Starting the D3 Recruiting Process

Started by ToddFather, February 26, 2023, 12:39:57 AM

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d4_Pace

It definitely seems a newer trend for the New England schools and I would imagine its not common outside of the NESCAC. I think only one school had one when I left the NESCAC in 2019.

The timing definitely happens faster than you would think, but I want to emphasize that it will be different for everyone. I ended up not committing till Tufts until December of my senior year and applying ED2 with soccer support and things worked out fine.

Hopkins92

Yeah, I think it moves from must have (midwest and northeast) to nice to have (mid-atlantic) to not really necessary (points south and west coast). And in the nice to have spaces, if you have a turf field, there's really not a very compelling reason to pony up for a field house.

Kuiper

Quote from: Hopkins92 on March 15, 2023, 10:53:45 AM
Yeah, I think it moves from must have (midwest and northeast) to nice to have (mid-atlantic) to not really necessary (points south and west coast). And in the nice to have spaces, if you have a turf field, there's really not a very compelling reason to pony up for a field house.

This is a fair description, although there are such a large number of D3 programs in the midwest and northeast that the fieldhouse could easily be one of the things you look for in your college search.  It makes the difference in winter captain's practices and in spring team practices.

And since ToddFather is coming from the west coast, I should note that the northwest is differently situated than socal because of the rain and cold.  For example, Pacific Lutheran has Olson Fieldhouse, which has a soccer field (https://www.plu.edu/recreations/experience/rec-facilities/).

ToddFather

100% makes sense.  I appreciate you all sharing on the facility front!  Definitely something to be mindful of...and coming from SoCal, an important thing for sure. :)

Changing gears a bit here...I'm curious what are some of the top questions my son should be asking coaches during the recruiting process?  Of course, there are the obvious things about school, campus, academic/athletic balance, etc.  But anything not so obvious (e.g. does practice time ever conflict with class time, etc.)?

Would love any thoughts that will help to better prepare him for these discussions.  Thanks!

Kuiper

Quote from: ToddFather on March 19, 2023, 04:46:58 PM
100% makes sense.  I appreciate you all sharing on the facility front!  Definitely something to be mindful of...and coming from SoCal, an important thing for sure. :)

Changing gears a bit here...I'm curious what are some of the top questions my son should be asking coaches during the recruiting process?  Of course, there are the obvious things about school, campus, academic/athletic balance, etc.  But anything not so obvious (e.g. does practice time ever conflict with class time, etc.)?

Would love any thoughts that will help to better prepare him for these discussions.  Thanks!

You can find a lot of sites that give a bunch of generic questions you can use with your son to help develop your own.  Here's one that's pretty extensive (although not geared to DIII specifically, so you wouldn't ask about athletic scholarships or red shirts, for instance)

https://www.arizonasoccerclub.com/page/show/2478643-questions-to-ask-a-college-coach

My advice would be to really research a program and then ask questions that you can't find answers to on their website.  For example, if they have 40 players on their roster and there is no indication of a reserve or JV team schedule, then ask about it and how the coach manages that size squad.  If they do, however, then you can ask (after they have seen you) whether you are being recruited for the varsity or reserve team, if there is movement between the two teams, and if so, at what point in a player's career.  I wouldn't ask about a team's playing style, however, without first watching some game recordings from last season (and if they don't have them easily accessible on the website; ask if they have a link).  Then, if something is unclear, ask about it.  For example, if they play differently from game-to-game, use different formations, or different players play differently (e.g., one GK always punts and another throws or distributes with his feet - is that directed from the bench or just personal style/decision-making).  That shows you can watch and understand the game and you are interested in the details.   It's also not bad to ask real questions that also put yourself in a good light (e.g., will I have access to balls and field space to do extra work), but you don't want to lay it on too thick.

By the way, on the practice time issue, that is something that some coaches will proudly tell you when they start really recruiting your player (usually the higher academics want parents to know that practices don't conflict with classes) and others you have to ask.  One clue, though, is to see if their practice field has lights.  It gets dark awfully early in other parts of the country compared to Socal, especially later in the season and after the time change. 


ToddFather

Hi All,

Quick update.  My son has started reaching out to coaches and getting a decent amount of responses. 

While he has been sending his highlight video, most have responded thanking him and saying the best way for them to evaluate him is to come to one of their ID camps in person.  I know it's probably hard to evaluate a player purely on video...but on the flip side, it's also hard for us to assess how much of this is genuine interest vs. just "come to our camp" and we'll see.  I recognize the importance of being seen live, but being on the west coast and time/cost restrictions, it's probably not feasible for us to travel to so many camps...especially ones in the northeast.

