Is there a tool that college coaches use to find players, similar to swimcloud.com for swimming? Where should I create a profile for my player? When I try to google this, I am just seeing SportsRecruits which I think is a paid service. Or do players just need Youtube/Twitter and no actual profile anywhere? Sorry if this is a basic question but I'm new to this :)
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. 🤢
I can’t access this article and I was hoping someone would tell me what it says about the crisis of teenage girl soccer/football players tearing their ACL so often.
I've been playing soccer as long as I can remember but I didn't really try to take it serious for the past couple of years. I starting grinding in my sophomore year of high school and was a varsity starter for my high school (striker and cdm) but I decided to spend my last 2 years of high school abroad to develop more in soccer and get an international experience.
My junior year didn't go as planned, and while I developed somewhat as a player and definitely as a person, the academy and general soccer culture of the country I went to isn't as structured and unfortunately I lost a lot of time and opportunities and training sessions that I could've had. The soccer culture and talent is great here but unfortunately they don't work like clockwork in the US, and if you're not already a star player nobody cares much about you.
I'm about to start my senior year, and I'm nervous that my opportunity window is past. I can't go to ID Camps and things like that as I'm abroad. I am high achieving academically and I wanted to go a school that makes the most of my academic potential but a lot of them are division 1 and it looks like the recruiting period is over (not to mention that I don't have film, and I won't have any recent film for a few months because the season here doesn't start seriously until around winter).
What are my options now? I would like to play college soccer while going to a strong academic school, but I'm not sure what to do right now and if I'm at the level where I need to be. Is d3 really achievable at those strong academic schools? because I've read that most of them are full of d1-quality players who wanted a better education.
Things I'm thinking about are just emailing coaches from d3 programs or low d1 and to introduce myself and sending film later, playing club soccer (but it doesn't look like it's nearly as good of an experience as playing varsity), seeing if I can play sophomore year instead (how does it work?), trying to just be a straight walk on, etc. I'm open to all ideas. Thanks!
My student (incoming hs junior) has been emailing and texting with a D1 college coach since June 15th. They say they have been watching my student at ECNL events and that they are a potential recruit. The coach recently sent a personal invite to their ID camp in September. But- the camp is $200 and out of town for us. If they were really interested in my student, wouldn’t it be free? Is it worth it to shell out the money for the camp + hotel? If they have already been watching, is it even worth it? TIA for any advice or experience with this, this is all new to us
I wanted to help out since people in my journey have helped me in mine. I am currently a junior heading into our fall season 2026 as a walk-on. I play CM for a top 50 ranked school in the country.
Went through the dirty process and everything else to get and desire my dreams. At one point, you have to be realistic but you should also follow your path.
It also came with me choosing the right school after rejecting other opportunities. A lot of risks played with this pathway, but in the end it worked out because I knew it was going to happen. Not a matter of it, but a matter of when.
If any of you need help with recruiting or have any questions, please feel free to comment and I will do my best to reply!
Say you emailed a coach and they respond…
For the next time you email them say after a month again on an update..
Do you continue the chain or start a new email? Does continuing make it more likely for them to respond?
Hi everyone,
I’m a 20-year-old soccer player from China, and I’m currently studying at a sports university in China. I’m expected to graduate next year, but I have the option to transfer to a university in the United States.
I’m hoping to continue my education in the US while also continuing to play competitive college soccer.
I have a professional soccer background in China and have played at a high level. My main positions are defensive midfielder (CDM) and winger. I am a National Level 1 Football Player and a National Level 1 Football Referee. I also have an AFC D coaching license.
I’m currently in the US and based in New Hampshire, so I’m especially interested in schools in New England and on the East Coast. I’m open to D1, D2, or D3 programs. My main goal is to find a school where I can continue my education and have a real opportunity to compete for a place on the soccer team.
The problem is that I don’t really understand how the US college soccer recruiting and transfer process works.
I have started looking at college soccer programs and contacting coaches, but I’m not sure if I’m approaching this the right way. I also don’t know how my previous university education and soccer experience in China would affect NCAA eligibility.
I would really appreciate advice from anyone who has experience with college soccer, especially international or transfer student-athletes.
Some of my main questions are:
Should I contact college coaches directly, or apply to the university first?
How does the transfer process work for an international student who is already enrolled at a university in another country?
How does NCAA eligibility work in my situation?
Is it realistic to join a D1, D2, or D3 team as a transfer student?
How does the walk-on/tryout process work?
Is there a possibility of receiving an athletic scholarship as a transfer student?
What documents should I prepare for coaches?
Should I send a soccer resume and highlight video when contacting coaches?
Are there any websites or resources that can help me find programs that are currently recruiting?
I’m not expecting anyone to find a school for me. I mainly want to understand the correct process and learn from people who have already gone through it.
If you have any advice, personal experience, or resources that could help me get started, I would really appreciate it.
Thank you!
Hello, was just curious to see if anyone in here has had a good or even bad experience being a graduate assistant for their school or even another.
I graduate this year after being a student assistant for 4 years at my current college, and was looking into the hopes of getting one knowing it’s cheap labor and usually in demand.
How was the process of finding one, how long did it take? Things like that I’m more than welcome to hear, thank you for reading and hopefully replying.
I’m attending college this fall. I chose the school I wanted academically (D1) which is a good school but not hard to get into if you have decent grades and study a bit. This school is a half an hour drive from home.
I had a plethora amount of JUCO interest and some talks with D3’s around the country.
I made the decision to go to an ID camp for this D1 academic school back in March to get in front of the coaches, because you never know right? I manned up talked to the head coach face to face and introduced myself. Chatted for 5 mins. He said exactly what my interested showed: he told me go JUCO or D3 for 2 years and be one of the best players and stand out, it could even be one year. Told him I played semi pro this past season and he said they watch that too.
Next day emailed him for a thank you for camp, he said you don’t have to come to another camp if you decide to go college let me know and we can track your progress to see if we want you or like idk stand out. He said returning to your youth club is another option if you don’t want college ball.
June I emailed him my decision to go to this D1 school academically instead of choosing D3 or JUCO. We (family) didn’t like the programs or academic situations.
Now I’m stuck. Do i play semi pro? Do i play youth club? I feel if I play semi pro im more matured to play at the college level. Plus I want to solidify my starting spot which is at a 50/50 shared mins between another guy. But i know the recruiting pipeline is not that big.Do I attend another camp this winter if I need it? Any advice? Should I ask for a spring trial or practice session with the team?
This academic D1 was 2nd last out of 12 teams in a competitive conference in fall 2025.
I have been wanting to play college soccer my whole life. the past year I’ve drifted away a bit but I still practiced and played 3 times a week. my grades were like a 2.8 and I’m playing for a mediocre club team. in the championship division.(below premier). I’m just wondering if I should go all out and if this is still possible. if I truly lock in.
With D2 joining D1 I want to make sure I understand how this works.
Let’s say you have three kids graduating in 2028, Tom (old HS senior, born 1 Aug 2009), Dick (born 1 October 2009) and Joe (young HS senior, born 1 May 2010).
Am I reading this correct?
Since Tom will be 19 before the fall semester in 2028 his 5 year eligibility will start then. Dick and Joe will have the option of playing another year somewhere before college OR starting college that 2028 fall with 5 years of eligibility in both situations?