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2014 Verbal Commitments for Girls & Boys

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    #16
    Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
    Verbals seem to be one of those areas that are very misunderstood by players and parents, (and 99.9% of club coaches & DOCs plus high school coaches & counselors)
    My comments below are specifically addressed to college women's soccer but are applicable to men's with the adjustment of time - men's soccer is 6-12 months or more later in high school.

    1. Verbals are a big deal. Coaches offer them and if agreed to by the player, they will become known and published. Other coaches will honor the verbal commitment and not actively recruit those players. Unlike football and basketball, soccer coaches, 99%, will not contact players after the verbal, but will respond if contacted by the player.
    2. The best list, which appears extremely accurate, regardless of what a player or parent or coach will tell you, is here: https://sites.google.com/site/soccerrecruits. Click on at the top on the words "Click here to view ..." and you will get all the info. There will be more players, parents, coaches, etc. that tell you that a certain player has "verballed" when they have not. This becomes apparent later when they don't sign an NLI or go to that college. It is a fairy tale that is told just like many other youth soccer fairy tales. There can be a delay in publishing here, but not more than a few days or a couple of weeks. My DD verballed one afternoon, was congratulated that night by her coach and players that at practice, before she said anything to anybody, and it was up on the website the next morning. Neither she nor I did anything. Sometimes a thoughtful player or college coach will not say anything until all the details are worked out. My DD's offers were complete with no details to be worked out.
    3. My DD had several offers to verbal, all of them needed basic financial info, like the that required on a FAFSA, and then took up to 2 weeks for financial aid and compliance to make the offer, which were in writing, as to how much academic and athletic aid they were going to offer.
    4. The website I referenced lists not only the most current verbals, but also verbals by year, college, club plus news releases of individual college teams by conference and a look at last year's starting roster towards the end of the season and who is coming back and who are not. The website is required reading for anyone planning to play in college.
    5. All should be aware that a player only signs an NLI, (National Letter of Intent), a NCAA document, if you receive financial aid. It is signed on or after the first Wednesday in February until August 1. It binds player and college for one year.
    6. Good programs often know that they must offer early to get the best players. My DD got a verbal offer along with financial aid info in January of her sophomore year. This was very tempting as it was from a very good coach of not a great program, but not a really competitive one. The best programs offered in the Fall of her junior year. I still remember the several parents telling me that they were preparing for the many offers for their DD, and none did arrive. Typical soccer parents. We didn't dare make a whisper about her offers or possibilities. Once known, not through us, several parents of her club team mates contacted the coach looking for offers. Rather embarrassing.
    7. Verbals are not through the NCAA but rather the practice was started, apparently, by a group of SEC coaches. They may be broken by either party. This rarely happens unless something happens. For example, the player does poorly on academics, gets into some sort of trouble, has low SAT scores, etc. Players back out, like some very good recruits at UO a couple of year's ago, when coaches or their assistants, say something stupid to a recruit.
    8. It is kind of a game, but a very, very important one. The most important part of all this, does the DD want to attend this college if they were not playing soccer? If no, don't go.

    Hope this helps.
    Thank you. Very nice list and info.
    I would also add:
    1. Yes, verbals are a big deal. Nonbinding, but the vast, vast majority of schools honor them, although it is quite a bit more iffy if you're a junior or less and there is a coaching change.
    2. Don't get overly paranoid if your child hasn't verballed by the end of junior year. There are LOTS of schools that still will be looking, including quite good ones. However, it's time for a reality check - if Stanford hasn't reached out to you yet, it ain't gonna happen. Also, don't plan on a lot, if any, money from a more prominent D1 school. When all is said and done, you still will see players at very good programs still recruiting players through mid-Senior year (but see - reality check). This also is just mainly D1 top programs - lots of opportunities for other programs.
    3. Not to beat a dead horse, but it can't be emphasized enough: Academics will get you more dollars than soccer, and don't go to a school you wouldn't go to if not for soccer.
    4. Check out http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/searc...nts&genderId=f for other recruit info. It also has lots of players, star rankings, database searches by school, etc. The list above and this list both have pros and cons and definitely don't cover all players. Both lists will give you a pretty good idea of who's going where, and what schools are taking what type of players.

