There have been changes to the NCAA rules concerning contact between Coaches and potential recruits over the past few years.

Now that you know that you need to be thinking about college in your Sophomore and Junior year (if you read the last Issue of “Get Soccer”), here is a list of what your next steps should be.

1) Decide what schools you are interested in. You may have no idea yet or you may have a school you have wanted to attend since before you can remember. Either way, keep in mind that this will be a work in progress. You may change your mind. You may be contacted by a coach from a school that you never considered. You may visit your desired school and decide you aren’t comfortable there. At this point you are just trying to narrow down your choices and start a list. You may need to do some research. You can find College Soccer Programs listed at www.thesportsource.com or at many other websites. You can also find most University websites by typing the name of the school plus “.edu” For instance, www.Indiana.edu.

Check out College Soccer websites for helpful information. Ask your High School and Club Coaches if there are colleges they would recommend.

In your next step you are going to want to create a soccer resume and email your resume to the Soccer Coaches on your list. In the next issues of “Get Soccer”, I will talk about what to include in your resume and cover letter.

2) Sign up for ID camps that have coaches from schools on the top of your list. This is a great way to get to know several college coaches at once and to showcase your talent to them. Going to camp will allow you to work with college coaches and to see if you like their style and demeanor. Spending time with a coach on and off the field, is the best way to see if you are a good fit with each other. If you check out the “Director & Camp Staff” page of our website, you will see that the Mike Getman Soccer Camp has coaches from 12-15 different colleges. Other soccer camps may do the same.

I firmly believe there is a place in college soccer for anyone who wants it badly enough. There are over 1,000 college soccer programs. But the key is to find the right one for you. Luckily even if you are not the next Messi, there are all levels of soccer out there. Division I, II, III, NAIA & Junior College.

I get asked often about the different divisions in the NCAA and what that means to a soccer player. First, it is important to know that the different Divisions only tell you about the size of the Athletic Department. Div. I gives more scholarships than Div. II  and Div. III gives no Athletic Scholarships. That doesn’t mean a better team, just more money within the entire Athletic Dept. There tend to be more good teams in Div. I but that is only a generalization. There are many teams in Div. II that can beat teams in Div. I. That’s why each student should research schools at all levels before making their final choice.

The NAIA has completely different rules from the NCAA but are mostly smaller colleges. Some have great soccer teams. Junior Colleges offer a second chance to students who were not so successful academically. Again there are all levels of play so you have to check each school out individually. Most of the top teams in Division I have some players that started their college career at the Junior College level.

Google is a great way to find Colleges in your area. All soccer programs have websites that will give you useful information. Soccer America and TopDrawerSoccer  provide some good insights into college soccer.

Once you have identified what you are looking for, send an email to the Coaches and give them some information about yourself and ask for information on their program. The more detail you give on yourself the more detail you are likely to get back. Academic, Soccer, and family are all important details to give to the college coaches. (more information on this in a later blog)

Now that you know that you need to be thinking about college in your Sophomore and Junior year (in an earlier Issue of “Get Soccer”), and you have created your list of colleges to contact, and you know what to put in your resume, here is another step. This should be one of the first steps you should take.

Ask your High School and Club Coaches whether or not they think you are College material and what level team they think you could make. There is a level for almost every High School player that wants to play in College. There are levels by Division and levels by how seriously the College pursues a winning Soccer Team.

Then ask your Coach if he would contact the College Coaches at the Colleges you are interested in. They can send a quick email to those Coaches, letting them know of your interest and describing your talents. And of course making themselves available to answer any questions about you. If they personally know any College Coaches, that can make the contact even more effective.

Your High School and Club Coaches are a great resource, use them.

As a continuation of the step by step guide to recruiting, this issue will focus on Academics.

Don’t let your grades limit your choices. Make sure you have the grades necessary to be admitted to the College you want to attend.

Make sure you take the ACT or SAT as soon as you can and take it as often as you can. It won’t hurt to take a practice test or to get help in preparing for the test. The higher your score, the more schools will be interested in you.

One of the first things most college coaches look at is your GPA and your Test Scores. I know you get tired of hearing it, but it is important. Most colleges offer more Academic Scholarships then Soccer Scholarships. The more effort you put in the classroom, the more soccer opportunities you will have.

If a college can help pay your costs thru academic scholarship, the coach doesn’t have to spend as much money out of his scholarship budget to help you.  Most colleges will “stack” academic and athletic money.  This means you might receive more financial help then if you have to rely on Athletic Scholarship money only.

To be eligible to play Division I sports, an athlete must have roughly a 2.30 GPA and an ACT score of 18. The NCAA has a sliding scale so the higher your GPA the lower your ACT or SAT score can be. To be eligible to play NCAA Division I Soccer a student with a 2.3 GPA must have at least a 980 on the SAT. A student with a 3.0 GPA is eligible with a 720 SAT score.

It is important to remember that a student-athlete must be admitted to the University and meet NCAA Standards. Each school will have its own admissions guidelines and you can usually find these posted on their website. The NCAA Standards can be found at www.NCAA.org.

Every few years the NCAA will raise its academic standards. Make sure you know the standards that are expected of you to ensure your eligibility.

Division II and Division III have different standards from NCAA Division I. You need to understand the rules for all the schools and Divisions you might be interested in.

No matter what your current GPA and test scores, there is a college that meets your level. With over a thousand college soccer programs in the country, there is a place for everyone. The harder you work in school, the more options you will have.

