Article Archives for 2009 / 2008 / 2007

NCSA RECRUITING ARTICLES ARCHIVES - 2009
August 2009	July 2009	June 2009	May 2009
April 2009	March 2009	February 2009	January 2009



August 2009

How to tell if a coach is really interested in you

Receiving information from a college coach is always exciting, but before you get too excited, there are a few things to pay attention to in order to determine a coach's interest. Coaches hear from hundreds of athletes each week and not everyone will have an opportunity to be part of their team. In an attempt to handle the load, coaches often send prospects generic emails or they will send questionnaires. This allows them to contact many athletes at one time. If you receive one of these emails/letters, it does not necessarily mean that they are or aren't interested in you, but either way, you want to take advantage of the contact.

You should always respond to a coach when they contact you, even if you think it's just a form letter. Coaches don't have time to write personalized letters to every recruit, and you need to use what you receive as a foot in the door. Make yourself stand apart from the rest and email that coach a few questions or pick up the phone and call them directly. Pay attention to their response and that will help you determine their interest in you.

If a coach responds to your contacts in a personal way or is constantly sending you information on their program, they have some interest in you. You will need to keep contact with those coaches so that initial interest can grow. The more you hear from a coach the better. If they weren't interested, they wouldn't be spending so much time trying to convince you that their school is for you. For Division I and II coaches, another sign that a coach is interested in you is if they email you on or around September 1st or if you receive a phone call on or around June 15th (Division II contact date) or July 1st (Division I contact date). Coaches have lists of recruits that are on their radar and those are the athletes they contact first.

When a coach isn't interested in you, they will either not respond to your attempted contacts or they will respond in a generic way. We usually recommend contacting a coach around three times and if you don't hear back after any of those attempts, it is best to move on from that school. If you are ever unsure of whether or not a coach is interested in you based on something they sent, simply follow-up with them to see. In most cases, when a coach is really interested in you, you will know it. Don't expect that interest to develop with no work put forth on your end, however. You will have to put in countless hours to help create those opportunities for yourself and will need to follow through to make things happen.

July 2009

Not Your Average Summer

For most high school students, summer is the time to relax and go on vacation with their families, but students pursuing college athletics don't have that luxury. For soccer players, summer is filled with camps, off-season training and tournaments. If your summer does not look like this, you better make some changes fast. When you aren't training or attending camps, someone else is and that will oftentimes be the player that gets chosen over you for a spot on the team.

College coaches are looking for dedicated players; the players that are willing to give up three months of relaxation in order to become a stronger player. Those are the players that coaches will fight to get on their team and they may be more willing to give scholarships to those players as well.

It's best to attend at least two camps each summer for either training or evaluation purposes. When you get closer to your senior year, it is important to attend camps to be evaluated. If you are attending a camp to be evaluated, you must be in contact with the coach beforehand. The chances of you going to a camp and being discovered are very slim and you never want to assume that was why you received a camp invitation. Coaches know prior to their camp who they will be evaluating and you need to be in contact with the coach to make sure you are one of those players. If you are going to a camp to get better and stronger, you don't need to be in touch with the coach, but you should do some research on the camp before you make a decision so you have an idea of what the level of play will be like.

Summer is also a great time to attend tournaments. Most college coaches are looking for athletes who have club experience and those who play for teams that attend multiple tournaments throughout the year. Coaches will still be evaluating players during the summer and it is in your best interest to be at some of those tournaments. Not only will the exposure work toward your benefit, but if you are playing through the summer months you will stay in shape and your foot skills won't weaken. If you aren't planning on attending any tournaments, it might be a good idea to look into some guest player opportunities with another team.

In addition to camps and tournaments, you should be training on your own. You should be in the weight room a couple times a week and you should be running 4-5 times a week as well. If you aren't on a club team or if your team really isn't attending any tournaments, training on your own becomes even more important.

It takes a lot of discipline to play soccer year round and to give up those valuable summer months, but for collegiate athletes, it comes with the job. When you make it to college and are hopefully continuing to play soccer at that level, you won't have summers off; you might as well get used to this type of schedule now. You need to train hard during the summer and use your time off from school constructively in order to better yourself as a soccer player.

June 2009

You Want To Have A Successful Recruiting Process? You MUST Put In The Work!

