Playing College Soccer

verbal commitment

97keepersdad wrote:How can a 2015 graduate show a college commitment?

Every name on the list is a verbal. Signing day is in February.

Uncle Numanga wrote:

97keepersdad wrote:How can a 2015 graduate show a college commitment?

Every name on the list is a verbal. Signing day is in February.

How do you make a verbal when a college coach is not suppose to communicate with a sophomore(2015)?

97keepersdad wrote:

Uncle Numanga wrote:

97keepersdad wrote:How can a 2015 graduate show a college commitment?

Every name on the list is a verbal. Signing day is in February.

How do you make a verbal when a college coach is not suppose to communicate with a sophomore(2015)?

They can't call you but you can call them. If you contact them, they can talk to you. You can also make unofficial visits at any time and they can talk with you that way. College camps also give you a chance to talk with the coaches. It's never to early to start sending them your video and player profile sheet. This will at least get you on their radar. The players/parents that are proactive will usually get some good offers. You have to make things happen. If you wait around for them to find you, you will have limited offers unless you are one of the best prospects in the country.

futboldude wrote:

97keepersdad wrote:

Uncle Numanga wrote:

97keepersdad wrote:How can a 2015 graduate show a college commitment?

Every name on the list is a verbal. Signing day is in February.

How do you make a verbal when a college coach is not suppose to communicate with a sophomore(2015)?

They can't call you but you can call them. If you contact them, they can talk to you. You can also make unofficial visits at any time and they can talk with you that way. College camps also give you a chance to talk with the coaches. It's never to early to start sending them your video and player profile sheet. This will at least get you on their radar. The players/parents that are proactive will usually get some good offers. You have to make things happen. If you wait around for them to find you, you will have limited offers unless you are one of the best prospects in the country.

But even by contacting them or talking with them at camps, as a sophomore are they allowed to make a verbal with you?

97keepersdad wrote:

futboldude wrote:

97keepersdad wrote:

Uncle Numanga wrote:

97keepersdad wrote:How can a 2015 graduate show a college commitment?

Every name on the list is a verbal. Signing day is in February.

How do you make a verbal when a college coach is not suppose to communicate with a sophomore(2015)?

They can't call you but you can call them. If you contact them, they can talk to you. You can also make unofficial visits at any time and they can talk with you that way. College camps also give you a chance to talk with the coaches. It's never to early to start sending them your video and player profile sheet. This will at least get you on their radar. The players/parents that are proactive will usually get some good offers. You have to make things happen. If you wait around for them to find you, you will have limited offers unless you are one of the best prospects in the country.

But even by contacting them or talking with them at camps, as a sophomore are they allowed to make a verbal with you?

They sure can, but both parties keep in mind, it's a verbal commitment which means almost nothing. Now, I'm not sure about at camps, but during a visit or a player initiated phone call, they can express interest.

Now, a coach has more to lose than the player if they break the verbal commitment, because word will get around that they are not good on their word.

But either party can break that verbal commitment.

Does anyone know how often that happens? I seem to recall it has happened... but don't remember the details.

Nothing is guaranteed until that Tuesday in February of their senior year.

My dd has visited with several colleges and coaches during her freshman and sophomore year, and during unofficial visits they are free to discuss whatever they want with the child. They are allowed to talk all they want if you initiate the discussions and contact.

golgolgol wrote:

97keepersdad wrote:

futboldude wrote:

97keepersdad wrote:

Uncle Numanga wrote:

97keepersdad wrote:How can a 2015 graduate show a college commitment?

Every name on the list is a verbal. Signing day is in February.

How do you make a verbal when a college coach is not suppose to communicate with a sophomore(2015)?

They can't call you but you can call them. If you contact them, they can talk to you. You can also make unofficial visits at any time and they can talk with you that way. College camps also give you a chance to talk with the coaches. It's never to early to start sending them your video and player profile sheet. This will at least get you on their radar. The players/parents that are proactive will usually get some good offers. You have to make things happen. If you wait around for them to find you, you will have limited offers unless you are one of the best prospects in the country.

But even by contacting them or talking with them at camps, as a sophomore are they allowed to make a verbal with you?

They sure can, but both parties keep in mind, it's a verbal commitment which means almost nothing. Now, I'm not sure about at camps, but during a visit or a player initiated phone call, they can express interest.

