Recruiting Rules and Calendars
Men’s and Women’s College Soccer
Recruiting communication (including: phone calls, email, texting, social media) from college coaches can generally begin after June 15th after a student-athlete’s sophomore year of high school.
You may contact colleges and show interest by emailing at any time. If you genuinely have interest in a program prior to the June 15th deadline, I recommend that you reach out. However, don’t expect communication outside of camp solicitation until June 15th after your sophomore year. As you may know, most college coaches (especially on the women’s side) do start recruiting and identifying prospective student-athletes well before the June 15th timeline and the earlier you can show your interest the earlier you can get on a program’s recruiting radar.
How do programs and coaches track recruits?
Almost all programs use a piece of software (Jumpforward, FrontRush, Arms) that tracks names, graduation years, grades, and other critical information on prospective student-athletes. You can update this information or add yourself to the database by completing the recruiting questionnaire on the program’s website which is tied to this database or by being manually submitted by a coach (if they identify you while watching you play or you email them and they are interested in tracking you or having you come to a camp.) NCAA compliance officers at the university can also make sure coaches are following the rules by tracking the activity of coaches on this software.
Can college coaches show interest before June 15th of your Sophomore year?
Yes. But expect that interest and information to come from your club/high school coach. You should be including this coach’s name and information in your email to college coaching staffs if you have yet to hit the marker of June 15th of your sophomore year deadline and want to show interest so coaches can reach out and communicate with you through this coach.
College coaches are also permitted to coach you if you attend a camp but recruiting questions and conversations must be general and not specific to you until after the June 15th timeline.
Some NCAA divisions (DII, DIII, and NAIA) are permitted to contact prospective student-athletes before the June 15th-Sophomore year start date, but these divisions tend to recruit later in the recruiting cycle. Competitive programs will primarily look to pick up DI-caliber players who fall through the cracks.
It is important to know that you as a prospective student-athlete are not responsible for knowing all the rules regarding recruiting but college coaches are and they will help you with the rules if you are confused or have questions. College coaches get tested by the NCAA each year on the rules. A coach must pass this test each year in order to be permitted to recruit the next 12 months. See a practice test here.
D1 Recruiting Rules:
Official NCAA 2019-2020 DI Recruiting Calendar
After June 15th of your sophomore year college coaches are permitted to:
Use phone calls, texts, direct messages, emails, and recruiting materials to recruit student-athletes. Off-campus contact can be initiated after tournaments or home/school visits.
Recruit individual prospective student-athletes at ID camps or clinics.
After August 1st before your junior year college coaches are permitted to:
Host unofficial or official campus visits.
Utilize their athletic departments in recruiting efforts such. This may include meetings with professors or other members of the athletics team. They may also send recruiting material to prospective student-athletes.
DII Recruiting Rules:
Anytime:
Prospective student-athletes may receive camp solicitation, questionnaires, NCAA material and non-specific recruiting publications
After June 15th of your sophomore year college coaches are permitted to:
Use phone calls, texts, direct messages, emails, and recruiting materials to recruit student-athletes. Off-campus contact can be initiated after tournaments or home/school visits.
Conduct official on-campus visits.
Engage in off-campus communication with parents and prospective student-athletes.
DIII Recruiting Rules:
Anytime:
Phone calls and communication are permitted, recruiting materials may be sent
After a prospective student-athlete’s sophomore year:
Off-campus communication may begin
After January 1st of your junior year:
Official visits are permitted
NAIA Recruiting Rules:
The NAIA rules are must less strict with coaches being permitted to contact prospective student-athletes at any time during the high school years. However, recruiting at NAIA programs tends to line up more with the DII and DIII recruiting process as programs tend to wait until DI programs finalize their rosters.
When are recruiting dead periods?
Dead periods are when college coaches are not permitted to have any in-person contact with prospective student-athletes but may have regular phone, text, direct message or email contact during this period provided that communication is after June 15th of a recruits sophomore year in high school.
Men’s Soccer:
Dead Period’s:
November 11-14, 2019 (Monday through Thursday of the initial week for the signing of the National Letter of Intent).
December 13-15, 2019 (Friday through Sunday of the NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Championship). A coaching staff member may attend an event conducted in conjunction with and in the host city of the championship.
DII - November 11 (7 a.m.) – 13 (7 a.m.), 2019 (during the 48 hours prior to 7 a.m. on the initial date for the spring signing of the National Letter of Intent)
Quiet Period:
December 23-25, 2019.
Women’s Soccer:
Dead Period’s:
November 11-14, 2019 (Monday through Thursday of the initial week for the signing of the National Letter of Intent).
December 15, 2019-January 5, 2020.
DII - November 11 (7 a.m.) – 13 (7 a.m.), 2019 (during the 48 hours prior to 7 a.m. on the initial date for the spring signing of the National Letter of Intent)
It is important to NOT plan visits or important in-person recruiting related communication around these dead and quiet periods. You are not responsible for knowing dead periods but college coaches are and should be abiding by these yearly dead periods. There are no DIII dead periods.