No one said the road to playing college soccer would be easy. In fact, it is actually extremely difficult to earn a spot on a college roster. There are a lot of high school students who want to play soccer at the college level, and college coaches have many options to choose from. You must do what you can to set yourself apart from the rest of the pack so a college coach will ultimately choose YOU above the rest of the competition.

First, remember that this is your recruiting process and no one else's. You should research schools and deciding what you are looking for in a college or university. This part of the process will take time but if you don't commit to learning about as many schools as possible you will never know what else is out there. Your parents should definitely have a say in this process, but you want to come to your own conclusions first.

College coaches are recruiting you, not your parents. It's nice for your parents to want to help you manage your contacts with coaches, but in most cases coaches want to hear from you directly. The majority of coaches can tell when a parent sends them an email, so don't think you have them fooled if your mom or dad contacts them acting as if they are you.

Next, it is not enough to tell a coach that you want to play soccer in college; you have to show them. Be pro-active and reach out to coaches to introduce yourself. I've spoken with a lot of coaches who have said that the simple act of being pro-active can tell them a lot about an athlete. If you put in the effort and make your soccer recruiting a priority, coaches will believe you when you tell them that you want to play collegiate soccer at their school. Stay in close contact with your top choice schools and always update them on your upcoming tournament schedules.

Campus visits are a vital part of the process and will help you make a better decision in the end. When you visit a campus you get to meet the coach and players face to face and get a true feel for the life on campus. It may take time to schedule and travel to colleges across the country but it is worth the effort in the long run.

You may find that there are some coaches who are not interested in you. It can be difficult to digest this news at first and it may even make you want to give up, but you must keep trying. Although one coach is not interested in you, it doesn't mean another won't be. Every coach is looking for something different in a possible recruit for their team and you can only do your best to be what that coach is looking for. You will develop a thick skin, and you must always remind yourself of your end goal, playing college soccer. This goal oriented mentality will help you get through some of the rough days and will help keep you motivated.

There is not a coach out there that will hand you a spot on their team or hand you a scholarship; you must earn it. Your road to a college soccer career will be long and it might get a little bumpy. Persevere and I can promise that the hard work will all pay off once you step on the college pitch. It that vision gives you goose bumps you have the potential to make it happen.

May 2009

I received an offer... now what?

Just about every student-athlete has their sights set on receiving an offer from a college coach, but not many know what to actually do once one has been extended. If you are one of these athletes, congratulations! Not every high school athlete experiences this and you should be very proud of yourself for what you have achieved.

All of your hard work over the years has paid off, but when the excitement wears down, you will be faced with a serious decision. For many of you, it will be the first real decision that will impact the rest of your life. If you have multiple offers, your decision will be that much more difficult. Receiving an offer from a college coach is the first hurdle, but as a recruited student-athlete, you must understand how to respond once an offer is extended.

If you are a senior, you must understand that college coaches are beginning to wrap up their recruiting classes and when offers are extended, they will be accompanied by deadlines. If you are not ready to commit on the spot, inquiring about your coach's deadline is the first step. You need to know what kind of time you have to make a decision.

Next, make sure you understand the financial details and implications. If the coach offered you a scholarship, be sure you and your family are comfortable with the amount. If the offer is not what you expected or it is not financially feasible for you attend that school, communicate your concerns to the coach. They will be able to tell you the proper steps to take. If no money was discussed, consider yourself a "recruited walk-on" and you need to ask if you will definitely have a roster spot.

Your campus visit should be one of the most important parts of your decision. Before you make a final decision, you need to review all aspects from your visit.

- Did you like the players?
- Did you like the coaches?
- How do they all interact with one another?
- Did you like campus?
- Can the school offer you everything you are looking for?

Your future teammates will be your friends and family for the next four to five years, if not the rest of your life. Fully think about your experience on that visit and ask yourself if you felt truly comfortable with them and the coaches, if they were friendly and if you liked the coaches' approach to the sport. Most importantly, think about where and how you will fit on the team. You should do this with each school that you receive an offer from or are seriously interested in.

After all this reflection, if you feel comfortable that this institution is your top choice, then you should seriously consider committing. However, if you are unsure, know your timeline and visit as many colleges/universities as you can. Talk with as many different coaches as possible (always telling them you have an offer) during that time period as well.

Although this can be a long and timely process, feel excited about narrowing down your college search and being so close to wrapping things up; its an exciting time in your life that you will only experience once. It is important for every student-athlete to take the time to consider all aspects before making a final decision. Your experiences as a collegiate athlete and being part of a team will have a great impact throughout college and even after your days on the field.

