Class of 2029 -- What You Need to do to Get Recruited to Play College Soccer
As a freshman in high school, you may have only recently looked at college soccer as a part of your path. Okay, so what happens next? Though you don’t have to start reaching out to coaches just yet, this is when you start building your identity as a college athlete. That means behaving like a college athlete on and off the field, making college exposure more of a priority, and deciding where you’d like to apply.
On that note, here’s what you should be doing during your freshman year to get recruited for college soccer:
Academics
If you’re serious about playing college soccer, don’t plan on spending your freshman year goofing off in school. While your grades freshman year are not the be-all, end-all in college recruiting, your cumulative GPA matters – and getting a bunch of C’s freshman year is not going to help you.
When colleges are deciding between two very similar players, the one with the better academic record will get the nod. Also, if you start practicing effective study habits now, they’re going to come naturally to you during crunch time in the coming years (as well as when you’re in college).
The challenge is, you don’t have as much time to study and get homework done after school because of soccer. Fortunately, the solution is surprisingly simple. By paying more attention and doing more work in school, the less studying and homework you’ll have to do afterwards. Every time you don’t use your study hall to get work done, you give yourself more material to study at home. It’s not easy, but this is how college athletes perform on the field and in the classroom simultaneously – and college coaches know they need players that can balance academics and sports.
Athletic Development
College athletes take extremely good care of themselves physically so they have plenty of energy for training and matches. Freshman year is when you re-evaluate your lifestyle and cut out anything that’s inhibiting your energy level and overall physical condition. That might include scrolling on your phone before bed, eating unhealthy food, or not focusing on your strength.
Speaking of training, this is also when you should start learning how to train like a college athlete, so you can meet your dream school’s athletic standards. You want to start integrating strength training into your weekly routine (if you haven’t already) to improve your strength and conditioning. If you don’t know where to start, here’s a 10-minute plyometric routine you can do easily at home.
When it comes to getting on coaches’ radars, you have to be aware of where they are looking for players. The top programs (pretty much all of DI and the top programs in DII) almost exclusively recruit from MLS Next and ECNL on the boys side and ECNL and GA on the girls side.
This isn’t to say if you are not in one of those leagues the pathway is closed, but it is to say it will be harder to get their attention if you aren’t playing in those leagues especially with the recent roster rule change.
The Recruitment Process: Building Your List of Schools
Whether you intend to play college sports or not, today’s high school students are highly recommended to start building a list of schools to apply to when they’re just freshmen. So, it’s time to do some research and find out which college soccer programs are within reach, both athletically and academically.
No matter the level you’re playing soccer at today, we encourage our mentees to make a list of 10-20 non Power 4 conference programs (Power 4 is made up of the ACC, the Big Ten, the Big 12, and the SEC) and have half the schools be DII or DIII. The truth is, no one knows how a players will develop over a 4 year period, and while there’s nothing wrong with targeting the bigger programs, the DI-or-Bust mindset has stymied far too many potential pros before they are out of high school (as we love to remind youth players looking at college programs, the top two scorers all-time in MLS played DII soccer).
Additionally, with the more frequent use of the transfer portal in recent years, going to a DII, DIII, or Junior College program for freshman (and sophomore) year to get minutes is a great way to end up at a Power 4 program for your junior and senior years.
Another factor is style of play, which varies tremendously from program to program when you really sit down and watch. For instance, do the school’s wingers play deeper and more like wide midfielders? During goal kicks, does the team play out of the back or just kick it long? Do the team’s outside backs tend to stay back for most of the match, or do they occasionally play up front with the attackers? Answering these questions can give you an idea of the coach’s general approach, and if their style plays to your strengths, you’re more likely to get along and thrive in this program.
How Mentorship Assists with College Recruitment
At Beyond Goals Mentoring, we know how complex and intimidating the college recruitment process can be – it’s hard to go it alone. We’ve also seen plenty of talented players push themselves so hard in high school that it ruins their love of the game, causing them to end their soccer journey. This is why we’re dedicated to helping young athletes develop a healthy training regimen while navigating each step of the recruitment process, from choosing the right program to creating a soccer resume to building relationships with coaches.
So, if your athlete wants to play college soccer but doesn’t know where to start, check out our college pathway and learn how we can help. If you want to set up a quick call to learn more, fee free to contact us.