    Good luck!

    Comment


      #17
      Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
      Verbals seem to be one of those areas that are very misunderstood by players and parents, (and 99.9% of club coaches & DOCs plus high school coaches & counselors)
      My comments below are specifically addressed to college women's soccer but are applicable to men's with the adjustment of time - men's soccer is 6-12 months or more later in high school.

      1. Verbals are a big deal. Coaches offer them and if agreed to by the player, they will become known and published. Other coaches will honor the verbal commitment and not actively recruit those players. Unlike football and basketball, soccer coaches, 99%, will not contact players after the verbal, but will respond if contacted by the player.
      2. The best list, which appears extremely accurate, regardless of what a player or parent or coach will tell you, is here: https://sites.google.com/site/soccerrecruits. Click on at the top on the words "Click here to view ..." and you will get all the info. There will be more players, parents, coaches, etc. that tell you that a certain player has "verballed" when they have not. This becomes apparent later when they don't sign an NLI or go to that college. It is a fairy tale that is told just like many other youth soccer fairy tales. There can be a delay in publishing here, but not more than a few days or a couple of weeks. My DD verballed one afternoon, was congratulated that night by her coach and players that at practice, before she said anything to anybody, and it was up on the website the next morning. Neither she nor I did anything. Sometimes a thoughtful player or college coach will not say anything until all the details are worked out. My DD's offers were complete with no details to be worked out.
      3. My DD had several offers to verbal, all of them needed basic financial info, like the that required on a FAFSA, and then took up to 2 weeks for financial aid and compliance to make the offer, which were in writing, as to how much academic and athletic aid they were going to offer.
      4. The website I referenced lists not only the most current verbals, but also verbals by year, college, club plus news releases of individual college teams by conference and a look at last year's starting roster towards the end of the season and who is coming back and who are not. The website is required reading for anyone planning to play in college.
      5. All should be aware that a player only signs an NLI, (National Letter of Intent), a NCAA document, if you receive financial aid. It is signed on or after the first Wednesday in February until August 1. It binds player and college for one year.
      6. Good programs often know that they must offer early to get the best players. My DD got a verbal offer along with financial aid info in January of her sophomore year. This was very tempting as it was from a very good coach of not a great program, but not a really competitive one. The best programs offered in the Fall of her junior year. I still remember the several parents telling me that they were preparing for the many offers for their DD, and none did arrive. Typical soccer parents. We didn't dare make a whisper about her offers or possibilities. Once known, not through us, several parents of her club team mates contacted the coach looking for offers. Rather embarrassing.
      7. Verbals are not through the NCAA but rather the practice was started, apparently, by a group of SEC coaches. They may be broken by either party. This rarely happens unless something happens. For example, the player does poorly on academics, gets into some sort of trouble, has low SAT scores, etc. Players back out, like some very good recruits at UO a couple of year's ago, when coaches or their assistants, say something stupid to a recruit.
      8. It is kind of a game, but a very, very important one. The most important part of all this, does the DD want to attend this college if they were not playing soccer? If no, don't go.

      Hope this helps.
      Very helpful. Thank you. You also can check out http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/searc...nts&genderId=f. Both lists are a bit incomplete but have lots of helpful info.

      Comment


        #18
        Yes... Thanks!

        Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
        Verbals seem to be one of those areas that are very misunderstood by players and parents, (and 99.9% of club coaches & DOCs plus high school coaches & counselors)
        My comments below are specifically addressed to college women's soccer but are applicable to men's with the adjustment of time - men's soccer is 6-12 months or more later in high school.

