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A soccer coach gives three steps for 12-year-olds aiming for Division 1: try out for top MLS Next or ECNL clubs, attend middle-school ID camps, and make a one-minute highlight video. The goal is visibility with college coaches, not just skill.

A soccer coach gives three steps for 12-year-olds aiming for Division 1: try out for top MLS Next or ECNL clubs, attend middle-school ID camps, and make a one-minute highlight video. The goal is visibility with college coaches, not just skill.
If I was 12 years old, what would I be doing right now in order to play college soccer? Number 1 is you've got to be trying out for the best MLS Next or ECNL team in your area. I know a lot of you are going to say, well, the coach sucks or the training sucks, but it's unfortunate. I'm not here to make you a better player. I'm here to help you play college soccer. It's about being in the right place at the right time, being seen by the right people. If you don't start there, you're in a lot of trouble. Number 2, you should be going to middle school ID camps. Middle school ID camps are an awesome way to get to know college coaches, see if your child would like doing this at all. They may find it's overwhelming, or you the athlete might find you don't want to play soccer that badly. But also, and this is the real secret. Most of the college coaches work within the club world. They are either the director of a club. So if he sees you at a middle school camp and thinks you're really good, he will bring you into the MLS Next or ECNL organization because college coaches are the ones with the power. So get to the college coaches. And number 3 is make a highlight video. You should have at least a 1-minute video. It doesn't have to be amazing. You're only 12 years old. But this way, by the time you're 13 or 14 and you call me as the college soccer guy, I can say, hey, you look, you might be able to play Division 1 soccer based off this information, as opposed to Look, you're not on track to play Division 1. We have to catch up, and so on and so forth. If you want my help playing Call of Duty, give me a call. Links in the bio. Talk soon. Goodbye.