College Recruting

You can be a recruited walk-on.

 

Your player can contact a college coach any time they want on the phone and have that discussion.
Coaches will not reply to your email at his age, other than with camp information.
They will also not be able to talk with him at the tournament. Only on their campus with an unofficial visit.

I would suggest you go to the NCAA Eligibility Web site and print the Guide for College Bound Student Athletes. Its about 30 pages and spells out all the recruiting rules.

 

www.ncaaclearinghouse.com (There's a re-direct)
Click on Prospective Student-Athletes. Then, on the left "Information and Resources for Prospective Student-Athletes"

Once you are in the resource center, choose "Click here to view guide" under 2008-09 Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete. It's a 24 page document. Recruiting Regs start on about page 20.

From my understanding, as a sophomore, the only way he can have direct contact with your son is on campus in an "unofficial" visit. *Unofficial* as defined in the document:

Unofficial visit. Any visit by you and your parents to a college
campus paid for by you or your parents. The only expense you
may receive from the college is three complimentary admissions to
a home athletics contest. You may make as many unofficial visits
as you like and may take those visits at any time. The only time you
cannot talk with a coach during an unofficial visit is during a dead
period.

 

Can't you use the Academy coaches to "carry your flag" and determine interest or sell your player?

 

To answer your last question, yes the Academy coaches can speak to college coaches about your ?son (assumption). Our club is very proactive in that way and does have connections/rapport with many college coaches. The schools may/may not email your son back, but it would certainly be in his best interest to create a letter of introduction, not only outlining why he wants to play soccer at a certain school, but why he wants to attend that school academically. He should include in that letter either a link to an online profile, or he can include his resume. He should also include his schedule for the upcoming season, with links to any tournaments, etc. as well as reference names, phone numbers, and emails (remember to ask the references first). Your son should then follow up by emailing the specific coaches (head coach and CC to assistant/s) a few weeks before tournies/showcases to remind them he would like to watch him (make sure he gives his jersey number). They may email back even if he is young....I guess theoretically they are not supposed to, but as a freshman my son did receive return emails saying that they could not really email further, but thank you and please keep in touch; we can speak with you in your junior year. Your son can call the coaches at any time....they cannot call back, but if they are available when he calls them, they can speak with him. He can also visit the schools at any time and speak with the coaches there on the campus. The NCAA Recruiting Guide is very important...you should download it from the NCAA site. I think it's just NCAA.org and there are numerous links...you want the "Eligibility Center"....used to be known as "Clearinghouse".

To comment on your initial post; I don't believe most DI's even have tryouts. Being recruited does not necessarily mean getting money as most schools don't have enough money to fund the entire team anyway. DI soccer is allowed to have 9.9 scholarships. They can split the scholarships up among several players and it is my understanding that many do. However, they also have "recruited walk-ons", meaning that your son is recruited and they want him on the team, just no scholarship money.

If your son does ride the bench, it could get old. This....from experience. My daughter is a recruited walk-on at her school (not soccer). Until very recently she has insisted that she prefers to be at the DI school because she can continue to learn and grow and be part of a better team. This is all true, but as her competition time winds down, she is realizing that what she really wants is to compete. So...we are in the midst of transfer options. Just something to consider. However...many recruited walk-ons do contribute significantly to the team. Not receiving scholarship money does not mean the team did not need you; they simply did not have the money. My daughter's school, for instance, only had 1 scholarship the year she went (hers is a "head count" sport, meaning only a certain number of people can be on scholarship...so they could only give it to one person). They had 5 recruited walk-ons and 3 of them compete regularly; one has since earned a scholarship. So, it could work out as well.

 

Your kid is in junior high and is aspiring to be on the bench? There is a LOT that can happen in the next four years. There is no way to know what your adult body will be like. Fast kids end up slow, big kids are small, etc. He should just work hard. Also, playing at a D3 school is a lot more fun than sitting the bench at a D1 school. Your son is too young to see that. D1 programs do not carry players and pay expenses for them to sit on the bench, either.

 

Amen, brother.

You want stories, I have stories.

USMNT occasional player. Cut from his youth U12 team. Bench as U14.