So, I'm curious if you all have any advice on how to handle this/manage this with coaches?  Are there any questions he can ask (via email) that will help to better assess how much interest there truly is?  Is it appropriate to ask if they will also be on the West Coast at any point (a few have asked for his tournament/showcase schedules)?  Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

Viking

Quote from: ToddFather on May 02, 2023, 02:56:59 PMMost [coaches] have responded thanking him and saying the best way for them to evaluate him is to come to one of their ID camps in person. I know it's probably hard to evaluate a player purely on video...but on the flip side, it's also hard for us to assess how much of this is genuine interest vs. just "come to our camp" and we'll see. I recognize the importance of being seen live, but being on the west coast and time/cost restrictions, it's probably not feasible for us to travel to so many camps...especially ones in the northeast.

The challenges of this process when home is far from the parts of the country where D3 programs are most densely clustered are formidable. Even so, no matter how far away you are, I can't understate how important it is to go to school-specific on-campus ID camps. But it's not because they're the best way for coaches to evaluate your son. It's because they're the best way for your son to evaluate them. It's a two-way street. From personal experience, single-school, on-campus ID camps are the only reliable way to get a comprehensive read on a program -- its full staff (not just those participating in recruiting), the way training sessions are run, its philosophical or tactical priorities, its facilities from top to bottom (fields and locker room), its position in campus culture, its climate, its food, where facilities are relative to the rest of campus, prospective future teammates (many participate in the camps), even what potential future road trips are like. I'd believe the way a program presents itself in a training session more than the way it presents itself in an Instagram account, an email, or maybe even a one-on-one meeting with the assistant who's recruiting your son. And top of that, you usually get at least one insider's campus tour that can often feel more authentic than the usual admissions tour.

There's no way you can attend a lot of them, but even a couple of carefully curated ID camps can make a huge difference, and not just with soccer recruitment. For example, in a worst-case scenario, if the ID camps are totally sobering and ultimately prove that soccer isn't the pathway to a great college experience, your son will have completed a few additional real tours as part of the process that will help make comparisons and ultimately a final decision (e.g. "Yeah, those ID camps where horrible and depressing but going to a few of them helped me learn that I don't like non-urban liberal arts colleges as much as I thought I did.")

BTW all of the above is also the reason that massive, multi-day, multi-program ID camps aren't worth it IMO, especially when they're not based at a target campus. Yes, you may get seen, but all the reciprocal benefits are diluted.

Kuiper

Quote from: ToddFather on May 02, 2023, 02:56:59 PM
Hi All,

Quick update.  My son has started reaching out to coaches and getting a decent amount of responses. 

While he has been sending his highlight video, most have responded thanking him and saying the best way for them to evaluate him is to come to one of their ID camps in person.  I know it's probably hard to evaluate a player purely on video...but on the flip side, it's also hard for us to assess how much of this is genuine interest vs. just "come to our camp" and we'll see.  I recognize the importance of being seen live, but being on the west coast and time/cost restrictions, it's probably not feasible for us to travel to so many camps...especially ones in the northeast.

So, I'm curious if you all have any advice on how to handle this/manage this with coaches?  Are there any questions he can ask (via email) that will help to better assess how much interest there truly is?  Is it appropriate to ask if they will also be on the West Coast at any point (a few have asked for his tournament/showcase schedules)?  Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

As a practical matter, you will need to attend some ID camps in the summer between Sophomore and Junior year, even if you aren't super serious about any of them yet, if for no other reason than to give your kid a sense of the New England or Mid-Atlantic schools (assuming you are targeting some of those), how remote they are, how long the trip is (including whether there are direct flights and the length of the drive after the flight even if its direct), and to see whether your kid feels comfortable with the New England prep school kids, especially from boarding schools (it's definitely a different vibe from the kids at a lot of the west coast schools, even academically elite private schools, and it's often far less diverse if your kid has grown up playing in club with Spanish-speaking players etc).  As Viking said, it also gives you a little bit of a sense of the style of play, the fields etc.  We almost never play on fields in Socal with thick long grass for instance.  I do think you can go to a multi-school camp, but try to make it on one college's campus.  So, for example, if you go to Peak Performance Academy's camps when they are hosted by Amherst, you'll usually get other D3 schools like Hamilton, Wesleyan, Conn College, Vassar, St. Lawrence, Bates etc.  Not as good as smaller camps, but if you've primed all the coaches that you are coming and interested, it can be OK if your kid is also assertive about introducing himself etc.

