In this video, Zev Taublieb advises junior players in the ECNL Regional League (RL) on how to navigate the college soccer recruiting process and avoid three common pitfalls. First, he warns that focusing solely on Division I schools late in the junior year is risky because many Division III programs finish recruiting by August–November, leaving only the summer to secure interest. Second, he stresses the importance of a strong video portfolio (4–6 clips) when players cannot attend ID camps, noting that coaches need repeated outreach to respond. Third, he cautions against attending generic mass ID camps; instead, he recommends genuine invitation‑only camps, especially at Division II and III schools, where interest is more likely to translate into offers. He explains how to identify authentic camps, why D2/D3 schools are more responsive, and offers a call‑to‑action: comment a state abbreviation plus “camp” (e.g., INCAMP) on Instagram to receive a list of local ID camps, and use the bio links for further assistance.
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If you're a junior playing ECNL RL, do not make these 3 mistakes, especially the last one because it's in regards to camps. Number 1, if you're only aiming for Division 1 schools playing ECNL RL as a junior this late on and you don't have a significant offer, then there's a very good chance you're going to miss the boat for college soccer. The top academic Division 3s will be done recruiting through August and November, so you basically have this summer to get recruited and you're probably not on the top of the list if you've been ignoring them up to this point. Number 2, if you can't go to an ID camp because of vacation or school or studying, this is why video is so important. You have to have 4 to 6 videos, and coaches are not going to respond to you right away during this process. You're going to get— you have to punch them in the face, in the stomach, in the leg over and over again to get them to finally respond. And that final one I was talking about regarding camps, so given you're a junior playing ECNL, you must go to genuine invitation camps Typically recommended would be Division III and Division II. You can go to Division I, of course, but don't go to like a mass ID camp with multiple schools unless they specifically have told you genuinely, we want you to come to this camp so we can watch you. You have to really weigh in on the genuine interest, otherwise you could be in trouble and feel like it's a money grab. While most of them are not money grabs, they feel like a money grab to you because you go to the camp and you don't turn around with an offer. But there's a lot of kids they're looking at and you get the opportunity to play in front of them. That is not a money grab. On the flip side, they're also going, look, maybe you're good enough, maybe you're not, but if they could've talked to you beforehand, you'll have a much better chance, which is hence why I'm saying focus on the D3s and the D2s who are more likely to respond to you regarding genuine interest. If you would like a list of ID camps to go to in your state, comment the word, the initials of your state, for example, IN for Indiana, and then the word camp. Make sure it's one word, so INCAMP. If you want more help, give me a call, links in the bio. Talk soon, goodbye. That initials thing, by the way, only works— the I-N-C-A-M-P only works for Instagram. Okay, bye.
