My daughter’s path to high level college soccer and beyond
I was asked to shared this by another Redditor - how I helped my daughter achieve her goal to play D1 college soccer. She wasn’t a gifted athlete - had to outwork everyone. Started club at age 9. Rec prior from the age of 6.
She became a referree at the age of 11 and now is a sought after referee in HS, academy and club in AL. I wanted her to learn the rules and learn how to work with coaches, parents and other refs under duress. And it pays really well for the little free time she has.
Strength, conditioning and injury prevention 3x a week for 6 years prior to college. Her trainer rehabs and trains pros and D1 athletes all over the southeast and overseas. Year round. No missed games due to injury.
Futsal and indoor against boys and adult men during offseason. As many small sided game opportunities as possible. Year round.
Group training with mostly boys in small spaces. Tons of 3 v 3, 2 v 2 and 1 v 1 to develop her confidence and foot skills. Year round.
Didn’t make ECNL until her final 2 seasons - the 2004 age group was extremely talented - national champs in U16. Worked her tail off. Switched clubs to align with one of the best club director of college recruiting in the country.
She out worked everyone and her coaches saw it. I don’t recommend this extreme unless you’re child loves it and mine did. A total addict. Be prepared for the cost and time sync until your child can drive and even then I still attended many training sessions.
She’s started every game at outside back (5’9” left foot dominant) since her freshman year - nearly 70 starts including exhibition/pre season and averages 87 minutes a game throughout that span. Mid major D1. Back line allowed only 12 goals last year and 13 her freshman season. GAA .62 last year - led the nation or tied with fewest goals and GAA).
As far as college recruiting goes, go to the school where the coaches want your child really bad. Go were he/she will play. Not somewhere for you to brag due to name recognition. She had opportunities at power 4 schools. She chose the coach that wanted her really bad. 150-200 college coaches at national ECNL tourney games. It’s insane.
Learn to show and tell your child how proud you are of him/her regardless of game outcome. This was hard for me due to my competitive nature. They don’t need to be critiqued or coached by their parents. You’re there to love and support them - and feed them because they will always be starving and they’ll tell you the same.
Don’t ever leave their cleats in your car overnight. 🤢