College Soccer

[Jatt]

How is college soccer in USA? What are some tips for athletes to get recruited? What level of soccer is DIV 1?

[redsforlife]

college soccer is actually a pretty low level in my opinion. the very best teams are pretty good, but most of the teams suck. Div 1 is supposed to be the highest, but there are teams from all the divisions that are as good as any team. if you are interested in playing college in the states i recommend you try to play Div 2 or NAIA, because they have less recruitment restrictions and have more money for scholarships in some cases. the level you play at will probably be about the same no matter what division you play its just more people pay attention to D1, because it supposed to be better.  college soccer is a low level, but i guess its not that bad, because i had a friend of mine who played with me in college and later played for a few professional teams in europe who said that the average team was about the same level as 5th division in europe based on talent. the difference being that the 5th division teams were fitter and more organized mainly.

[TJ Hooker]

^^^ what he said. D2 is actually a much higher level these days, and i have seen the best from Nor. Cal go to DII schools and have more offers than ever. Some tips to get recruited is you have to talk to them. It is not europe,and most people do not give a shit about soccer, so its your job to ask them to come watch you play. Also, they look for athletic ability so much, so if you are fast, show that. An easy way to do that, is if your team loses the ball, run after the guy making a run at your goal and strip him (my friend did this often, and is now playin at metro state in colorado). Jump for EVERY header, and more importantly have some swagger about you. Scouts love a player with some attitude ( confidence is the key for everything), and be real loud. These things will easily land you some try outs. Guaranteed. Good luck man

[Jatt]

ya im going to contact a lot of universities soon. my resume is that my team won USL super y league north american championship in florida. im gonna contact div 1 schools mostly. i also hired a guy who's gonna help me make a internet profile and contact coaches etc. what are the chances of going pro after university? also, my plan is to attend a good university and then go abroad (europe etc) to play pro. this way i have a back degree as well. any advice?

[redsforlife]

well to go pro in the states you almost have to play D1 eventhough there are alot of players just as good in the other divisions. for some reason the scouts just don't look at them. most players from other divisions that go pro do it overseas. the other thing that you need to do especially if you want to play overseas is to make contacts with people who know about how professional football works. for example through my experience playing NAIA college soccer which many teams have ex-pro players, i managed to meet a couple people from brasil and europe that could get me a trial for a team if i liked.  just try to gain these connections if you really want to play professionally, because they are just as important as being good. there are alot of people who manage to get on teams, because of connections and just as many who never make a team, because they don't have the connections.

[TJ Hooker]

ya im going to contact a lot of universities soon. my resume is that my team won USL super y league north american championship in florida. im gonna contact div 1 schools mostly. i also hired a guy who's gonna help me make a internet profile and contact coaches etc. what are the chances of going pro after university? also, my plan is to attend a good university and then go abroad (europe etc) to play pro. this way i have a back degree as well. any advice?

When i was in high school, my councellor showed me statistics of 0.1 percent go professional from D1 and 0.01 percent of high school players go professional. Because you are contacting D 1 schools though, make sure your money is game is right, because even if they like you, scholarship money for D1 is so low, no matter how good your grades are or if your ronaldinho. I have only heard of 1 player getting a full ride to d1 and he is on the U.S. national team. My advice is while you were on off season, try and travel to europe and get some open try outs, because honestly, it is extremely extremely rare that european scouts come to watch D1 soccer in the states as it mostly laughed upon.

Also, are you a boss on your team? Because when you got college soccer, it is so different than Canadian soccer. It is so much faster, way more physical, and wayyyyy better players. I assume you play for the whitecaps? an average team in Nor.cal is about the same level as that. So train hard, and work on sticking out, because there are so many players that are amazing, but they are shadowed along with many other amazing players. 330 million (?) I believe in the U.S, as opposed to Canada's 33 million. Good luck man.

