A college soccer recruiting coach warns middle schoolers against chasing only elite programs like UCLA and Stanford. Instead, contact a range of schools from realistic to aspirational, attend camps, and build interest gradually. Start lower and work your way up by sophomore or junior year.
The biggest recruiting mistake that all players make. But before I show you it, I want you to understand that if you want to play Division I soccer or Division II soccer or Division III soccer, you are going to have to email them and email schools that you love and that you don't love. Now, what I want to show you here is a little bit complicated, but if you stick with me, I think you'll understand it. They aim too high too early. So what this means is you want to go to UCLA or Stanford, and in 8th, 9th, 10th grade, that's all you think about. Then junior year comes and you go, well, I've kind of went to their camp and I kind of spoke to them and they kind of came back to me, or they never got back to me. But I'm gonna still spend more time on that school. Now you've wasted 2 to 3 years and you're gonna lose the opportunity with the top academic Division IIIs. So what we recommend, instead of aiming so high so early, aim mixed early, and then because you've earned the right, you can then aim high in your sophomore, junior year. But if you only aim high early on in your recruiting process, you're a nobody. You haven't gotten any interest. It's at the beginning. You don't aim for Chelsea when you're 10 years old. You aim for your local team and then you work your way up the ladder. So if you want to play cold soccer, do not aim high too early. If you want more help, give me a call. Links in the bio. Talk soon.
