College Recruiting Tips from Coach Kenny Arena
Thursday, 04 October 2007
Recruiting has been my main objective since becoming a Division 1 college soccer coach. In upcoming articles I will discuss some important topics that many prospective student-athletes and parents are not aware of when they enter their first day of high school.
I will begin with the one of the most important issues for any prospective student-athlete that wants to play Division 1 soccer; being an academic qualifier by the NCAA Clearinghouse’s standards. If you do not complete the academic standards, you will not be allowed to step foot on the field for a Division 1 team. For example, at the bare minimum a prospective student athlete must have a 2.0 Cumulative Core Grade Point Average. This GPA comes from the grades received in core classes only. By this standard, the cumulative core GPA could be significantly different than the student-athletes’ overall GPA. Please review the core GPA to SAT score scale below at the link provided below.
GPA/SAT Score Scale
There are also guidelines for how many and which core courses you need to take in your four years of high school. The link provided shows the number of core classes needed to be eligible to play in Division I and Division II.
Core Course Guideline
The NCAA has also determined which classes from each high school will be accepted. Please see the following link.
Accepted Classes
Every high school in the United States can be looked up and the acceptable core courses can be reviewed.
I think it is crucial for prospective student-athletes and parents to understand these NCAA rules from the first day of high school. Since getting into college soccer, the most upsetting moments so far have been informing a prospective student-athletes that not only can they not play for us, but they can’t play for any Division I team. In all of these cases, neither the parents nor the student-athletes knew of these NCAA standards.
I will begin with the one of the most important issues for any prospective student-athlete that wants to play Division 1 soccer; being an academic qualifier by the NCAA Clearinghouse’s standards. If you do not complete the academic standards, you will not be allowed to step foot on the field for a Division 1 team. For example, at the bare minimum a prospective student athlete must have a 2.0 Cumulative Core Grade Point Average. This GPA comes from the grades received in core classes only. By this standard, the cumulative core GPA could be significantly different than the student-athletes’ overall GPA. Please review the core GPA to SAT score scale below at the link provided below.
GPA/SAT Score Scale
There are also guidelines for how many and which core courses you need to take in your four years of high school. The link provided shows the number of core classes needed to be eligible to play in Division I and Division II.
Core Course Guideline
The NCAA has also determined which classes from each high school will be accepted. Please see the following link.
Accepted Classes
Every high school in the United States can be looked up and the acceptable core courses can be reviewed.
I think it is crucial for prospective student-athletes and parents to understand these NCAA rules from the first day of high school. Since getting into college soccer, the most upsetting moments so far have been informing a prospective student-athletes that not only can they not play for us, but they can’t play for any Division I team. In all of these cases, neither the parents nor the student-athletes knew of these NCAA standards.
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