April 2009

You DO Have the Time...

A constant complaint that I hear from high school students and their parents is that they do not have enough time to make recruiting a priority. I've been through the recruiting process myself and I know that it is very difficult to fit everything in, but that it is possible. To start, you must be extremely disciplined and accept that you may need to make sacrifices in order to reach your goal of playing college soccer. It's not easy to play soccer at the next level and that's why it isn't for everyone. Opportunities aren't going to be handed to you, so if playing soccer in college is important enough to you, you need to find the time now to work towards achieving your dream.

There are 24 hours in each day which means 168 hours in each week. Of those hours, you should be spending a minimum of one to two hours per week on your recruiting, but ideally you should create time to dedicate three to four hours each week. That isn't much time when you consider you have 168 hours to choose from. Several of these hours will naturally be taken up with sleep, school, practice, and homework, but those tasks will not account for all of your hours. When you are out of season, you should be devoting more time to your recruiting as well.

You may need to spend less time watching TV, playing video games or hanging out with your friends each week in order to have spare time for recruiting work. Re-adjusting your sleep schedule might be an option for you as well. You could most likely stay up a little later a few nights a week or schedule fewer plans on the weekend in order to have time to research schools or contact a few coaches each week. For athletes who play multiple sports, you may find that giving up your secondary sport in order to have more time to concentrate on your soccer recruiting would make the most sense for you. This is not necessary for everyone, but some athletes find that this is a good option.

It is a good idea to prioritize everything that you need to get done each week and find out what you need to spend time on and what should be considered more of a luxury activity.

In your waking hours each week, this is ideally how things should be ordered in terms of importance:

• Family
• School and homework
• Practice, games and workouts
• Recruiting (researching and contacting coaches)
• Hanging out with friends
• Going to events for entertainment
• Watching TV, playing video games, playing on the computer

Learning self discipline and prioritization now puts you a step ahead of your peers who will not be playing sports in college. Prioritizing is something that you will have to do throughout the rest of your life and you are getting good practice early on. The more time you can spend researching schools and establishing contacts, the better. Consider recruiting an extra class and treat it the same way you would an assignment. If you research a total of 50 schools, you will have a better idea of what you are looking for in a school than if you had only researched 10. The more coaches that want you on their team, the more options you will have in the end and the more room you have to negotiate with coaches. Just like anything else, the more work you put into your own recruiting process and the fewer excuses you make about not having enough time, the more you will get out of the process as a whole.

March 2009

The Truth Behind Camp Invitations

Now is the time of year when you might be receiving camp brochures and invitations from colleges and universities, and you may have already noticed that the hard part comes in deciding which ones to actually attend. Camps can be a valuable experience for a soccer player, but you need to have realistic expectations. Coaches usually send camp invitations out to all of the prospects in their database, so even though the invitation may look personalized, do not assume that a coach is seriously recruiting you just because they send you an invitation.

Do not sign up for a camp with the sole expectation of being scouted because most college coaches infrequently discover prospects at camps. Most camps are used as money-makers for the school, and that is why coaches send out so many invitations. Just because a camp is expensive, it does not necessarily mean they have the best training. After receiving a camp invitation you should talk to the coach before you make any final decisions. This can be a perfect opportunity to introduce yourself to a coach that you may not have had prior contact with. Find out if they are interested in you and what their role will be throughout the camp. Try to gauge whether or not the coach will seriously evaluate you as a prospective recruit. If not, their camp may still be a great opportunity for you to improve your skills, but you should always know what you will get out of the experience before signing up.

Camps have many benefits and we encourage you take advantage of them, but you should attend for the right reasons. Every camp is a chance to play with different athletes and coaches, improve your skills and learn new techniques. Camps are a great opportunity for you to visit a college campus and get a sense of a coach's style. However, the cost of camps can add up quickly, so choose them wisely. Try to attend camps at schools you are interested in and where you have spoken to the coach. The power of knowing where you stand on a coach's radar can be a big help in making camp selections.

You can attend as many camps as you want to and at any schools you choose, but always keep realistic expectations. It is exciting to receive camp invitations, but before you get your hopes up too high, do your homework. Remember that you can contact college coaches at any time, so take advantage of this rule and find out where you stand.