My suggestion is that you have your kid respond to the coaches who sent the most personalized letters and that are at schools that meet some of your non-soccer criteria in terms of academic quality, strength in your preferred areas (e.g., STEM or Humanities), size of school, location etc and ask if they can arrange a phone call.  If the coach responds and is willing, that tells your kid something about their level of interest.  Not a huge amount, but it tells something.  Your kid can explain that it is a big trip and cost and they want to be able to explain to their parents that the school is serious about their level of interest so they will green light the trip.  From the conversation alone your son might learn something about the school and the coach and it will probably get the coach to watch the video again before the call.  Then, I would pick a couple that make sense geographically and timing-wise.  You can also tour 1-2 more even if they aren't having an ID camp that works with the others in the area and let the coach know you're coming.  They want to know you're serious and that can help.  This is all a multi-thousand dollar investment, but if you're serious about sending your son to school across-the-country, it's kind of penny-wise and pound-foolish to not do it if you can swing it.

In addition, I would sign up for the Elite Colleges Soccer Camps run by Rod Laufaurie of Occidental (held at the Glendale Sports Complex).  Their July camp has Wash U, Carnegie Mellon, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, Cal Tech, and Occidental.  They typically run winter and spring break camps too and they're probably the best one on the West Coast at bringing in D3 schools.  I think Bowdoin and Swarthmore were there over the Winter.  That will get your son seen by a few more places at a much lower travel cost.

Finally, I don't know what platform your kid is playing with (MLS Next, ECNL, EA etc), but make sure you are sending out game schedules whenever he plays, especially if he is traveling east.  Locally, Surf Cup gets some D3 coaches and he might be able to guest play if his team isn't going.  It's not what it used to be, but it's still on the circuit for many coaches.

soccerpapa

I have another take on this.  If coaches aren't asking for full game film and their first response is come to a camp then I would be cautious.   My son was invited to every camp for the colleges he sent game film.   

My son would not change a thing regarding his recruitment process and how it ended up.  At the time I am sure he wishes he could have gone to camps all over the country for all the schools that showed "interest" but he/we knew at the end of the day it was 4 more years of soccer experience while having a built in support system at school as he prepared for the rest of his life. 

Camps are the extra money makers for coaches - the more the merrier.  If you can swing a camp but are looking at it as a college visit that makes sense.  To strictly travel that far for the camp I would think twice unless the coach has shown significant interest and your son plays at top level club (in which case coaches are likely reaching out to you).

Like it or not athletics are a business at all levels of the NCAA.  D1:  name recognition, TV deals etc.  D3 purpose is to help fill the classrooms and dorms. 

WUfootyfather

Quote from: ToddFather on May 02, 2023, 02:56:59 PM
Hi All,

Quick update.  My son has started reaching out to coaches and getting a decent amount of responses. 

While he has been sending his highlight video, most have responded thanking him and saying the best way for them to evaluate him is to come to one of their ID camps in person.  I know it's probably hard to evaluate a player purely on video...but on the flip side, it's also hard for us to assess how much of this is genuine interest vs. just "come to our camp" and we'll see.  I recognize the importance of being seen live, but being on the west coast and time/cost restrictions, it's probably not feasible for us to travel to so many camps...especially ones in the northeast.

So, I'm curious if you all have any advice on how to handle this/manage this with coaches?  Are there any questions he can ask (via email) that will help to better assess how much interest there truly is?  Is it appropriate to ask if they will also be on the West Coast at any point (a few have asked for his tournament/showcase schedules)?  Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

In my experience with my son's recruitment, you can weed out who is interested and who is not by who keeps in contact via phone calls and text messages.  My son got tons of emails inviting him to ID camps.  He would follow up asking the coaches if they could personally evaluate the videos that he sent.  Also asking how many recruits will be at the camp, and how many recruits were offered roster spots in past years from ID camps.  I would only attend the ID camps for the schools you are most interested in attending.
If the coach doesn't respond with a personal message, email, or phone call, I would take that as them not being interested.
We sent out probably 50 emails with highlight videos to D3 coaches around Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.  Got legitimate personal responses from around 20 coaches and offers for roster spots from 8. 

ToddFather


Thanks all for the responses here.  All have been incredibly helpful!  Some very good advice.

My son has continued to receive some emails and these suggestions are really helping us get a broader sense on "what to look for" in the responses/communication (though I realize it's early still). 

Most are simply thanking him for his email, passing along ID camp info, and either asking for his game schedule or simply saying to stay in touch.  I'm guessing that most are not focused on sophomores (class of 2025) too much right now, but I could be wrong.  I'm curious at what point the process picks up (early junior year/mid-way through after the fall season, etc.)?

Thanks again!

Kuiper

Quote from: ToddFather on May 15, 2023, 08:34:23 PM

Thanks all for the responses here.  All have been incredibly helpful!  Some very good advice.

