when should I start looking at schools (visiting them, talking to representatives, etc...) and i have heard the player should contact the coaches of the schools he/she wants to go to, if this is true when should I start contacting the coaches?

Board Lord; first let me say thank you for all you have done for my daughter. I hope this thread doesn’t fill up with garbage post and is able to stay on target, which is how college coaches are dealing with our Long Island players during the recruitment phase.

I think too many parents are under the influence that playing ODP and attending showcase tournaments is all they have to do. I think too many parents don’t understand the work they must do in preparation before attending these showcase tournament. Like identify the schools in which best fit their daughters needs and wants.

So, Board Lord; what should a parents/players do in preparation before attending these showcase tournament?

The first step in visiting schools is your own family's preparations and deciding which schools to visit.

Start by constructing two lists : the first list is a purely academic list of schools that have your son/daughter's majors/interests. The list should contain about ten to twelve schools broken into three buckets : stretch schools (100-200 points above your current SAT scores), on-par schools (those that match your GPA or SAT/ACT scores), and safety schools (those which are an obvious acceptance where you would be in the top quartile of the student body). When you do this academic listing, think to yourself "suppose I could never play soccer again - where would I go?" (CollegeBoard.Com is a great resource for these types of searches.)

Now, construct a second list of the ten soccer programs that would interest your child. Be sure to consider all NCAA divisions as the commitment level will vary greatly. Construct this list without any notion of money/scholarships, but give thought to whether your son/daughter would be a bench-sitter or an active player. For some families, a Division III opportunity with a starting role is worth much more than a Division I limited action role until the junior year.

You will have at most 20 schools at this point. Now, figure our where the overlaps might are between the two lists. This overlap list might have between five and eight schools - which is your initial target market!

It is ideal if you already have these lists, but working on these before your junior year Winter Recess or Easter break is critical. Those are the High School vacation periods where you really need to start your campus tours. Try to visit campuses while student activity is active - you get a much better sense of the campus "vibe". Take the tours, eat a meal at the campus, and speak with students.

Importantly, start e-mailing the head coach and assistant coach at each school. Send a copy of your soccer profile along with your e-mail to the coaching staff. Express your interest in their schools and do not hesitate to show some enthusiasm. Fill out any on-line recruitment material. Schedule a visit with the coach to see the athletic facilities.

this is so wonderful. My head was exploding before. My only thought is that before the jr yr - they havent taken SAT's yet so it may be hard to guess if they are in range or not - not to worry???????
Its just some kids can have a good GPA and blow the SATs as they are long tedious tests. They can even do well on PSAT's and not so good on the actual SAT - experience with older kid - non athlete

Although we have not met, BOTN Industries is glad that our advice might have helped your daughter. In starting this thread, we hope to open up a whole new set of discussions on BOTN covering real experiences with real coaches at the collegiate level. Some of these discussions will eventually turn negative as some collegiate coaches will be exposed over time for the negative techniques that they use when recruiting players. Not only will BOTN Industries be able to share our views, but the contributors to this forum will be able to point out the merits of various coaches and programs.

So, your question is the million dollar issue : what am I supposed to do to get ready for a showcase? Well, let's deal with a couple of misconceptions from the start. College coaches do not randomly show up at games to see a "team" uninvited. College coaches will see portions of a game when specifically invited to see a specific player that has specifically expressed an interest in the program in previous exchanges. Get what we are saying? Be specific in your work before the showcase.

This starts with your target listing of five to eight (or so) schools we discussed in our previous posting. Find our what showcases your target schools will be attending. Work with your club coach and identify the showcases you might like to attend. As soccer is still a team sport, the team needs to pick those showcases that have the best coverage of all the players' collegiate interests.

Most times, you will never get perfect overlap in coaches and tournaments, but in those cases where you do not have as many of your preselected coaches attending, review the tournament list of coaches that are attending that might expand your interest list.

Next, the player should e-mail every coach of interest with details about his/her schedule. This is the point in a child's maturity cycle where they have to take the lead in showing interest. (Be sure to review their e-mails, avoid the text messaging abbreviations, and treat the cover letter just as you would for a job interview.) Field locations, game times, directions, and your jersey number. Be sure that they can pick you out on the field. If you are passionate about a school, call the coach if you have previously met them. Be involved at both the player and parent level.