        1. Verbals are a big deal. Coaches offer them and if agreed to by the player, they will become known and published. Other coaches will honor the verbal commitment and not actively recruit those players. Unlike football and basketball, soccer coaches, 99%, will not contact players after the verbal, but will respond if contacted by the player.
        2. The best list, which appears extremely accurate, regardless of what a player or parent or coach will tell you, is here: https://sites.google.com/site/soccerrecruits. Click on at the top on the words "Click here to view ..." and you will get all the info. There will be more players, parents, coaches, etc. that tell you that a certain player has "verballed" when they have not. This becomes apparent later when they don't sign an NLI or go to that college. It is a fairy tale that is told just like many other youth soccer fairy tales. There can be a delay in publishing here, but not more than a few days or a couple of weeks. My DD verballed one afternoon, was congratulated that night by her coach and players that at practice, before she said anything to anybody, and it was up on the website the next morning. Neither she nor I did anything. Sometimes a thoughtful player or college coach will not say anything until all the details are worked out. My DD's offers were complete with no details to be worked out.
        3. My DD had several offers to verbal, all of them needed basic financial info, like the that required on a FAFSA, and then took up to 2 weeks for financial aid and compliance to make the offer, which were in writing, as to how much academic and athletic aid they were going to offer.
        4. The website I referenced lists not only the most current verbals, but also verbals by year, college, club plus news releases of individual college teams by conference and a look at last year's starting roster towards the end of the season and who is coming back and who are not. The website is required reading for anyone planning to play in college.
        5. All should be aware that a player only signs an NLI, (National Letter of Intent), a NCAA document, if you receive financial aid. It is signed on or after the first Wednesday in February until August 1. It binds player and college for one year.
        6. Good programs often know that they must offer early to get the best players. My DD got a verbal offer along with financial aid info in January of her sophomore year. This was very tempting as it was from a very good coach of not a great program, but not a really competitive one. The best programs offered in the Fall of her junior year. I still remember the several parents telling me that they were preparing for the many offers for their DD, and none did arrive. Typical soccer parents. We didn't dare make a whisper about her offers or possibilities. Once known, not through us, several parents of her club team mates contacted the coach looking for offers. Rather embarrassing.
        7. Verbals are not through the NCAA but rather the practice was started, apparently, by a group of SEC coaches. They may be broken by either party. This rarely happens unless something happens. For example, the player does poorly on academics, gets into some sort of trouble, has low SAT scores, etc. Players back out, like some very good recruits at UO a couple of year's ago, when coaches or their assistants, say something stupid to a recruit.
        8. It is kind of a game, but a very, very important one. The most important part of all this, does the DD want to attend this college if they were not playing soccer? If no, don't go.

        Hope this helps.
        Yes, thank you! Both for the information and your time to relay it.

        Comment


          #19
          Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
          Verbals seem to be one of those areas that are very misunderstood by players and parents, (and 99.9% of club coaches & DOCs plus high school coaches & counselors)
          My comments below are specifically addressed to college women's soccer but are applicable to men's with the adjustment of time - men's soccer is 6-12 months or more later in high school.

          1. Verbals are a big deal. Coaches offer them and if agreed to by the player, they will become known and published. Other coaches will honor the verbal commitment and not actively recruit those players. Unlike football and basketball, soccer coaches, 99%, will not contact players after the verbal, but will respond if contacted by the player.
          2. The best list, which appears extremely accurate, regardless of what a player or parent or coach will tell you, is here: https://sites.google.com/site/soccerrecruits. Click on at the top on the words "Click here to view ..." and you will get all the info. There will be more players, parents, coaches, etc. that tell you that a certain player has "verballed" when they have not. This becomes apparent later when they don't sign an NLI or go to that college. It is a fairy tale that is told just like many other youth soccer fairy tales. There can be a delay in publishing here, but not more than a few days or a couple of weeks. My DD verballed one afternoon, was congratulated that night by her coach and players that at practice, before she said anything to anybody, and it was up on the website the next morning. Neither she nor I did anything. Sometimes a thoughtful player or college coach will not say anything until all the details are worked out. My DD's offers were complete with no details to be worked out.
          Very helpful. Thank you. You should also check TopDrawer Soccer. Lots of details about committments, both verbal and LOI, with info about the players. Both lists are not entirely complete.

          Comment

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