Recruiting 101

How do I get recruited?

There is a lot of great programs and universities on both the men’s and women’s sides. There is a great place to get a good education and find a home to play your college soccer for every player! That being said what you put into the recruiting process is what you get out of it. A player must drive a process of identifying schools and programs, communicating and being proactive with coaches. The players who are the most successful in a recruiting process are often times 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 as you go (especially at the beginning as you identify schools and programs of interest.)

Areas to consider when trying to make a list:

DI vs DII vs DIII or NAIA - Ask your coaches, look at similar players committing to schools. if you don’t know you will soon find out when certain programs inside these divisions show you interest

Geographic location - Do you want to stay in a certain area or state or coast?

High Academic - Shooting for the very best school’s you can get into?

Soccer First - Are you aiming to land at the best possible program first and foremost?

Academic Area of Interest - If you are interested in a certain major or area of study make sure that school offers the program or pathway to achieve what you are interested in

Public vs Private - Also can be thought of as big school verses small school and smaller classes or more attention vs being at a bigger school with many others

Teammates and Coaches - Once you establish a relationship with coaches or players or even other recruits going to a school it can be a factor

Price - I leave this last because you don’t want to limit schools based on price alone…. Let this be the last factor in your decision making process and something that you 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 you are the safety school. You should treat these programs as good options for you and they will only every help you leverage better choices or be good backup options. 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 identify 10-15 programs to start a recruiting process with. Some of these programs will have interest and some won’t so don’t worry if some are interested and others aren’t. You can always add and subtract until you get a good mix of target schools on your list and can leverage the interest from comparable schools and programs to find the best all-around fit for you.

Reach Schools - For many people this will be DI programs, high high academic schools or even the top 25 type programs inside a division. You will want to start reaching out early and often as these school 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 try for the best possible place you desire.

As you progress in your recruiting and seriousness with programs your list of programs will naturally narrow and hopefully end with a single program and school in a commitment.

What are college coaches looking for when scouting?

This obviously differs for every coach and program in what they want or look for in players for their specific programs. What I will say is that they look for good soccer players first and foremost. These are professional coaches who if they lose too many games can and will likely 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, 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? Show good sportsmanship? Will you as a player represent a coach and program well and provide value to the team off the field? The better players might not have to be the best teammates if they perform at a high standard but most of us need to show that we can provide value off the field as much as on it. In todays world one player making a poor off the field choice 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. Tall? Then make that a feature of your game in winning headers. Often times these features can be highlights of your game if you show them off to be.

Academics - Sadly academics usually comes last but can also be a small push forward in your list of schools. At high academic schools who are only permitted to let a few student into university per year to play soccer sometimes you take a really high academic student just so you can get a lower academic student in as well. More on this in the high academic recruiting section.

Standardized Testing

Are you interested in your recruiting going quickly? Then test early and as often as you can. Many schools superscore or 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.