What Do I Do If I Get Hurt During the College Recruitment Process?

Injuries have a nasty habit of occurring at the worst possible time. As a high school aged soccer player, the last thing you want is to get injured in the middle of the recruiting process. You were planning on spending your senior year showing how much you’ve improved your skills and athleticism, and reminding your soon-to-be coaches that you’re capable of performing when it matters most.

Instead, you suffered a long-term injury, and you’ll be out of action for the majority of the year. Does this automatically mean your dream school is going to withdraw their decision to recruit you? Absolutely not.

It’s not the injury itself, but how you respond to it, that determines your future.

Adversity Tests Our Resilience

Speaking as retired pros, we both learned very early in our careers that resilience is often the difference between a good player and a great player. Every soccer player faces some form of adversity in their journey, but very few  possess the resilience to overcome it and return as stronger, smarter athletes.  

College coaches understand the value of resilience as well. They know how difficult it is to stay focused and continue elevating your game when adversity strikes, whether it’s getting injured, benched, or cut from the team. It’s a tough test for sure, but so is playing college soccer. Someone who has already overcome so much adversity off the field is less likely to crumble whenever a new challenge presents itself on the field.

Showing Your Resilience Can Protect Your Spot 

When you get injured, college coaches won’t just instantly forget about you, nor will they fault you for getting injured. What they will want to see, though, is how you respond to your injury and the test it presents.

Will you stay focused and continue elevating your game while you’re injured? Will you return as a stronger, smarter player?  

If you can prove to your any coach recruiting you that your injury hasn’t deterred your evolution as a soccer player, there’s a good chance you’ll stay in the picture.

Turn Your Recovery into an Inspiring Story

Thanks to social media, you can turn your recovery into a publicly available story your coaches can follow. This is where you’ll post the various stages of your recovery, like participating in physical therapy or other forms of physical rehabilitation. You can post videos of you gradually gaining your strength back and highlight specific milestones like your first day walking without crutches.  

Coaches will pay attention to inspirational social media posts illustrating your resilience and commitment to soccer. Plenty of iconic athletes have given interviews about the power of resilience, so re-posting this content shows coaches that you understand that this is your chance to prove that you’re a truly exceptional athlete, and your desire to join the ranks of the greatest soccer players in the world.

Mentorship: A Long-Term Solution to Adversity

At Beyond Goals Mentoring, we know that bouncing back after a long-term injury is extremely difficult, regardless of how many people have done it before.

That’s why we’re dedicated to helping young athletes change their perspectives towards adversity so they can continuously overcome new challenges on and off the field.  

We also understand that self-promotion and relationship building are entirely separate skill sets that don’t come naturally to everyone. Harnessing our up-to-date knowledge of the college recruitment process, we’ll teach your athlete how to draw attention from their dream school and distinguish themselves from their peers.

So, if your athlete is struggling from a recent setback or could use some help with college recruitment, let’s set up a mentoring session today.