If you just finished your High School career, I hope you have found the college that fits you best and offers everything you want in an education and soccer program.

If you are in your Junior or Senior year, now is the time to be making coaches aware of who you are and what you have to offer as a person, student, and player see it here. If you are in your Senior year, you may be playing catch up with some schools, but there are still opportunities out there. Start contacting coaches and making them aware of your interest.

If you are going into your Sophomore year, it wouldn’t hurt to begin the process, as the earlier a coach knows of your interest the more chances he will have to see you play. But it’s early and you may not yet know what schools and/or career path you are interested in. Take this time to explore your options and your interests.

Create a Soccer Resume and Cover Letter

The Cover Letter tells coaches that you are interested in their school and asks them to send you more information about their college and their soccer program. Include information about any upcoming events (tournaments or camps) that you will be playing in. Make sure you personalize your letter. Use the coach’s name, not just “Dear Coach”. Most coaches receive hundreds of emails and letters so make sure they don’t think that this is just a form letter that you are mass mailing. If you have something personal you can say about why you are interested in their program/school then include it. The more personal the better.

In your Resume, include the following:

1. Your Name and Contact Information
2. Your grade point average and SAT or ACT Scores if you have them.
3. The teams you play on, with the Coaches names and contact information.
4. Any outstanding team accomplishments.
5. Any outstanding personal academic or athletic accomplishments.
6. Your height, weight, and what position you play.
7. A list of references; former coaches or other people who can speak well about you. Include phone numbers and email addresses.

The more details you can provide about yourself, the easier it is for coaches to get to know you. The less you provide, the more the coach has to dig and search to learn about you. The more time he must invest, the less likely he will do it. Make his job easy. Provide all the details you can.

Now it’s time to get your resume to the Coaches on your list. You can get their email addresses and regular mail address from the following sources.

Top Drawer Soccer has a list of every soccer team from every division. Their site Topdrawersoccer.com can give you contact information as well as a complete schedule for each team. They also have a link to each teams official website.

www.thesportsource.com also has a complete guide to colleges and their sports programs.

You can also do an internet search for any school or soccer team, ie Indiana or Indiana Soccer. Choose the “Official Site” and follow the links to “Staff Directory”. Click on the soccer coach’s name or email address and you are ready to send your information. If you type www.schoolname.edu, you will find the official website for almost any university or college. example: www.Indiana.edu

Now what about sending a video? Video has become a vital part of the recruiting process. If the video is done well it can help the coach get a better idea quickly about whether you would be a good fit for his/her program. If the camera work is not done well and it is difficult for the coach to tell which player is which, then it’s better left out. Ideally you will send a Highligh Video and a whole game video. Highlight videos give the coach a quick (2-3 minute) glipse of how you play. If the coach likes your Highlights, they will want to see a full game. What do you do for 90 minutes? Can you defend? Do you work hard? These things are not in your Highlights.

Coaches are very busy people. If you want them to take the time to watch your video, then it needs to be of reasonable quality. The camera angle should be high enough that at least 1/3 of the field is visible find this. Ground level video is good for highlights but terrible for watching a game. The camera needs to be on a tri-pod so it is steady. If the camera is bouncing up and down, you will give the coach a headache and he will stop watching.

Make sure you choose a game in which you played well. You don’t want to show off lots of mistakes. Ideally the opponent is also good. If your team wins 10-0 the coaches will have a hard time judging if you are that good or if your opponent is that bad.

Video can be a hard item to put together. It takes some time. But a good video is worth a thousand words and it shows the coach you are serious about what you are doing.

How or when to contact college coaches. The rules can be complicated and they change from year to year. This is a basic guide, but you can find all the details at www.ncaa.com. If you have sent out your resume as I spoke about in the Get Soccer Newsletter and made other attempts to let the College Coaches know of your interest, then what are the NCAA rules Coaches must follow about contacting prospects?

Coaches may not call you or return your phone calls until after June 15 leading into your Junior year of High School. After that date, they can call you whenever they wish. Before this time, they can answer your calls and speak with you on the phone, but only if you placed the call.

Coaches can send you a letter or email after June 15 leading into your Junior year. Before that, they can only send you a recruiting questionnaire and information on their camps. They cannot send you any recruiting information before September 1 of your Junior year, even if you sent them something first.

Coaches cannot have direct contact with you off their college campus before August 1 proceeding your Junior year. If you bump in to a coach at one of your games, he can say hello and be polite, but he is not allowed to have any recruiting conversation with you or your parents.

College coaches can speak with your Club or High School coach almost anytime. Most college coaches will call your coaches to learn about your interests and to follow up on any communication you may have sent them. This is typically one of the first steps a college coach will take.

Contact on the college campus is a different thing. Once you step foot on the college campus, the coach is allowed to speak with you or your parents. Full blown recruiting conversations are acceptable once you are on campus. These “unofficial” visits are a great way to get to know the coach and the school. The coaches can show you around campus and answer all of your questions. This is becoming a bigger and bigger part of the recruiting process. These visits are now restricted to your Junior and Senior years in High School.

Participating in a College ID Camp is another great way to get to know college coaches. They can work with you on the field and see how you handle yourself off the field as well. You will also get to know the coaches much better when you are spending that much time together. How do you fit with the personality of the coach? Is this someone you want to spend the next 4 years of your life with? Camp is a great way to find out.