[Normando]

Probably playing D3 soccer next year. Adi gave me advice on getting to play in college and you really need to get out there and contact coaches and attend their camps and let them know you want to play there. D1 soccer varies, teams like Maryland, national champs, play ugly football, I would know I go to there games... But others play decent, the pace is fast and the play is physical, but it's definitely a step down from any pro level

[Jatt]

yes my goal is to get a scholarship for a good team/university in general making sure it is the right fit for academics too. i would like to go to a big university where there are more fans etc. i just want a good experience so when i finish, i can play abroad. i have a uefa licended coach based in canada who will help me get tryouts in europe. any suggestions/advice? so its hard to get a div 1 full ride? i can play for University of british colombia or simon fraser university for a decent scholarship but i know that american soccer would be much better in general. and how many times do university teams train in a week? whats the training like? i wish they train every day of the week, so players can get a professional experience and bond together as a team in general? weight training?

[redsforlife]

full scholarship for a D1 college will be almost impossible unless you are already at a high professional level, but D2 and NAIA schools have more money and tend to have more full-ride players.  if you have someone who is advertising you to teams like you said, you should be able to get a decent, but you almost have to be god to get a full-ride D1.  most college teams train minimum of 5 days a week, and my old school used to train 7 days a week depending how pissed off our coach was at the moment. we only did weight training on our own at my school, but the coach normally gave us a sheet and expected us to record what we did.  my only recommendation is that you do not hold out for a full-ride somewhere, and take a good scholarship if it is offered.  also try to go on visits if they are possible, so you can meet some of the players and get their opinions on the coaches. this is important, because  there are many coaches that are complete assholes, and you do not want to dedicate that much time to a coach you hate.  if you can go to a big school i recommend it, because it will be boring on weekends at small schools where everyone goes home. also you have more choices academically at big schools.

[Jatt]

thanks man good points. my resume for right now(grade 11) is-
Member of Vancouver Whitecaps Mountain WFC U16 (USL) Super -Y -League North American Champions
Part of Everton F.C Invitation Trial, OZ Dome (Ottawa) (youngest player at 14)
Part of Vancouver Whitecaps Prospects U16 (USL)
Member of Accelerated European Football Academy (Ekrem Maglajlija -UEFA Licensed Coach)
Soccer Dreams Canadian Reality T.V Show 2007 Finalist
Member of Surrey Selects U18 Boys "A" Metro Program
Princess Margaret Secondary School Team Captain, MVP, Scoring Leader - 2008

I'm going to give this my helper /agent and he will soon start contacting coaches etc. ill of course tell him that im interested in high level soccer.

[TJ Hooker]

thanks man good points. my resume for right now(grade 11) is-
Member of Vancouver Whitecaps Mountain WFC U16 (USL) Super -Y -League North American Champions
Part of Everton F.C Invitation Trial, OZ Dome (Ottawa) (youngest player at 14)Part of Vancouver Whitecaps Prospects U16 (USL)
Member of Accelerated European Football Academy (Ekrem Maglajlija -UEFA Licensed Coach)
Soccer Dreams Canadian Reality T.V Show 2007 Finalist
Member of Surrey Selects U18 Boys "A" Metro Program
Princess Margaret Secondary School Team Captain, MVP, Scoring Leader - 2008

I'm going to give this my helper /agent and he will soon start contacting coaches etc. ill of course tell him that im interested in high level soccer.

I highlighted the ones that the coaches will be remotely impressed with. The rest I am telling you right now will not matter, because they are going to watch how you play, and fit with the program, not what you have done before. I was one of the worst on my team, but got an offer from a D2 university because I was creative on the attack so they thought i would fit in better than some of the other better players.

I don't think your taking the advice seriously in this topic man. Your picking out what you wanna hear, and what sounds best. Your so stuck on getting a full ride to D1 but like i said, I only seen 1 person do that, and he is probably going to be in the MLS after his freshman year at Duke. We are from America so we know what the programs are like, and everything everyone is saying is the truth. You need to be an absolute phenom for some of the goals your expecting to accomplish. D1 alone is hard to go pro from, and there is not a huge school where a lot of people go to the games. Soccer is not popular here, its seen as a pussy sport.

good luck though man, dont learn the hard way and listen to the people here. Be smart about this.

[TheGodEmperor]

TJ I think the USL and Whitecaps stuff is impressive

it shows that you have experience on a very high level