A soccer recruiting coach breaks down the ECNL vs. local team choice for a daughter aiming for Division I. He cites that 77% of D1 women's players come from ECNL, but notes that top programs like UCLA essentially require it while lower-tier schools may accept strong video and ID camps. Most D1 recruiting wraps up by sophomore year.
Our daughter is debating between GA and ECNL, and we're not really sure which one to pick. The GA team is really close to our home, the ECNL team is really far. We've heard about the difference, you know, Coach, do you know what we should do? Hey Dad, so for your daughter, it really matters about a couple questions. Is it okay if I ask you a few questions? Yeah, of course, go for it. So the first question I have is, what level does your daughter want to play? Does she want to play Division I? Does she want to play Division II? Does she want to play Division III? No, she wants to play Division I. She's, she's She's really passionate. Now, Dad, no offense, I get a lot of people tell me that their kid is really passionate. Do you have an example of like her passion level? This girl won't stop touching a ball. In fact, she wants to go play with the boys. She wants me to drive her an hour and a half. When she does get her license, she's definitely gonna drive herself. Okay, Dad, you're right. Your daughter's addicted, and this is the good and the bad news. Give me the bad news first. The bad news is you're gonna have to drive because whether you play GA or ECNL, the driving is going to happen. Okay, that I already knew, I'm driving already. But what's the good news? The good news is it sounds like your daughter's really committed, and if you're really committed, good things tend to happen. But you cannot only perform on the field, we have to do some performing off the field. What do you mean? Like, can you just tell me which team to play for, GA or ECNL? Here's what I want to tell you, because it's not that black and white. Statistically speaking, ECNL is the place to be for Division 1. 77% of girls that play Division 1 soccer have come from ECNL. However, are are you the best GA team in the country? Do you love your coach? Is your coach gonna be supportive? Is the driving gonna detriment her school or her health? Then it's not that simple, of course. And GA teams are very good and getting better and better. So the short answer is ECNL is where you need to be. The long answer is, look, maybe you don't need to drive like a maniac, and instead, if you make really good video and you follow up multiple times and you're willing to go to more ID camps, then you might be able to play Division I soccer still. I wanna add, Division I soccer is two different worlds. Do you want Division I soccer UCLA or do you want Division I soccer SIUE? Both are very, very good programs, but they're obviously different. No, my daughter wants to play for like the top, the top. If your daughter wants to play for the top, like the UCLA's, then it's a no-brainer. You're gonna have to go play ECNL and now you gotta start flirting with the Olympic national team and you must get to those levels if you wanna play for a UCLA-esque, and frankly, you would know if that was happening in 8th, 9th grade. 8th, 9th grade. When are the girls done recruiting? I would say about 85% of girls that play Division I soccer are done recruiting for the top 25 schools the end of their sophomore year going into their junior year. Maybe after the fall there's a couple stragglers, but for the most part, most teams are done in February for their class of juniors. What? Are you telling me I'm late to the process? What year is your daughter? Yeah, she's a junior. Okay, you know what? Why don't you give me a call so we can discuss this further and figure out what the right move is for you and your daughter. Okay, thank you so much. If you'd like more help, comment 'call' and we schedule a call, dad, with you. But also, I do need to speak to your daughter to see if they're legit and how good they really are. So please schedule a call below.