Another USMNT occasional player. Same story.

Another USMNT player, regular. His youth club coach quit when he was taken on the team, over his head (daddy had influence), as a U14.

A mere D1 star. Nobody in club, somebody a bit in HS, walk-on recruit due to great performance at the college summer camp. Started as a frosh. As a soph, led the team in goals, and the team advanced to D1 quarterfinals.

A million stories like that. Physical maturity, it's everthing at the youth level. Not everybody is fully grown at 12 years old, Mr. Adu.

 

Passthebuzz and JohnR - Not that your points are not valid, but to be fair... ussoccer said, "My son is currently a junior in high school" not "in junior high school".

 

I thought about this for a day or so before replying. You could do an entire forum on this topic and there are enough college coaches floating this website to reaffirm what I will say, I'm curious why more did not reply.

That being said, the academy coach is not going to be playing with that coach or school for the next 4 years,,,,,, your kid is. Colleges want to hear from the player. They want the email from the player, the want the phone call from the player, they want the conversation with the player. Parents and club coaches should not be acting as the players agent. Having gone through this and knowing many college coaches, that door will shut quickly. Once a player has been identified to coach, they will most likely contact references, peers who have seen the player, evaluate them in a game and have a discussion with the club coach.

Determine level of interest I can see. So many of my mondays after tournaments were spent on the phone with our club coach discussing the colleges that called or emailed about my player. We never asked the club coach to do our bidding positively or negatively.
My player sat down and emailed the coaches she was not interested in personally. Those she was interested in she picked up the phone and called them.

As I think on it, this is a relationship business like any other. Their are trusted peers and advisors out there that college coaches can count on for a non-biased opinion and it is up to the club coach and their own coaching integrity to shoot them straight. If not, that will catch on quickly and that club coaches integrity can be put at risk. Not every player on his roster is "Freddy Adu" or "Mia Hamm".

I have just barely touched on all the facets of this conversation.

my 2 cents.

 

And on an Academy team. Sounds like D1 to me, at least around here most of the Academy guys play D1. All the starters and I believe most of the bench players, too.

 

John, didnt you do the Academy ratings last year? Care to pick it up again?? Curious minds need to know.........

 

Nah sorry, that was another guy. Maybe he'll pop up again when the Academy season gets going for real, this spring.

 

^^In that same vein, is there any updated rule as to how many games a "developmental" player can be in? Is there a site where the rules can be viewed online? I don't see them on the USSDA website.

 

Based upon what you said in initial post, I think kid is going to have a hard time qualifying to play soccer for a D1 school. Having a desire to play soccer at a higher level has little to do with having the ability. What you said does not indicate that your son has the ability. Although the person to ask would be a knowledgeable soccer person who has seen him play, rather than someone on this forum.

Your son is taking, IMHO, the wrong approach in several respects. 1st of all, he should be focusing on what college he wants to attend based upon his academic interests and his or your ability to pay for college. Once he decides this he can then look into the potential of playing soccer at an institution that fits his non-soccer criteria. 2nd, D1 is not all it is cracked up to be. Yes, the soccer is generally better and therefore the programs are harder to break into. But there are good non-D1 programs that have a little more flexibility in who they can admit and who would provide a perfectly enjoyable soccer experience. He should broaden his horizons and consider non-D1 schools.

 

Here is a link http://images.ussoccer.com/Documents/cms/ussf/DA Regulations 08-09 _final_.pdf for the Developmental Academy. It states full time players must start 25% of the games and developmental players can start as maximum of 6 games........

 

Well said smash.......My older son went to a very good DII program and won the national Championship his first year. That team would have given most DI programs a run for the money though sizewise they were not very big, like may top DI programs are. When he was being recruited we looked at all levels, DI, DII, DII, and NAIA and found that each has its style but that there were good teams at each level. Your point of choosing the school then playing soccer there is a good one. Your only an injury away from being a normal student. And don't get me started on what happens if the Coach leaves........My best advise is, do your homework, visit the schools, talk to the players and Coaches and be open to all levels......I have known more then a few kids who went to a school for the scholarship only to leave after being very unhappy there......