Your team should have soccer profiles that are consistent and well presented. This can be a trifold leaflet or a booklet of resumes. Experience shows that either are acceptable to college coaches watching a player during a showcase event. Be sure that parents are positioned on the field to be handing out this material at every corner of the field. Do not take a passive approach at a showcase event - you are "selling" your players to coaches. Showcases are NOT events where the parents can stand around chatting about last night's television programs. At the field is NOT the place to catch up on the week's events. You need to be working for your son/daughter and the whole team.

Be sure your head coach knows what coaches are at the field because this is a showcase and your son/daughter needs to be in the game in front of their visiting prospective coach. This is a very difficult dance at showcases, but when done well, it is worth gold. Managing a showcase is very different than managing a purely competitive tournament. Eventually, this thread will likely discuss that difference in detail.

After a college coach has seen your son/daughter, follow-up after a tournament in a letter written by the player. Ask for feed back, next steps, or any other open ended questions that can keep the coach engaged. After seeing your son/daughter once or twice, you should be able to gauge whether there is sincere interest on both sides. Once, you have reached that point, the negotiation for a roster spot and then other rewards might be possible.

The lesson in this discussion is that your family needs to be proactive and reach out to the college coaches. This is not a situation where a passive approach will be successful.

Board Lord; some great advice that’s why you are the man, so parents now you all know what you should do to get started.

Should parents with daughters not able to attending these showcase tournament do the same in preparation. If not; what should they do? I believe they should certainly identify the schools in which best fit their daughter’s needs and wants.

Building a resume of your child's accomplishments from freshman through first half senior year is a good practice and has nothing to do with playing soccer or not. Doing the work along the way makes it much easier to complete your college applications which ask about academics, school activities, awards, athletics, clubs, arts (music), community service, and many other individual elements. There is nothing worse than having your seventeen year old sit down in front of the on-line application screen with a complete blank stare on their face. Documenting everything incrementally makes the process more complete and lets you as the parent help to filter the important from the unimportant.

A similar discussion on how to select your core list of schools would follow regardless of showcasing or not - one list of pure academics, a second list for any activity be it a sport, a passion in the arts, or a second academic love. So, the short answer is that our BOTN Industries advice is not soccer centric.

Your question brings forward another key issue : what happens when my son/daughter might like to play soccer in college but his/her team is not showcasing and not a serious team?

Basically, such a question tells you that your child is on a team which no longer matches the needs of either the player or your family. You have three choices : [1] stay where you are, [2] guest play at specific events, or [3] move to a more serious program better aligned with your goals. (If you are asking the question, the "playing with my friends" argument is no longer strong enough as a single decision point.) As a high school freshman or sophomore, these are serious questions that require you to honestly answer. Are you ready to make the commitment to soccer above other activities in order to get to the showcases you need?

Guest playing can be a tough showcase option as you might not know your fellow players as well as you might like, but getting in front of a desired coach is the key. (Plus, there are plenty of players who look to showcase in front of specific coaches at a tournament.) Top showcases cannot take all of our Long Island teams, so while the backbiting on BOTN might be "fun" to some, the real issue is to build relationships with other teams that might allow for a smooth transition into guest playing.

We could spend hours on the ups-and-downs of standardized tests. Let's accept them as a fact of life and move on. During early junior year (Fall) or occasionally in the sophomore year (Spring), many students will take or have already taken the PSAT (a "preliminary" SAT) or the PLAN (pre-ACT) test. These can be early indicators of performance even before the formal SAT, SAT II (subject area) or ACT exams.

Your child probably has an idea of their class rank range whether that be top quarter, bottom half, or whatever. That, combined with their GPA (average), should help guide you towards schools which can exceed your child's ability (stretch), meet expectations, or provide safety. Again, the CollegeBoard.Com web site is only one vehicle of many to provide those types of college profiles.

Some great points made so far, especially the reality that academics come first.

Every parent who thinks their child may want to play soccer for whatever college they think they want to go to should look at the NCAA web site, especially

https://web1.ncaa.org/eligibilitycenter/general/index_general.html

They should download the "Guide for the College Bound Student Athlete" and read it.

Thank you for that! That is an excellent and informative guide.
May I also suggest that your child practices answering questions? My child was so tongue-tied when going on a college visit and speaking with the coach that he/she could not answer why they were interested in that college program and what they wanted to study. Have some answers ready and have a basic knowlege of that school/soccer program.
Good luck everyone!