So You Want to Play College Soccer

          There is a school out there for everyone.  There is a soccer program out there for everyone.  The challenge is finding the right fit for you. 

Your first priority must be finding colleges which will provide you with the education you want and need. But unless your educational requirements limit your choices to just a few schools, if you were good enough to play soccer on a premier level club team and start on your high school varsity as a sophomore or junior, you can probably find a college soccer program where you can play.
        There are a few things you should consider before deciding to play college soccer:
       The life of a college player is very regimented.  That is you get up early, go to work out, go to class, go to practice, go to study hall, go to bed, and then start over.  There is time for "college life" but not nearly as much as a normal student.  
        You must be prepared to sit the bench. This is probably the most difficult transition that a star high school player can make.  Unless you are lucky enough to go to a team that has no one else to play your position, you are going to have to bump someone out of their position in order to play your freshman year and that is very hard to do.  The older players are going to get first shot at their positions and if they are good you may not get a shot until they graduate.  That is why it is really important to look for a team that NEEDS someone at your position.      
        Here's a roadmap to help you find your way to that college team of your dreams:

1. Get your grades up.
2. They must be 2.5 or better in solid college prep curriculum. Do some academic planning, making sure you take all of the right college prep courses and get prepared for the SATs.  Take any Advanced Placement (AP) courses you can handle. 
3. Aim at making high school varsity as a sophomore.
4. Try out for ODP - the Olympic Development Program ... but, don’t worry if you don’t make it.
5. Find a good club team & play year-round and that will be attending showcase tournaments. 
6. Sophomore year- Begin studying colleges for educational interests and soccer program.

1. Make sure your grades are good.  Somewhere between 2.5 and 3.5 will get you in most schools.
2. Take the PSAT as soon as possible.  Take the SAT and ACT also, if possible.
3. Play club soccer all year. 
4. Study colleges for educational interests and soccer program. Begin visiting the colleges of interest and meeting with the coaches and players.  Do you like the school?
5. Prepare a package documenting your educational and soccer qualifications.  Include the video footage if you have good footage. 

6. Send your package to each head soccer coach on your list.

1. Take the SAT and ACT if you have not already done so. When you sign up for the ACT or SAT use code 9999 to have your scores sent directly to the NCAA Clearinghouse.
2. Register with the NCAA Clearinghouse.  You must pass certain high school core courses and score a minimum score on either the SAT or ACT test in order to be certified to participate in NCAA Division I or II athletics as a college freshman. This must be done in the month of May in their Junior year.  The fee to register is $27 and the booklets with the form inside are available in most high school guidance offices.  Your counselors can obtain registration materials, at no cost, by calling the clearinghouse at 319/337-1492. A list of instructions, questions and answers and approved core courses is on-line at NCAA Clearinghouse.  If you have particular questions about the NCAA Clearinghouse, please write to: NCAA Clearinghouse, P. O. Box 4044, Iowa City, IA 52243-4044. 
3. Keep a list of all the college soccer coaches who respond to your package.
4. Keep notes on your conversations with coaches, if any.
5. No response from a top choice? Resend your material.
6. Division 1 prospects - make the ODP pool team if you can.
7. Find out your high school schedule; send it and test results to college coaches.
8. Narrow list of top choices down to maximum of 10-15 schools.
9. Follow all of the NCAA's recruitment rules.
    

1.       Set goal to improve your GPA.

2.       Be a varsity impact player - starter for sure, captain, all-league or all-star, etc.

3.       See as many of the college teams you like play as you can - meet coaches.

4.       Decide if there are coaches you like ... and coaches you don’t like. It is important that you get a feel for the coaching techniques of the coaching staff.  The coach is going to be a different person from the one you see when she/he is recruiting you and you need to know that you can handle her/his coaching methods. 

5.       Talk to players, watch games, and try to read between the lines.  Remember, college ball is going to be different from high school - they have to win to keep their jobs so there is going to be a lot of pressure on them (and correspondingly you) to perform.

6.       Analyze the style of play of the college teams - where would you fit in?

7.      Which schools did you like? Big, little, rural, city, etc. which programs?

8.      Pick 5-7 schools, send applications. Keep in touch with admissions departments and college soccer coaches.

9.      After January 1st, fill out all financial aid documents.

10.  Continue to follow up with admissions offices, financial office & coaches until decisions are made.

11.  Pick the school with the best combination: education, financial aid, right soccer program for you.

**For most players you will be making your college choice by Christmas your senior year.  Some of you will have to make the choice by the end of your junior year.  If you are not active in this process someone else will be and when you finally decide on the school you are happy with they may not have room for you.  You have got to be proactive in this process!!!   A lot of the information listed for your senior year has been bumped up to your junior year.  The theme is to be proactive and it is never too early to start contacting coaches.  Just contacting them one time is not good enough you must be persistent. 

Doing homework to reach college

In between instant messages to their friends, high school soccer players with dreams of a collegiate career -- and a scholarship -- should fire off e-mails to coaches at colleges that interest them, local college coaches say. Players must be aggressive to be scouted, and coaches recommend beginning the correspondence during the sophomore year.

"Kids have to start making a big list of schools," said Jeff Zaun, an assistant coach with the Rutgers men's team. "Then, they have to e-mail the assistant coaches."

Ron Brown, recruiting coordinator for Fairleigh Dickinson's Metro campus, said there is no set criteria that gets a player a scholarship offer.  "Some coaches pick players because they like their character, some like the player's grades," he said. "Some go after a player because they like the way they walk."

But Brown said one thing is true for all college coaches: They have to know you're out there before they can recruit you.  "A good college recruiter will never say no to a phone call," he said. Nor will he or she ignore e-mails and letters.

Zaun said high school players with access to the Internet can research colleges to learn the size of the school, what programs and majors it offers, and the names of the people on the coaching staff. NCAA rules prohibit college coaches from e-mailing sophomores -- coaches can begin e-mail correspondence with possible recruits when they become juniors -- but Zaun said he and fellow assistant Pedro Lopes put all e-mails from sophomores into a file and contact those players as soon as allowed.

During the spring, college coaches spend a lot of time traveling, checking out invitational club tournaments, state cup tournaments and the like. Zaun said players in their junior year should e-mail college coaches and let them know the tournaments in which their club team will be competing. Players should provide coaches with the field location, game time -- and their jersey number.

"Kids think they're going to be recognized (at a tournament)," Zaun said. "But we've got to go to the tournament organized. When I go to a tournament, I know who I'm watching. And that all comes from the e-mails."

Brown encourages players to e-mail a résumé of sorts to coaches. Newspaper clippings are okay, but Brown said he wants a transcript of the athlete's grades. He had advice for those who want to send videotape.

"I don't want to see a highlight film. I've never seen a bad highlight film," he said. "Send me a game tape, so I can see if you can run, jump, play defense or whatever."

Playing on a high-profile club team will help, but a player doesn't have to play for a "super club" to get attention, said Kristine Jeremiah Turner, Monmouth women's coach.

"It depends on what you want to do," Turner said. "If you say you want to play college soccer, there are lots of different levels."

Turner said most colleges do not offer many full scholarships for soccer. The NCAA allows schools to give 9.9 scholarships for men's soccer and 12 scholarships for women's soccer. Most schools will split those into partial scholarships.

Alecko Eskandarian, who was the No. 1 pick overall in the Major League Soccer draft this year, attended the University of Virginia on a partial scholarship.

Copyright 2003 The Star-Ledger