A GA freshman asking about Division I soccer prospects is told they're generally on track, though a step below MLS NEXT and ECNL players. The speaker outlines five concrete steps: make 4-6 highlight videos, try out for new clubs yearly, attend MassID and Division I camps, and get a personalized invitation from a Division III school. College interest matters more than club level.
I play Elite Academy and I'm a freshman. Am I on track to play Division 1 college soccer? If you're playing Elite Academy as a freshman, the answer is you're on track. That's really good. Now, does your Elite Academy team have an affiliation with MLS NEXT 2? Maybe not yet. Maybe it's something they're working on. Maybe it's happening in the future. That would be great because MLS NEXT 2 are going to be going to FLEX and FEST, which is going to be a really big deal. Having said that, as a freshman playing Elite Academy, like you're in a good place to play college soccer. On college soccer, I would say you're probably a step or two behind on the quote-unquote totem pole, right? There's other players who are freshmen who are playing MLS NEXT and ECNL, and they would be considered above you. Elite Academy does have some very good camps— excuse me, they have very good showcases. GA, Girls Elite Academy, is a little bit higher on the totem pole. I would say right now you're on track to play Division III or Division II. And remember, most of you still won't even play at that level. So it's very competitive to then say go play Division I. 40% of students are transfers or internationals. So you're really only fighting for half the spots that are available in the first place. What I would tell you is you don't have to necessarily change clubs, but you should be trying out for a club every year, assuming you don't piss off your current club. And you need to be making one highlight video as a freshman that's a minute long, and you should be making 4 to 6 videos And this summer, as a freshman, you should be going to one MassID camp with multiple schools between the D1, D2, and D3 levels. You should be going to one Division I camp that's your dream school that maybe is unrealistic, but you want to go for it. And you should be going to one genuine invite to a Division III, which means you emailed a Division III school, you made a note to make it genuine, so you took time to write the email, and you sent your video, and they responded with, "We are looking for your position." 'Or we liked your video, could you please actually come?' And it felt genuine. If you can go to those 3 camps this summer as an Elite Academy, then you might be actually on track to play Division 1. Because if you get interest from colleges, no matter what club level you're playing at, that trumps everything. That's a really big deal. So in your case, you could very theoretically be playing Division 1 soccer, but make sure you're taking those steps. If you want help playing college soccer from Elite Academy, which at the Division I level, which we've had done with many of our students. Comment the word "call" and we can schedule a call with you and your parents, or share this with mom and dad, or mom and dad, if you're watching, share it with your son or daughter. Okay, I'll talk to you soon. Bye.
