How to Prep for Your Showcase
A college showcase can be a pivotal moment in your soccer journey. This is your opportunity to finally put your skills, athleticism, and soccer IQ on display for college coaches in-person.
However, coaches can’t be everywhere at once. They only have time to give their full attention to a select number of players, and these are players they are already familiar with.
How do you join this group? By initiating a relationship with the coaches at your dream school, your realistic school, and your safety school before the showcase, where you can focus on distinguishing yourself from your peers and exhibiting the highly professional behavior coaches are looking for.
With this in mind, here’s how to prepare for a college showcase:
Reach Out to Coaches Ahead of the College Showcase
Once you have circled the programs you want to target, it’s important to start communicating with them. While coaches are not able to reach out to you until the 15th of June after your sophomore year, you are certainly able to reach out to them before then. And you should. Get on their radar with an introductory email about you (your grades and your soccer resume) and attach your highlight reel.
In addition to expressing your interest in this specific college program, the email should feature basic information and statistics, such as:
• Club team name and coach
• The high school team and coach information (if applicable)
• Your height and weight
• Are you right-footed or left-footed?
• Jersey number
• Goals scored
• Assists (if you’re an attacker or wing back)
• Shutouts (if you’re a goalkeeper or defender)
Then, email them about the showcases you will be attending as soon as it is confirmed. You’ll also want to include the name of your team for the showcase as well as your team’s playing schedule.
Take the Initiative to Stand Out at a College Showcase
College coaches typically have 5-10 roster spots they are looking to fill for the next season, and can be looking at 10 players per roster spot. They’ll see a lot of players play at these showcases, so making their job of remembering you easier is a smart move.
This begins with seemingly minor details, like your appearance. If you wear your hair in a specific way, or your cleats are a very unique color, coaches will have an easier time noticing and remembering you. If the window is open for the coaches to contact you, make sure that any identifiable feature stays with you after the game (so if it’s your cleats, tying them together and hanging them around your neck)
Behave like a Professional at the College Showcase
Coaches will also be looking out for players who behave like professionals, or someone who takes soccer seriously. Not everyone gets a chance to play at showcases, so your behavior before, during and after the game can make an outsized impression on coaches.
College coaches love watching warm-ups to see how you prepare. Make sure they see you preparing for the game the right way rather than messing around with your teammates.
During the game, play with positivity. Don’t get angry at a missed call by the ref or a teammate that misses a great ball you play to them. Shrug off the mistakes and keep playing.
After the game, you may be able to speak to your desired coach face-to-face. So, instead of leaving the showcase right after the game ends, take the initiative to walk right up to the coach and introduce yourself (again, assuming you are in the window that you can have contact with them). Tell them why you think you’d be a great fit for their team, and why you admire their coaching style in particular. Trust us, small interactions like this really stick out in someone’s memory.
At Beyond Goals Mentoring, we know that a single showcase can change a player’s life. We also know showcases are incredibly nerve-wracking. That’s why we’re dedicated to helping young athletes prepare for these make-or-break moments and perform when it matters most.
So, if you arestarting to get overwhelmed by the demands of high-level competition, let’s set up a mentoring session today.
