Female soccer players wait too long to contact college coaches, missing the February junior-year deadline for Division I recruiting. Start reaching out in 8th grade to build relationships. Coaches watch how you improve over time and handle injuries, not just your current skill level.
This is the biggest mistake I see women's soccer players make when they're trying to get recruited to play college soccer. Listen to me on this podcast and you'll see what I mean. People say, well, I can't talk to schools before June 15th of my sophomore year, so I don't need to quote unquote begin. Um, and you can see here he said early preparation, and then he mentioned junior, etc. Most girls are done recruiting for Division I schools in February of their junior year. So we're in January now. If you were a junior and you want to go play Division I, it's still possible and you can still do it. But logistically speaking, it becomes harder and harder as time goes on. And girls soccer, there are still girls who get committed senior year. I've helped them do that. And for those of you who are seniors, it's definitely still possible. Maybe for fun, you guys, if you don't mind, in the chat put your grad year, then I can see who I'm addressing. But having said that, you can still do it. But I— we have to be transparent and say girls soccer gets recruited earlier. So my little saying for girls is when you're in 8th grade, you're in 9th grade. When you're in 9th grade, you're in 10th grade. When you're in 11th grade, you're in 12th grade. And when you're in 12th grade, usually done. Depends, does depend. But I'm seeing a couple 27s and 28s. That's excellent, guys. That's awesome. Now, the sooner you begin, the more time you have to develop a relationship. I see a 29. I love that. That allows the coaches again to see you and build a relationship. And the last thing I'll just touch on this is you mom and dads may be biased and think your kids are great, and my logic is you're not biased only 'cause they're related to you, but you live with them. You see them every day wake up early. Because of that, you think they are committed. Does a college coach know that they wake up early? Absolutely not. Can you express that in one email over the space of one year? No. Hence why if you start like Brandis in 2031, or like that, you have often a likelier chance to get recruited. And now the next concern, and then I'll stop, is what if you're not good enough, or what if they can't talk to you? And coaches, and Rod will correct me if I'm wrong, no coaches really will write you off and tell you no until you're a junior, in which case they have to be honest. But up until that point, they're trying to measure, do you improve? Do you get better? And if they get to see the improvement, it's even 10 times better. What if you get injured and tell the coach, I'm so sorry, I got injured? Here's me doing physical therapy. Here's me not giving up. The coaches are here to recruit people, especially the high academics.
For sure. And to go on that one thing that Zev said, you know, for, for the players as parents and as you guys are trying to communicate and when you don't hear anything, as much as I want you to continue to stay persistent because that is important, the communication piece is important. If the coaches aren't getting back to you as well, it's just to make sure that you're pivoting to a degree. And the reason I say that, I was talking actually to It's the head coach of the women's program, Division I.
And if you want a list of some top academic schools you should be considering, comment the word top academic and I will send you that list. Call me, link is in the bio, so I can help you with your situation, or DM me with your questions and I will help you get recruited.
