Recruiting 101

How do I get recruited?

There are many great men’s and women’s programs and universities throughout the country. There are enough schools around the country for every player to get a good education and find a home to play college soccer! That being said, what you put into the recruiting process is what you will get out of it. A player must drive a process of identifying schools and programs, as well as communicating and being proactive with coaches. The players who are the most successful in a recruiting process are often the ones who put in the most thought and work in making this happen for themselves. No automated emails or playing at good tournaments will substitute genuine interest and relationship building with college coaches.

How do I identify the right programs and Universities?

Let’s make a list if you haven’t done so already. Your goal should be to find 30 schools/programs containing 5-10 safety schools, 10-15 target schools and 5-10 reach schools.*

*Remember, you should be adding and subtracting programs and schools from your list as you progress (especially at the beginning as you identify schools and programs of interest.)

Areas to consider when trying to make a list:

DI, DII, DIII, or NAIA - Ask your coaches about these NCAA levels of play and look at similar players committing to schools. You will naturally learn more about the distinctions among these divisions when coaches reach out to you.

Geographic Location - Do you want to stay in a certain area? Do you have a desired state or coast that you would like to live in?

Academic Reputation - How important is the academic experience to you? This experience may include the difficulty of classes, availability of different majors, the school’s general academic reputation, and much more.

Academic Area of Interest - If you are interested in a certain major or area of study, make sure the schools you are looking at offer the program or pathway to achieve your academic goals.

Soccer Reputation - Is your primary goal to join the best possible soccer program? Measured against other factors, where does your soccer experience rank in your priorities?

Public vs Private - This can also can be thought of as big school verses a small school. Smaller schools will tend to have smaller classes and a more individualized academic approach, whereas bigger school tend to have larger class sizes and a larger overall community.

Teammates and Coaches - Once you are able to visit college campuses and once you are able to interact with coaches, you should consider your relationship with current and future players as well as the coaching staff.

Price - I will usually leave this last because you don’t want to eliminate schools based on price alone…. Let this be the last factor in your decision making process and something that you and your family talk through after you are deep into a recruiting process with a coach or program. Never limit your initial list based on price alone!

What are Safety Schools, Target Schools and Reach Schools?

Safety Schools - Are universities that you would be likely easily admitted into and have a high chance at playing at. It is important to identify 5-10 safety schools that would be good options and a player would be happy at attending and playing at. Do not wait to reach out to these schools and do not let them know they are a safety school. Treat these programs as good options for you and be prepared to attend these schools if other schools do not work out. Furthermore, safety schools will only provide you with leverage in your conversations with other schools. And you never know, you could end up really liking a program and school you learn more about.

Target Schools - These programs and schools align with where you think you want to be from an academic fit and soccer standpoint. You should have a good chance at getting into these schools and you should identify 10-15 programs to start a recruiting process with. Some of these programs will have interest in you, some won’t, and some will change their stance on you, but don’t let this affect your list because things can change quickly. You can always add and subtract schools from this target list until you get a good mix of schools and can leverage the interest from comparable schools and programs to find the best all-around fit for you.

Reach Schools - For many student-athletes, reach schools will be DI programs and/or high academic schools. You will want to start reaching out early and often as these schools tend to be the most desirable and toughest to get interest from or get into from an academic standpoint. These programs should always be on your list and the younger you are the more you should give yourself the opportunity to develop as a player and student. Don’t shy away from looking for the best possible school for you.

As you progress in the recruiting process and enter more serious talks with programs, your list of programs will naturally narrow and hopefully the process will culminate in a commitment and offer to play at a single school.

What are college coaches looking for when scouting?

Every coach and program has a different methodology they use to evaluate prospective student-athletes. That being said, they do look for good soccer players first and foremost. These are coaches whose jobs are on the line. If they lose too many games they can be fired. So getting players who are good at soccer and helping the team win is priority #1.

That being said, there are a lot of ways to stand out in a large player pool or at a crowded tournament or showcase.

Technical Ability - This is harder to develop the older you get. Being able to pass, receive, use both feet, and hit an accurate ball over distance is usually the first thing coaches look at. Keep working at this as much as you can in any way you can.

On-Field Intelligence - Can you show that you understand your role or are you someone who is just trying to showoff or doesn’t care about defending? For example: If you are a central defender (4/5) and can’t win a header or don’t like 1v1 defending but puts a majority of value in how many passes you complete….these can be deal breakers for many of those schools on your list. Show that you know your role and put value on the important areas of that role and be ready to communicate how much you value and want to develop those areas of your game. What is your answer to a college coaches question of ‘what are your strengths and weaknesses on the field?’

Personality - Are you a good teammate? Do you show good sportsmanship? Will you as a player represent a coach and program well and provide value to the team both on and off the field? Almost every player hoping to play soccer in college needs to show they can provide value off the field as much as on it. One player making a poor choice off of the field can cost a coach his job. Show that you will be a good addition to his team.

Athleticism - Are you fast? Then show it off. Are you tall and good in the air? Then make that a feature of your game and win headers in games. These features can attract great interest from coaches if you find a way to exemplify these traits.

Academics - Sadly, academics usually is not the number one factor that coaches search for. That being said, having a solid academic background can provide a small push forward in your list of schools. At high academic schools who are only permitted to allow a few students into their university per year to participate in athletics, they may bring in a really high academic student so that they can get a lower academic student into their program as well.

Standardized Testing

Would you like your recruiting process to progress quickly? Then test as early and as often as you can. Many schools “super-score” and provide academic scholarship money for good testing so there is no reason not to study early and often before that hectic junior or senior year and get the best possible score you can. Don’t let a test be the thing that slows down your recruiting process with a school or program.