Now, a coach has more to lose than the player if they break the verbal commitment, because word will get around that they are not good on their word.

But either party can break that verbal commitment.

Does anyone know how often that happens? I seem to recall it has happened... but don't remember the details.

Nothing is guaranteed until that Tuesday in February of their senior year.

My dd has visited with several colleges and coaches during her freshman and sophomore year, and during unofficial visits they are free to discuss whatever they want with the child. They are allowed to talk all they want if you initiate the discussions and contact.

Good to know. Thanks for the info.

It's not real common, but sometimes even 8th graders will get offers and make a verbal committment. Not sure if it has ever happened in soccer but it happens in other sports. An 8th grader at Prestonwood had a verbal to play basketball at Kansas and did sign a National Letter of Intent when it was time to do so.

So how the heck does that work.. You are chatting on the phone with the Coach and they say so would you like to come and play for USC and your daughter says sure. Seems like it would be easy to say I never talked to her or I never said that.

Offsides wrote:So how the heck does that work.. You are chatting on the phone with the Coach and they say so would you like to come and play for USC and your daughter says sure. Seems like it would be easy to say I never talked to her or I never said that.

They also talk with the club coach or DOC. Our coach, at the time, got a firm commitment on money before any of his girls committed. The college coach will state the offer to the parents as well. There is more than the kid in the loop.

So can someone go over like details on how it all goes down.. like went to visit and coach called or you called. Like how much went inot it before actually getting to the point of being recruitted. I just find the details interesting since again I have no clue and it is intersting to hear from the folks that have been through this with their kids or themselves.

Offsides wrote:So can someone go over like details on how it all goes down.. like went to visit and coach called or you called. Like how much went inot it before actually getting to the point of being recruitted. I just find the details interesting since again I have no clue and it is intersting to hear from the folks that have been through this with their kids or themselves.

hopefully others will chime in here, as I won't be able to answer this until February 2014.

In my dd's case, all calls went through the club coach. Any college that had an interest would ask him to have my dd call. She was required to call every coach that showed interest. That not only helped her to learn to communicate and ask questions but also left the door open for future recruits from her club. My dd kept a spreadsheet of all the schools she talked to and ones where she left a message. If she had interest after the initial conversation, she would call them every week. Once she had it down to a few schools, we went and visited. After a couple of visits, she found the right fit for her, a combination of coach, school and girls already there. She committed over the summer between her sophomore and junior year. We started collecting the requisite attire and watched as many soccer, football and baseball games as we could. She and I went to her official visit in the fall and they treated the recruits like queens. One of the funnest times she has ever had. She is thrilled with her decision and we are thrilled for her.

In response to your inquiry, I did not play soccer or any sport at the collegiate level. I'm not saying parents can't be realistic evaluators of their DD's talent level, but most are not (especially at the U11 through U14 levels when you haven't seen the deep talent pool outside North Texas). Many of the comments by UC were spot on. My DD's club coach fielded calls from coaches starting her freshman year, which he passed on to my DD. She was required to call the college coach back, then call her club coach afterward to provide a synopsis. You call EVERY college coach that expresses interest. It builds your DD's confidence. When the college coaches call later and are really serious, she'll be better prepared to react appropriately.

Every DD is different, but at least in the early stages, I would not recommend a parent participate in the calls. Most club coaches don't want to deal with parents, so you can only imagine how little a college coach wants to speak with you. They will speak with you when they feel they need/have to. One of the first opportunities to speak with a college coach is during a first unofficial visit to campus. In several instances, an assistant coach will take your DD off to see the weight room, workout facilities, etc., leaving you with the coach. I think they did this to see if the DD they are looking at has nutty, intrusive parents. If you are one, they'll smoke you out quick and look at somone else's DD.

Things to ABSOLUTELY avoid when speaking with college coaches:

1. Anything having to do with your DD's abilities/skills/accomplishments. Shameless promotion is a great way of driving a coach off immediately and labeling you as a potential problem.
2. Bringing up the subject of potential scholarship money before they bring it up.
3. Do not speak with them at ECNL or showcase events. If they want to speak with you or your daughter, they will call you (and speaking off campus can be an NCAA violation). A nod or a "hi" is fine.