My son has continued to receive some emails and these suggestions are really helping us get a broader sense on "what to look for" in the responses/communication (though I realize it's early still). 

Most are simply thanking him for his email, passing along ID camp info, and either asking for his game schedule or simply saying to stay in touch.  I'm guessing that most are not focused on sophomores (class of 2025) too much right now, but I could be wrong.  I'm curious at what point the process picks up (early junior year/mid-way through after the fall season, etc.)?

Thanks again!

Congrats!  For D3 schools, the process really picks up spring of Junior year, although usually you've had months of contact with some coaches before that, by email, text, and a bunch of phone/Zoom calls.  Spring of Junior year, though, is when coaches at many D3 schools have to narrow down their lists and decide who they will submit to their admissions office for pre-reads.  That's why they start asking for transcripts and figuring out who might be an academic match.  At most schools, they can't do those pre-reads until July 1 or thereabouts, but they need to get their ducks in a row for a large group of players since not all players will follow through.  The pre-read from admissions isn't a guarantee of admissions, but probably ranges from an ambiguous "they're in the pool of plausible candidates" to a more specific "we will most likely admit them, assuming everything else in the file checks out, if you rank them in one of your X number of slots we give you."  Then, coaches have to decide whether to use one of their slots/recommendations/preferences on your kid among all the kids who got favorable reviews from admissions, which depends upon what kids commit to go through the early decision process with that school from the larger pool who went through pre-reads.  That's why many kids tend to be "committed" around September, but all that means is they are committing to the process of applying early decision as of the first date (around Nov. 15), which means a kid really knows they are committed once they hear back on ED.

Ejay

Quote from: Kuiper on May 15, 2023, 08:55:14 PM
Quote from: ToddFather on May 15, 2023, 08:34:23 PM

Thanks all for the responses here.  All have been incredibly helpful!  Some very good advice.

My son has continued to receive some emails and these suggestions are really helping us get a broader sense on "what to look for" in the responses/communication (though I realize it's early still). 

Most are simply thanking him for his email, passing along ID camp info, and either asking for his game schedule or simply saying to stay in touch.  I'm guessing that most are not focused on sophomores (class of 2025) too much right now, but I could be wrong.  I'm curious at what point the process picks up (early junior year/mid-way through after the fall season, etc.)?

Thanks again!

Congrats!  For D3 schools, the process really picks up spring of Junior year, although usually you've had months of contact with some coaches before that, by email, text, and a bunch of phone/Zoom calls.  Spring of Junior year, though, is when coaches at many D3 schools have to narrow down their lists and decide who they will submit to their admissions office for pre-reads.  That's why they start asking for transcripts and figuring out who might be an academic match.  At most schools, they can't do those pre-reads until July 1 or thereabouts, but they need to get their ducks in a row for a large group of players since not all players will follow through.  The pre-read from admissions isn't a guarantee of admissions, but probably ranges from an ambiguous "they're in the pool of plausible candidates" to a more specific "we will most likely admit them, assuming everything else in the file checks out, if you rank them in one of your X number of slots we give you."  Then, coaches have to decide whether to use one of their slots/recommendations/preferences on your kid among all the kids who got favorable reviews from admissions, which depends upon what kids commit to go through the early decision process with that school from the larger pool who went through pre-reads.  That's why many kids tend to be "committed" around September, but all that means is they are committing to the process of applying early decision as of the first date (around Nov. 15), which means a kid really knows they are committed once they hear back on ED.

I found the pre-read and September commitments to be largely limited to NESCAC, UAA and handful of other schools. But a very large percentage of D3 programs are less limiting. My son "committed" in January of Sr. year, and there were several coaches at very good programs that were still inviting him to campus. And some others who saw him play in March tournaments were still asking if he was looking. In today's age of 30-40 man rosters, there's usually plenty of opportunities to find good schools late into Sr. year.

Another Mom

#43
The stronger the soccer program, the earlier their recruiting wraps up. Because they want to lock in the best players. I know most know this, but for anyone reading this thread in the future, that's why D1 recruiting finishes earlier (as a rule!!)  than D3. And the top d3 programs finish before lower ranked programs. Which has *nothing* to do with the academic quality of the school, of course.  My son's year Skidmore was still focused on kids in their senior year in January (so, a few months before those kids graduated). It's an excellent school!


Another Mom

Adding -- which is why in addition to academic reach/target/safety schools, an athlete needs to figure out which schools are SOCCER reach/target/safety schools. Too many kids target the high profile programs, while neglecting weaker soccer teams. The smart recruit has a mix.