A recruiting advisor tells a 3.7 GPA soccer player that Division I is possible but starting as a freshman is unlikely. He needs to email every D1 program, expect redshirting, and compete against transfers and internationals for minutes. Coaches talk to each other, so respect matters for future transfer opportunities.
I play MLS NEXT, I'm a sophomore, I have a 3.7 GPA, can I play Division I college soccer? My question returned back to you would be, how is your MLS team? Are they going to flex? Are they going to playoffs? If the answer is yes, definitely on track to play Division I. You want to keep your grades where they are. It really keeps a lot of schools open to you. Ideally, you're open-minded to different schools, not only the Ivy Leagues or the Georgetown's or the Stanford's of the world. Because you'll have a much better chance of not only playing Division I college soccer, but actually playing minutes at that school. Now remember, you are competing with transfers and internationals, and because of some new eligibility rules, potentially even Division II players. So it's really competitive, and the idea of you starting your freshman year is unlikely. But if you're willing to redshirt or fight your way into the team, then by your sophomore, junior year, you could be playing some minutes. Other thing I would add is you want to be emailing every Division I program, which is a lot of work. So I have this AI system that kind of helps us do that for you. But regardless, you want to be emailing more than just your top D1 schools. The D1 world is really small. All the coaches know each other. So often you hear me talk about leveraging D3, D2 to D1. It is possible if they are top-level D1 or D3 schools like a Chicago or Tufts, you can definitely mention that to D1 schools because those are really big deals. But the best place to leverage or certainly prove that you have interest is when you have interest from other Division I schools. So if you want to go to a Stanford and you have interest from San Francisco, you can mention to a Stanford or to UCLA, "Hi coach, I haven't been able to reach you. I do have interest from other Division I schools. I'm hoping to get a hold of you. Here's my Every Touch video. May I ask if you're looking for a blank for the class of blank?" And they're much more likely to respond because now they know that someone else has vetted you and there's interest. Now you can never lie about that because they all know each other, and eventually they'll probably ask you who it is. And remember, all these coaches have worked for each other. UCLA coach used to be, you know, up north at Baptist, and then he still knows the coaches there, and one of those coaches wants his job. So it's a very small world, and you want to be nice to everybody because also you never know if you might transfer or leave, and you may find out then again that someone else likes you. If you want more help playing college soccer, you're playing MLS NEXT, give me a call. Links in the bio, and I'll talk to you soon.
