A soccer recruiting coach breaks down three mistakes junior high players make: attending big generic camps without prior interest, not sending enough emails to target schools, and having parents email coaches instead of the player. He recommends 30-40 genuine emails to target programs, then 30-40 to backups, and says coaches want to see recruits by sophomore year.
3 things I would never do if I was a junior in high school who wanted to play college soccer. Number 1, I probably would never go to a mass ID camp, especially without a genuine interest, especially to the D1 schools. It's not to say that an individual ID camp, meaning it's just the school, I would go to that. But a mass ID camp, we're talking Future 500, Masters, going as a junior is really difficult because 99% of the time they're just going to tell you, hey, can we see you at our own camp? We need to see you at a showcase. And you really need to get recruited by them right at the beginning of your junior year, which means you would have gone recruited by them or gone to their camp in sophomore year. Number 2, make sure that you have already sent out 30 30 to 40 emails with something genuine. Then you should send out another 30 to 40 to schools that are on your backup list. Those do not need something genuine. Number 3: never have your parents send an email for you. Never, ever, ever. There's no circumstance where they should send an email on your behalf. They can help you, but they should never send an email. Mom and Dad, if you played college soccer in the past, sorry to tell you, but the recruiting process has changed drastically. I'm not saying I know everything, but I am saying that if you think you know what you're doing, it is not like public relations. It is not simple. You have to talk in the code of college coaches, and it's not their fault, but they don't make it very easy. You want more help? Comment "call" and we can schedule a call with you and your parents. Or if it's you and mom, dad, we schedule a call with you and your son or daughter.
