D3 Men's Soccer Recruiting 101

[Kuiper]

This is from a women's soccer player, but I thought it offered useful perspective and general advice on D3 recruiting at a high academic school.  No info on the specific admissions process (e.g., pre-reads etc), though.

https://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/how-i-got-recruited-to-play-d3-soccer-at-mit/

The college recruiting process can be a confusing world to maneuver for athletes and their families. The soccer recruiting process, while definitely intimidating and tiring at times, ended up being a great decision for me, as I spent all four years of college playing D3 soccer on MIT's Women's Soccer team! I was the first in my family of four kids (who all play soccer) to get recruited, so I definitely have advice for other student-athletes interested in MIT or in playing college soccer in general.

I'm a senior in college now, meaning I did my recruiting process between 2018 and 2021, so keep in mind that some of my experience may be outdated. This is how I went about the college recruiting process for soccer, and how I eventually committed to MIT. I'm not entirely sure how other sports get recruited at MIT (or at other schools, for that matter), but hopefully some of the overall principles and advice can still apply!
My Recruiting Timeline at MIT

    I went to several D1 and D3 camps starting at the end of sophomore year of high school.⁠01 I knew from the very beginning that I wanted a top-notch academic school.
    I went to an ID camp�02 at Harvard, which MIT was also attending. My mom checked out MIT's campus while I was busy playing soccer, and she immediately told me that I should give it a chance (I was surprised to learn that MIT wasn't solely devoted to STEM, which made my humanities heart glow). My interest in MIT had been piqued.
    I went to another camp in Florida in February of 2020 (literally one month before COVID shut everything down) and got to really talk with the MIT coach a lot, which made my connection to MIT feel stronger.
    I kept in touch with MIT – updating the coach on my SAT/ ACT scores, letting him know how my club games were going, and telling him the classes I was taking and the grades I was getting.
    I applied Early Action senior fall, and I was lucky enough to get in!!
    I officially committed the spring of my senior year of high school after carefully making sure MIT was the right place for me. Five months later, I was on campus stepping onto Roberts Field for the first of what would be thousands of times.

My Advice

I just want to quickly say that doing any of the things I suggest below are not necessary. I know many girls on the soccer team that did the sort of thing I did – ECNL/ GA club showcases and big recruiting events – and also others who had never played in front of the coach in person before showing up to pre-season. The journey is not the same for everyone and following this advice does not guarantee anything, but for me, these tips are all things that I found to make a difference in my recruiting process. If I had to do it all over again, I personally would do the tips I've laid out below.

    Research schools that are a good fit. Do you want to play Division 1, Division 2, or Division 3? Do you want to earn a scholarship? Does the school offer the majors you're interested in? What conference does the school play in (what teams would you be playing against)? Does the coach and team fit your vibe?
    Keep a running list of things you like about the school, their sports program, the team, and where you stand in terms of recruiting.
    Be a good communicator: respond to that email or text message from a coach within a reasonable time frame.⁠03
    Get in contact with the coach early by sending an email. Make sure your email header contains vital information, such as your name, position, graduation class, SAT score, or sport accomplishment.
    If you're going to an ID camp, make sure the coach knows you will be there in advance by sending them an email. Say hi before the camp so they have their eye on you.
    Check which coaches are coming to your tournaments. Send them an email telling them your game schedule and that you would appreciate them swinging by. After the tournament, I would sometimes make quick highlight videos and send them to the coach. Even better if you see them at your game and talk to them.
    Make a scouting video of things you are really good at (soccer examples: long passes, defensive headers, playing under pressure, scoring goals, switching the field, etc).
    You don't need to go to a million ID camps – they're expensive and time consuming, so pick and choose your priorities. I think I went to about eight camps.

    Be open minded. Sometimes you will go to a camp for one school in particular, but you will catch the eye of a different one. Don't ignore that opportunity just because they weren't the school you were originally going to the camp for. Really see what's behind that door before you decide to close it. To be 100% honest: MIT wasn't even on my huge list of schools I was considering before I happened to meet the coach at a camp. I'm beyond glad I kept an open mind.

That's all I have for now! Wishing everyone the best of luck in the recruiting process, and I hope you find the school of your dreams

[eaglesoccerdad]

I would add that the student athlete needs to think about and understand what he/she wants from the college experience. This will help narrow the list of schools to target.
Is playing for a team that will compete for postseason a priority?
is playing for a team at academically strong institution a priority (sure it would be nice if they were competitive but that isn't always possible)?
How important is playing time (i.e. will they quit/transfer if they don't get PT?)?

with regards to ID camps - most of big ones are to get a few extra $$ for the coaching staff - Villanova camp comes to mind but at least they provide specific written feedback. If going to one, would set up a formal meeting with the staff - if they won't give a you a meeting then they probably are not really interested.

when at showcases I would try to have a parent connect with every college coach watching to ask if they are interested in any particular player or position (not necessarily your own) - you will be surprised with what you find out.

[SierraFD3soccer]

I would add that the student athlete needs to think about and understand what he/she wants from the college experience. This will help narrow the list of schools to target.
Is playing for a team that will compete for postseason a priority?
is playing for a team at academically strong institution a priority (sure it would be nice if they were competitive but that isn't always possible)?
How important is playing time (i.e. will they quit/transfer if they don't get PT?)?

with regards to ID camps - most of big ones are to get a few extra $$ for the coaching staff - Villanova camp comes to mind but at least they provide specific written feedback. If going to one, would set up a formal meeting with the staff - if they won't give a you a meeting then they probably are not really interested.

when at showcases I would try to have a parent connect with every college coach watching to ask if they are interested in any particular player or position (not necessarily your own) - you will be surprised with what you find out.

All great points. Also how much is going to actually cost (short term and long term)? Will attending x college, have an big impact financially over his life? Even small could change his trajectory. We all want to set up our kids for success and money sometimes is not discussed enough or in a real way. Heard many parents say - x school costs 80k a year, but they gave Jimmy a 20k discount. All great, but 60k a year can easily still be back breaking (240k for four years).

In our experience, one coach said to me and my son that this decision would affect the next 40 years of his life! He meant it positively, but we (or at least I) had to put our emotions aside and realize the reality of the negative part. We could afford it with crazy amount of loans. If he had gone to that college, he would have been in one or two final fours over his career. However, he could have been close to $200k or more in debt upon graduation. FYI, he turned out fine in that three years out he has already paid off his school debt and is working for himself now and has a job promised by that college or even better one earning great money. He also had a fine career playing soccer.

Like buying a car especially used. If you ever truly went through that process, think of the college like a used car dealer, and, as long as you and/or Jimmy don't get emotionally involved, you can walk away to find a better deal. FYI, I've actually had dealers call me to say they can do better. Maybe not with colleges, but if you can show a clear competing offer, they might make it better. That has happened.