A benchwarmer from Southern California got a Division I soccer scholarship by emailing every program and staying open to schools beyond the obvious ones. He got an offer rescinded at Cal Poly, then connected with Valparaiso at the same camp and had an unexpectedly rewarding experience there.
From benchwarmer on JV to a full ride to play Division I soccer, here's the one thing I did that made the biggest difference. I was open-minded to which schools I would go to. I'm from Southern California, and of course we all dream of going to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo or UC Irvine, but I was open-minded to going anywhere in the country. And what this meant was I was gonna have a lot more opportunities to not only get interest but eventually get offers. Now, I wasn't sure how to pick those schools, so frankly, all I did was email every single Division I program, trying to figure out who might like me. Then I figured out when they would be on the West Coast, and how I got my full Division I scholarship was I was at a Cal Poly San Luis Obispo camp. Cal Poly made me an offer, later rescinded it, but at that same camp was Valparaiso University, a Division I program in Valpo, Indiana. I'm from Malibu, California. Wasn't exactly what I dreamt of until I got there and I had the most amazing experience ever. If you want help finding out which camps and schools to pick, comment the word quiz, Q-U-I-Z, and I will send you a quiz that will ask you some questions on finding the right school and camps for you.
