Do players enjoy the college soccer experience?

notsontx good info, keep in mind that on a lot of D1 competitive college teams the top 14-15 players get 80% or more of the playtime (and the money) So if you are going to be player #17 on a team you may not play much. Also regarding money, if the coach expects dd to come in and start frosh yr you should be on a full. If he says your dd will start but only offers 75%, you need to ask for a full. If he expects/hopes she will contribute she should be 50-75, if you're on less than 40-50 then the coach isn't counting on you to contribute right away, and is just taking a chance or insurance. But 50% to attend the school of your dreams can be a good thing even if you are watching the soccer team from the bench. Also be aware that most teams only travel with 18 so if you have a roster of 28, 10 girls are staying home.

Uncle Numanga wrote:

bigtex75081 wrote:A couple folks on this string have recommended that it's better to wait on committing. Committing later than sooner... How does that work? How long do you have to make a commitment to a school? How long are offers "valid"? If you wait to make a commitment to a school, do you risk losing the offer?

You are always at risk of a college offering one spot to a couple of different kids. I remember the story of a SEC school that had three recruits and their parents in a room during an unofficial visit. Said they had one spot available and the first person that commits gets it. One spoke up. There is no way I would let my dd make the choice like that but it happens.

The risk of waiting too long is that the college your dd may be interested in commits their money early and has none left by the time your dd makes up her mind.

Unc, you are right. DD was made a verbal freshman year but we decided to wait. My DD is a 2014 and we've been told no more money or not much $$ now. Right now, there is $$ for 2015s. Scholarships renew yearly and if your DD comes through, there still could be $$ the second year. Or, as we have heard, the money can get pulled after the first year. (One coach has a reputation for doing this.) The solid offer, as long as your DD meets the grade and test score requirements, is the waiver of out of state tuition. This can be significant, i.e. $10k give or take. IMO, don't go to a school if there is no way you can afford the school if something happens to that soccer scholarship. My DD absolutely loved one school that loved her but $6k at this private school wouldn't pay the meal plan. Be realistic. She/we don't need a college grad with a huge debt load when she starts her first adult job.

MaggieMaggie wrote:

Uncle Numanga wrote:

bigtex75081 wrote:A couple folks on this string have recommended that it's better to wait on committing. Committing later than sooner... How does that work? How long do you have to make a commitment to a school? How long are offers "valid"? If you wait to make a commitment to a school, do you risk losing the offer?

You are always at risk of a college offering one spot to a couple of different kids. I remember the story of a SEC school that had three recruits and their parents in a room during an unofficial visit. Said they had one spot available and the first person that commits gets it. One spoke up. There is no way I would let my dd make the choice like that but it happens.

The risk of waiting too long is that the college your dd may be interested in commits their money early and has none left by the time your dd makes up her mind.

Unc, you are right. DD was made a verbal freshman year but we decided to wait. My DD is a 2014 and we've been told no more money or not much $$ now. Right now, there is $$ for 2015s. Scholarships renew yearly and if your DD comes through, there still could be $$ the second year. Or, as we have heard, the money can get pulled after the first year. (One coach has a reputation for doing this.) The solid offer, as long as your DD meets the grade and test score requirements, is the waiver of out of state tuition. This can be significant, i.e. $10k give or take. IMO, don't go to a school if there is no way you can afford the school if something happens to that soccer scholarship. My DD absolutely loved one school that loved her but $6k at this private school wouldn't pay the meal plan. Be realistic. She/we don't need a college grad with a huge debt load when she starts her first adult job.

Great advice.

Scholarships are for 1 year and can go up and down each year. Make sure the school is a school where she wants to be, and can afford if soccer does not go as as planned.

The attrition rate at all levels in college soccer can be quite high.

Shotshagger wrote:Obviously most posters on this site are parents. If there are any athletes out there who have played college soccer, I'd like to hear from you.

Do you/did you enjoy playing soccer in college? I ask because I know of some NT kids who went on to D1 college soccer and hated it. I also know of some who loved it.

I've read that college soccer players find that their experience is completely different from club soccer. It's more like a job than recreation. Some envy students who don't play on a college team because they lead a less structured life and have more free time; they call them "Regulars." I've read that the soccer players don't feel like they're necessarily the lucky ones.

ummmmm. They hate it until they can't do it anymore. Their balls aren't sore anymore.

I presume you're posting from Washington? Congrats on the new weed legalization statutes, but it might be time to put a wrap on the celebration.

