Increase Your Exposure to Recruiters

One misconception about being recruited to play soccer in college is that all good players will be seen, get recruited, and receive a scholarship. That is 100% NOT the case. College coaches are limited to the number of scholarships they have to give out each year, so chances of receiving a scholarship your first year are not that great. Obviously there are some exceptions, but we are talking about the majority of players here.

So what does this mean? It means that you, the player, need to take the initiative to try to gain as much exposure as possible. Some ways to do this are to play on the top clubs teams in your league, participate in higher profile tournaments (i.e. State Cup, Capital Cup, Dallas Cup, Tampa Sun Bowl, Surf Cup), attend camps that you know will have college coaches attending, and participate in ODP (Olympic Development Program).

There are circumstances that will not allow everyone to be able to play for top teams in their leagues or attend the top tournaments in the nation. However, that does not mean that you don’t have options. There are other steps that you can take off the field, which in a lot of cases are more important to try to get college coaches to come see you or become aware of you. Some of these steps include the following: create a soccer resume, write letters, contact college coaches, complete questionnaires, send in a video (video should be a full game, not just highlights), and ask coaches for help or advice.

Creating a soccer resume is something that is very simple to put together and can be an important way of introducing yourself to coaches who might be unaware of who you are. Along with sending a coach your soccer resume, you should include a short letter telling them who you are and that you are interested in attending their college and would like to be considered for their soccer team. If this is available, also include a list of some upcoming tournaments or games that your team is playing in that might give the coach a chance to come and see you play.

To show further interest, you should follow your letter up with a phone call to the coach introducing yourself and asking the coach if he/she received your letter/resume and had a chance to take a look at it. Coaches want to hear from you, NOT YOUR PARENTS. Coaches want to see that you are serious and willing to take initiative. Also, NCAA rules limit coaches as to when, and how many times, they can make a call to you. But you, as a player, are not limited to calling them. So the more you are in contact, the more a coach will know who you are and take an interest in you. The most important thing is to differentiate yourself from the next player so that a coach is familiar with who you are and knows you are someone whom is serious about playing for them.

Often, when you send college coaches a letter showing interest in the school and the team, they will respond by sending you a questionnaire. If you really are serious about the school, you should complete the questionnaire and send it back fully completed and in a timely manner. In some cases the team website for the school will also have a link to a questionnaire for perspective student athletes. So take the time to complete the questionnaire and again, don’t be afraid to follow it up with a phone call to introduce yourself and make sure they have received the questionnaire. Coaches are extremely busy and sometimes things can get overlooked, so make sure you are not one of those things.

Another thing you can do, if you have the time and resources, is to send in a video of yourself playing in a game. You may have heard about people creating a highlight video of them self making a good play, scoring a nice goal, or highlighting a good pass, but that’s not what coaches want to see. They would rather see you in a game situation so they can evaluate how well you read the game, how well you perform as a player, both on and off the ball, and how you communicate and work with your teammates. The majority of coaches would rather have a player who is skillful, can perform well under pressure, make smart decisions, communicate well, play a position well, and work well with there team, over a player that can be tricky and can beat four players at a time, but loses the ball.

So now you are familiar with a few different approaches a player can take to get himself/herself recognized and familiar with the recruiting process. Don’t be afraid to ask a coach or a friend for some advice or help; just make sure you are the one being proactive. In the eyes of many, that will go a long way.