@cinnamon1212 is right, my soccer player is in middle school.
I’m not really asking specifically for him. I’m on College Confidential for my high schooler, but I love learning about education, and I get curious and I ask questions, even though it’s way too early to know whether this situation will actually apply. I’m just curious.
My high schooler, I can kind of look into the future and imagine where he might end up in college, or what he might study. He runs XC and has decent times. His coach says he could be D3 material, but while he loves running, he doesn’t need to compete the way his brother seems to. So, if the schools he ends up liking have XC teams where he’d be competitive, he might joining one, but he won’t pick a school based on XC. If he ends up somewhere without a team, or with a team he can’t be on, he’ll just keep running.
But my middle school soccer player, is a much more intense kid, and if there’s an option to play in college he’ll want to play in college. His coaches say that he’s D1 material or that he reminds them of specific kids who have gone on to D1, but there is a lot of time between now and then, and he could change his mind, or tear a ligament, or get distracted by girls, or sidelined by puberty. Similarly, he’s very strong academically right now, but who knows. If I had to guess I’d say he’ll want a STEM major in a selective school where he can play soccer. But he’s 12, so at this point I’m not asking about specific schools. I’m just really being curious, because that’s my nature.
I’m not asking whether the coach would still help him get in. I get that it doesn’t work that way.
I’m asking if he approached coaches after he got in, maybe coaches he had talked to earlier and declined support from, or coaches he didn’t reach out to, but who might have been interested if he had, is there a chance he could still get a roster spot.
Keep their grades up. While soccer could help him get admitted to a school, do not count on soccer carrying much weight for admission. Solid grades will increase his college opportunities tremendously–with or without soccer.
Play the sport for the love of the sport. Aside from a very few sports, there are not many college scholarships available for men, and a lot that can happen in the meantime. The journey has to be worthwhile by itself.
For you
there is lots of good advice available on CC, but you should also track some players in your town or club program who are a little older to see what they do and what they learn. Most of the parents we knew were (appropriately) pretty coy up until their kid made a commitment, but once that happened they were very willing to open up about their process.
If all goes well with his soccer career, there are different things that being a recruited athlete can get your kid. Know what you are looking for and what the schools can offer.
My 2023 grad is a soccer player, got a pre-read for Caltech (D3) and since his grades were good and he was looking at other schools so we had told the coach we will do EA. We are from CA, financially we did not get any scholarship and are full pay but I know players from OOS locations did get aid, it is hard for me to know if they went through pre-read . I did not want to commit to ED just in case if any parent has a job loss.
It really is up to the coach if they take walk-ons, have try outs, or always fill the teams with recruits. Honestly, the higher ranked the team is, the less likely they’ll take walk-ons, especially freshmen. There are some teams at some schools that never take walk-ons, and other schools that are always looking for more players.
And if you commit to Williams or Amherst and before the actual ED application is sent in, the Dream D1 School calls… how awful is it to then say, I’m sorry, I think I’m going in another direction?
I wouldn’t call it awful at all. The process isn’t perfect and there are situations where recruits acting in good faith will change their minds, or their options will unexpectedly change.
I’m assuming we’re talking about a case where perhaps the recruit has done D1 visits, support isn’t offered, and a decision was (happily, hopefully) made for the D3. Then a slot opens at the D1 and support is offered.
That does happen and I think the key is just being honest, respectful, and timely with communications. (As appropriate, obviously).
Ideally part of that process was the recruit telling that D1 coach before committing to the D3 that the D1 would be the first choice but a decision is needed now by the D3. That is sometimes enough to get a D1 coach off the fence.
Ultimately recruits need to find the right fit and I think most coaches understand the difference between a recruit playing games vs. responding to changing circumstances. (To me, playing games would be committing and then continuing to actively pursue other options; that recruit would be better just waiting to commit imo).