DrSoccer wrote:ekk what team did you play for? Thats a pretty wild experience

played at SBU in Missouri it was crazy. Wouldn't trade my first 3 years for anything. 2nd could have done without. I learned a lot through my experiences I learned how I want to coach and how not to coach. I also recommend looking at if the coach has a disciplined approach v laid back. I have learned that generally teams that lack discipline don't do as well on or off the field.

Great information for those of us with kids still a couple years away from the college years....

Question though... I believe that here in our North Texas Bubble we have really great soccer and you can debate how wonderful we are over and over... I'm still trying to figure out if my daughter plays in LHGCL in D1, 2, or 3 how would you compare that to playing NCAA lower D1, or 2, 3? Such as if she happens to be playing in D2 will the speed of play, physical play etc be close to Lake Highlands or is it truly a whole new level... I always thought high school soccer was going to be something special (other than school spirit and friends) and then reality kicked in - is college just an extension of that....

There is a huge spread of quality among college teams, from the strongest D1 to the weakest D3, and there is overlap among teams in different divisions. There also is overlap of teams and players in youth soccer leagues- some players in D3 are stronger than some players in D1, etc. You also have to consider the style of play that a college coach is looking for, and the style of play of the potential player. Therefore, I don't think you can say that players in a certain division of youth soccer are at the same age-adjusted level as a certain division of college soccer.

Xabeoptics.com wrote:Great information for those of us with kids still a couple years away from the college years....

Question though... I believe that here in our North Texas Bubble we have really great soccer and you can debate how wonderful we are over and over... I'm still trying to figure out if my daughter plays in LHGCL in D1, 2, or 3 how would you compare that to playing NCAA lower D1, or 2, 3? Such as if she happens to be playing in D2 will the speed of play, physical play etc be close to Lake Highlands or is it truly a whole new level... I always thought high school soccer was going to be something special (other than school spirit and friends) and then reality kicked in - is college just an extension of that....

Since there isn't an established pro league with a draft system for soccer, the D1/D2/D3/NAIA/etc. really doesn't seem to matter as much as it does with Football and Basketball. I have seen some NAIA teams that could probably kick the butt of a NCAA D1 school. Therefore, the soccer athletes go to the school that offers the major they are looking for as well as the chemistry with the coach/team. In Football, most of the D1 athletes aspire to pro ball, so they choose the program first, major second.

keep in mind each college, regardless of classification, will be trying to recruit the best players they can get, so even NAIA and D2 will be looking to ecnl then lh1, before looking to a lower divisions of youth soccer. So dd needs to be playing at the highest level of youth soccer that she can -regardless of where she wants to play in college. If your dd is playing LH D2 and you think she is good enough for D1 college soccer, you should have her tryout for ecnl since these are the girls she will be playing with/against in college. I don't think d2 or d3 translates to college soccer (scholarship) except for a very rare few, anyone else have any experience with this level of club player and d1 colleges?

Ok, I have another question. What is the process to walk onto a college soccer program? Are there official tryouts at the beginning of the year? Or do you do this much like you would trying to get recruited?

Xabeoptics.com wrote:Ok, I have another question. What is the process to walk onto a college soccer program? Are there official tryouts at the beginning of the year? Or do you do this much like you would trying to get recruited?

Communication with the coach that your intentions are to walk on the team. If you had been working on a scholarship or had been actively recruited by the school but money is no longer available he will bring you in to pre-season practice day one. Other than that , I am sure he has a date set for player wishing to walk on the opportunity to try out.

If you play D3 you will likely have tryouts. Not sure if all d3 schools do but the school i worked at last year had a tryout period it lasted about 4 days or so. I actually joined the team at my college as a"walk on" although i was recruited i had 2 senior keepers and a junior ahead of me. I red shirted my first season.I earned my scholarship the next year and had one throughout the rest of the time i played. We didnt really have tryouts but players were cut especially for things like lack of effort, not being on time, now following team rules (my first coach very strict about that 0 tolerance). D1 might be a bit trickier though. not sure how their stuff works my guess is in most cases players that walk on were recruited and maybe the school is out of money or maybe the players could have joined the recruiting game later. I would talk to individual coaches to see what their policy is.

For example:
Nov. 19, 2012








FORT WORTH - The TCU women's soccer team will be holding walk-on tryouts in early spring. The Horned Frogs just concluded their first season under the direction of head coach Eric Bell.
TCU advanced to the championship game of the Big 12 tournament after defeating the conference champions, West Virginia, 2-0 in the quarterfinals. The Frogs advanced to the championship game against Baylor after moving past Texas in penalty kicks.

Anyone interested in the tryouts are encouraged to contact director of soccer operations Ben Williams at any time. He can be reached via email at b.williams6@tcu.edu