for acceptance but because we had all the offers we were interested in in front of us it just became a matter of making the decision.

[Unregistered]

You have to actually start the process now in the 7th grade by taking every opportunity to visit college campuses so that they can start to visualize what the heck you are talking about. The younger you start the more time you have and the less pressure creeps into the situation. You have to be subtle about it all though. They are very young. Start with visits to your own college(s). Talk about what it was like to live on campus. Talk about favorite classes. Talk about all the funny things you remember about college. Take them to “the big game.” They’ll soak it up and that way when you start your initial discussions about possible target schools they’ll have some initial idea of what they might want. Then you use visits to narrow that all down.

May work for you. Dont think I agree with the general sentiment though

[Unregistered]

Not really true. My daughter committed roughly 6 months earlier than we had planned and that happened because we basically got offers from the top 3 schools she was interested in and those coaches set a time frame for acceptance that we had to respond to. I found that managing the offer timeline was the trickiest part of the whole process and it involved a lot more give and take than often gets portrayed here. You have to know that once you ask for an offer the clock starts ticking because coaches want an answer. Coaches do look upon a non answer as an actual answer and will move on if they don't think that your player is serious about their offer. We worked things so the offers we were actually looking for all dropped relative to each other. That way my daughter wasn't pressured into taking an offer out of fear that one of the other's wouldn't materialize. Once they were in we had to react or the offers definitely would have be rescinded.

What part is no really true ?

[Unregistered]

Very helpful. I’ve read on here coaches should tell their players what schools or types of schools they should look into. At 9th and 10th grade how do you even begin search schools? I find my kid only talks about certain schools her teammates are talking about. My daughter also talks the West coast. Outside the big conference schools how are parents helping their kids navigate school choices outside this area?

I wouldn't say you have to start in 7th grade unless she's a super stud. But first step is talk to her club coach or DOC about what is the appropriate level she should be looking for. Targeting the right level is key to success. With that info then she can start to compile a list of schools that are a good academic fit (again, targeting). She also should look at rosters of the current teams to see where those players come from - are they top nationally recognized players? Because if your player isn't it is going to very difficult to garner much interest.

As far as West Coast? That's tough. Many are top programs, so again if she isn't.....CA is a huge state with an abundance of great players. Then there's the logistics of trying to get in front of them. National showcases (if she's ECNL or GDA) are your best bet. But she will probably have to go out there and do ID events on campuses. It's a costly venture. Been there with a son who was primarily looking at schools not within driving distance. Luckily my D is looking close to home.

[Unregistered]

This is useful advice. Can't be easy to align the timing of offers from her first choice schools, but it is a good thing to shoot for. Any dos/don'ts on communicating with coaches on timing of an offer?

The timing is very difficult. You almost need to go full on assault with everyone almost at once (which is tough to do sometimes). Even then just because you met with coaches or have done ID events doesn't mean an offer comes quickly. many will ask you what else you're looking at. Personally I think it's best to be honest. Coaches will usually give you a few weeks to decide, and if you ask they might give you a few more. But they need to know because if you're not accepting they want to move to the next player on the list. That's where the timing is most difficult if you don't have everything lined up together.

[Unregistered]

I wouldn't say you have to start in 7th grade unless she's a super stud. But first step is talk to her club coach or DOC about what is the appropriate level she should be looking for. Targeting the right level is key to success. With that info then she can start to compile a list of schools that are a good academic fit (again, targeting). She also should look at rosters of the current teams to see where those players come from - are they top nationally recognized players? Because if your player isn't it is going to very difficult to garner much interest.

As far as West Coast? That's tough. Many are top programs, so again if she isn't.....CA is a huge state with an abundance of great players. Then there's the logistics of trying to get in front of them. National showcases (if she's ECNL or GDA) are your best bet. But she will probably have to go out there and do ID events on campuses. It's a costly venture. Been there with a son who was primarily looking at schools not within driving distance. Luckily my D is looking close to home.

We took a slightly different approach. As a rising 8th grader we used regional/national trips to tour campuses. During the trips she'd get to look at schools to see what she liked and didn't like. When we got an idea of what she was interested in, what her college priorities were, we began to discuss if/how soccer fit into it. We came with a list of schools that she was interested in (regardless of division) then worked with DoC and coaches to get advice on her chances. She was going to apply to the schools regardless, it was merely to see whether she should pursue varsity soccer or not.

It's an approach, but seems rare based on the posts I've seen.

[Unregistered]

We took a slightly different approach. As a rising 8th grader we used regional/national trips to tour campuses. During the trips she'd get to look at schools to see what she liked and didn't like. When we got an idea of what she was interested in, what her college priorities were, we began to discuss if/how soccer fit into it. We came with a list of schools that she was interested in (regardless of division) then worked with DoC and coaches to get advice on her chances. She was going to apply to the schools regardless, it was merely to see whether she should pursue varsity soccer or not.

It's an approach, but seems rare based on the posts I've seen.

OP here and we did similar in that we used opportunities to tour schools on other trips or even locally (school days off) first just to get a sense of campus size, likes and dislikes etc. You don't necessarily have to do one before the other, but a lot of players aim to high on the soccer part. Then they don't get anywhere with the soccer (why doesn't he call me?) and are left scrambling to find other options. Targeting the right schools for soccer and academics is key

[Unregistered]

The timing is very difficult. You almost need to go full on assault with everyone almost at once (which is tough to do sometimes). Even then just because you met with coaches or have done ID events doesn't mean an offer comes quickly. many will ask you what else you're looking at. Personally I think it's best to be honest. Coaches will usually give you a few weeks to decide, and if you ask they might give you a few more. But they need to know because if you're not accepting they want to move to the next player on the list. That's where the timing is most difficult if you don't have everything lined up together.

surely the approach is linked to the ability of the player. The point I was trying to make in the OP is that this mentality

I wouldn't say you have to start in 7th grade unless she's a super stud

is wrong. A super stud is in control of the process. she is coveted by everyone. Thats why i find the perception that the earlier you commit, the better you are as a player so false.

My comment seems to have led to a bunch of this is how we did it replies, but none seem to want to actually touch on the key issue. what type of player are you talking about.

[Unregistered]

surely the approach is linked to the ability of the player. The point I was trying to make in the OP is that this mentality

I wouldn't say you have to start in 7th grade unless she's a super stud

is wrong. A super stud is in control of the process. she is coveted by everyone. Thats why i find the perception that the earlier you commit, the better you are as a player so false.

My comment seems to have led to a bunch of this is how we did it replies, but none seem to want to actually touch on the key issue. what type of player are you talking about.

Great, well there are 1-3 "superstuds" from this area per class, at most. Sorry to rain on your parade.

[Unregistered]

surely the approach is linked to the ability of the player. The point I was trying to make in the OP is that this mentality

I wouldn't say you have to start in 7th grade unless she's a super stud

is wrong. A super stud is in control of the process. she is coveted by everyone. Thats why i find the perception that the earlier you commit, the better you are as a player so false.

My comment seems to have led to a bunch of this is how we did it replies, but none seem to want to actually touch on the key issue. what type of player are you talking about.

The vast majority are not super studs, so the comments about starting a little later are completely appropriate.

[Unregistered]

The vast majority are not super studs, so the comments about starting a little later are completely appropriate.

in my opinion, the timing is dictated by the childs mental readiness to handle it. In spite of what is written here parents seem to be the ones who want to start as early as possible. I dont really understand why.