February 2009

The Power of Persistence

A common frustration among athletes who are actively trying to get in touch with coaches is that they cannot actually reach a coach. College coaches have a lot on their plates every single day and they will not be sitting at their desk each second. If you call and they don't answer, leave a message and follow up with an email. Then, you need to consider the contact rules and make sure that a coach can legally (according to NCAA rules) call you back or write you back. If they can respond, you should give them an adequate amount of time to return your correspondence.

If you don't hear anything back within three to four weeks, you need to follow-up with that coach. For seniors, everything should be done with a greater sense of urgency and you should follow-up with a coach after one to two weeks. With coaches' busy schedules it can be easy for them to simply lose track of an email or forget to call you back. Don't read too much into this after your first attempt and don't give up just yet.

Persistence is a balancing act. You want the coach to know how interested you are in their school and program, but you don't want to overwhelm them with too many voicemails and emails. A good number is three. Once you have left three voicemails and sent three emails if a coach still has not responded it is safe to conclude that they probably are not interested at this point and you should move on to pursue other options. If there are multiple coaches that you do not hear back from you may want to re-evaluate the level of schools that you have been contacting.

I once worked with an athlete who put all of her concentration on Division I schools and she did not understand why they weren't responding to her. She, like many athletes, was caught up in the idea of playing Division I soccer and never stopped to think that maybe she isn't a Division I player. She was about to give up hope on playing college soccer until I encouraged her to take a look into some schools at other levels. She never considered the fact that there are many Division II and III programs that have highly competitive teams that could offer her what she was looking for academically and socially as well. She contacted coaches at other levels and within a week she was hearing from many coaches and even had a few visits set-up.

There are a lot of colleges and universities out there and you want to be in contact with coaches who want to be talking to you and will fight for you to be part of their team. If you don't hear back from one coach, that doesn't mean that you won't hear back from others. Many athletes let this frustration get the best of them and they give up on contacting coaches after their first try. Don't let this happen to you! You need to pick yourself up and move onto the next school. Aim high, but be realistic at the same time. If you want to be successful in the recruiting process, you must be persistent and don't give up until you reach your goal of playing college soccer.

January 2009

Seniors: What to do if you don't have a solid list of contacts

If you are a senior who is lacking a solid list of at least five to ten contacts, do not panic. There is still time and there are still coaches who are recruiting. However, you may need to be flexible with the opportunities that are available and you need to be realistic. The top programs, at all levels, will for the most part be done with their recruiting by senior year. There are a few exceptions such as injury or if a player or coach backs out of a verbal commitment.

Bottom line, you can not afford to waste any time. You need to maintain the contacts that you have now and you must to reach out to more coaches to see what is still available. The best way to do this is to call coaches! You will get an answer right away and this is the most direct approach. Here are some good questions to ask a coach whom you haven't had contact with yet:

• Are you still recruiting for 2009?
• Are you looking to recruit (your position) for 2009?
• When do you want to have your 2009 roster finished by?
• Have you seen me play yet? If not, can I send you a video?

You need to act quickly with these coaches and make sure that they have everything they need from you right away. They will need to evaluate you based on your background and your current skills. This will come with knowing your current club team and seeing you play live or through video. Coaches can tell if a recruit will be a good fit for their program off of these two things and will be able to decide if they want to pursue the player further.

You need to form a relationship with the coaches and you must do so quickly. This will require speaking with them on the phone multiple times, emails back and forth and lastly, meeting face-to-face on a campus visit. They need to know that you are serious about their university and that you will to do whatever you can to play for their program.

The signing date for Division I and II starts February 4th and lasts until August 1st, but be aware that many recruits for these levels have made their verbal commitments and are just waiting until February to solidify that commitment. Division III and NAIA programs do not use the National Letter of Intent and therefore, may be recruiting a bit longer. There is still plenty of time left for you to find the right college fit, however that time will go by quickly. You have one semester left of high school and you need to take full advantage of it!

ABOUT NCSA
NCSA, the Official Scouting Organization and Provider of Recruiting Education for Cal South, is the premier source for matching high school scholar - athletes with colleges and universities across the country. NCSA is the "Eyes & Ears" of more than 35,000 college coaches, who rely on NCSA's experienced scouting team and instant response capabilities to provide them with quality prospective recruits. NCSA prides itself in educating high school student-athletes and their families about the college recruiting process. Please visitwww.ncsasports.org for more information about NCSA.