UC's advice to keep a log is very important. We kept a notebook with copies of all emails, dates and times of phone calls (whether answered or not - - this will help later when you're trying to figure out the best times to call and actually speak with them). When you're dealing with a bunches of emails and calls, keeping things organized is important.

Some advice for you - - go on unofficial visits as early as you think you can get invited. Go whether your DD likes the school or not. Like phone calls, it builds experience and confidence. Later, when you go to schools where how you interact really matters with a school you really like, your DD would have already answered some of the important questions they ask. In addition, we went to some schools we thought we would like that we eliminated early in the process. Other schools we initially weren't so sure about ended up being serious contenders at the end.

My DD made her verbal commitment in her sophomore year. It was the right time for her, but only because she had visited a bunch of schools and had spoken with a LOT of coaches. This may be a bit early for most girls, but there are many factors to consider.

The last interesting tidbit is the effect the phone call your DD has to make to coaches at schools she did not select. In some cases, it only reinforced why she didn't select the coach/school.

Offsides, regarding an 11-yr old’s path to college soccer, I wish I had good insight for you but I apparently suck at planning DDs’ future soccer careers. My oldest just completed four years playing for a large NCAA D1 school, and she only played rec and high school. We spent most of our weekends hiking and camping, never spent a dime on a club and had no college intentions, until a proactive well-connected nutty HS coach “carried her flag”, promoted her, sent video, etc. That was my talented and cheap one. My ’99, ’95, and ’03 DDs are in various combinations of D1, rec, school, special skills, and academy, and it’s looking highly probable that I will lose all of them to volleyball, boys, band and cello, despite my brilliant surgically-precise strategies. (I'm learning to like volleyball, but still holding out hope for my 03)

All I can add to the good advice above is to love ‘em, guide ‘em, and be their biggest supporters/fans (whatever they do.) That helps some with their confidence, passion and internal drive. Without these the rest is immaterial.

FYI, The flow in our particular case - HS coach pulled all the strings and made all the arrangements; team scout made general introductory call to DD; Scout attended a HS game; Scout visited DD in the field house after the game (HS coach said "DD there's someone I'd like you to meet...."; Letter of interest arrives in mail (Lots of marketing literature begin showing up from said college); College coach called DD; College coach and an assistant coach visited family at home (locked nervous over-talkative mom in the garage); DD visited campus to meet with coaches, discuss DD video, observe a practice (happened to be a weight room workout day) and was entertained out on the town by a few players who drew the short end of the stick (just some pizza at a pizza joint, ..so they tell me); Committed verbally; Signed.

SteamingBean wrote:Offsides, regarding an 11-yr old’s path to college soccer, I wish I had good insight for you but I apparently suck at planning DDs’ future soccer careers. My oldest just completed four years playing for a large NCAA D1 school, and she only played rec and high school. We spent most of our weekends hiking and camping, never spent a dime on a club and had no college intentions, until a proactive well-connected nutty HS coach “carried her flag”, promoted her, sent video, etc. That was my talented and cheap one. My ’99, ’95, and ’03 DDs are in various combinations of D1, rec, school, special skills, and academy, and it’s looking highly probable that I will lose all of them to volleyball, boys, band and cello, despite my brilliant surgically-precise strategies. (I'm learning to like volleyball, but still holding out hope for my 03)

All I can add to the good advice above is to love ‘em, guide ‘em, and be their biggest supporters/fans (whatever they do.) That helps some with their confidence, passion and internal drive. Without these the rest is immaterial.

FYI, The flow in our particular case - HS coach pulled all the strings and made all the arrangements; team scout made general introductory call to DD; Scout attended a HS game; Scout visited DD in the field house after the game (HS coach said "DD there's someone I'd like you to meet...."; Letter of interest arrives in mail (Lots of marketing literature begin showing up from said college); College coach called DD; College coach and an assistant coach visited family at home (locked nervous over-talkative mom in the garage); DD visited campus to meet with coaches, discuss DD video, observe a practice (happened to be a weight room workout day) and was entertained out on the town by a few players who drew the short end of the stick (just some pizza at a pizza joint, ..so they tell me); Committed verbally; Signed.

Great Stories. Looks like there are a lot of different paths to get there. When does one need to really start looking and contacting. This actually sounds like it will be a fun experience for us if she continues to play.