Daughter is a rising junior soccer player looking to play in NESCAC. She is trying to decide whether to go abroad this summer or stay home to attend ID camps. Do the NESCAC schools find more of their top recruits for ‘28 this summer or throughout the junior year (and/or summer before senior year)?
Now is the time to get on coaches’ radar screens, so they can be in the recruiting process junior year. I had a boy go through soccer recruiting; I was under the impression girls’ recruiting started earlier than boys’.
That said, depending on how much time she wants to spend abroad, it could be possible to do both. Many (most?) schools have more than one camp over the summer. Is she in touch with coaches already? If not, she should start her outreach now.
Eta: I realize I didn’t answer your question. The nescac coaches have already been identifying players they want to watch since 9th grade. That’s the pool of players they are potentially interested in. Your daughter needs to be in that pool, and she gets there by coaches seeing her play, and by her proactively emailing coaches ahead of tournaments etc, ideally with video of her. That pool is expanding now, but shrinks over time as coaches and players figure out their best fit.
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Thank you! Yes, she has been in touch with a few coaches and a few have seen her play at showcases. I was just curious if that pool shrinks drastically over the pre-junior summer. Just trying to understand the trade-off she’ll be making by missing most of the ID camp opportunities.
It’s a marathon not a sprint. Obviously prioritize going to schools where you think the fit might be best.
It is not the number of times she’s seen. If she’s good enough being seen once (anywhere) could be enough to generate a lot of interest. Conversely, being seen more times does not help a weak(er) player get recruited.
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I know of two women’s soccer players who weren’t (obviously) on the radar of NESCAC coaches (and weren’t at the tippy-top clubs in the region), went to ID camps in the summer between sophomore and junior year, balled out, and found themselves with offers to multiple NESCACs in time for pre-reads in junior year. Your daughter should be doing the work @cinnamon1212 suggests, and also the ID camps can matter.
Good luck!
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PS one more thing. This time next year is when NESCAC coaches are entering the home stretch and finalizing who they are making offers to. They are asking their top recruits for preread materials so Admissions is ready to go on July 1. So, just getting seen at this time next year will mean it is an uphill battle to stand out compared to players the coach is already pretty certain they will offer.
So, this summer is a prime time to be seen. Of course, not knowing the European plans, it’s impossible to say which is more important.
But also do you have a sense of where she falls in terms of playing ability? ID camps have literally hundreds of players that have no chance of an offer (you kind of have to be one of the 10 best players to stand out at an ID camp (I might be exaggerating slightly. But not by much!)). It would be a shame to give up European travel if there isn’t going to be a NESCAC payoff.
Important: ask your daughter’s club coach where they think she can play.
And I don’t mean to insult your daughter – you’ve given no details, so I do realize she could be a superstar! I am just trying to throw out all the factors that could be weighed in your situation.
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If she’s a superstar, I’d say go to Europe. Coaches will be okay seeing her on film, at fall games, at any other events.
If she’s not that good, I’d say go to Europe. Going to camps or showcases is not going to have her stand out among 200-500 kids on the field.
It’s the player that is right on the borderline who needs to spend the summer getting good coaching and standing out at a camp or showcase.
What does she want to do? Can she get into a NESCAC based solely on grades and test scores or does she need the boost from the coach? Would she be happy going to another LAC and playing for that team like F&M, Gettysburg, one of the Ohio LACs?
I agree with @cinnamon1212 that you need to assess her abilities and talk to her club coach. I watched a lot of lacrosse when my daughter was in school and I thought she was pretty good but knew a lot of kids who were much better; she was better than I’d assessed her abilities. She did the showcase circuit the summer between jr and sr years, and that was enough to get her many offers (one from a coach who was reffing at one showcase and love the way D played). The offers were from D1, D2 and D3 schools. Many were from schools she wasn’t interested in (LACs). The D1 schools were not top programs (back in 2014 most of the D1 spots were filled in sophomore year and she didn’t think she wanted to play in college at that time). In the end, she went to a school I found by reading an article in the sport’s magazine about the new coach at that school, she applied and sent her videos from the showcases and hs play, and that was enough. That coach had never been to a showcase to recruit. The showcases were with her club team, but they are a madhouse of 700 players in the heat, playing in 20 minute games, college coaches running from field to field…
I’d go to Europe!
TLDR: Do what she wants to do. Going to camps is no guarantee coaches will even see her. Not going is not a death sentence for playing at NESCAC if she does the extra work of sending videos to coaches, following up, or getting her fall play seen by coaches if there any events she can attend during her junior year (holiday camps?).
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Part of the answer may depend on where you live (in New England, close to these schools) and whether her club team plays at the tournaments coaches attend for scouting. Iow, whether or not the coaches can/will see her otherwise.
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Thanks everyone - this is helpful! We’re not in New England but a lot of the NESCAC coaches do attend the ECNL showcases she goes to in the fall. And she will definitely do as many of the junior year spring ID camps as possible so we wouldn’t be trying to start from scratch at this time next year. I was just afraid that if the schools she likes choose most of their top recruits this summer that she’d miss her chance with them. She’s leaning toward the trip so hopefully there will still be enough opportunities throughout her junior year.
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I’m not sure it’s clear enough in this thread: in June and July (now), NESCAC soccer coaches are very focused on their rising senior recruits (class of 2027 at the moment), and even into the fall. July 1 is when NESCACs can officially make offers to rising seniors. Though they have a good idea of their top recruits, coaches know not all their offers will get a yes. They will be in the process of sorting through offers and decisions for some time yet.
Few rising junior players (class of 2028) will get much real attention, except maybe the stars. Coaches aren’t thinking about rising juniors right now. (Also, many of the rising juniors are still sorting out whether they want to pursue D1, which is the level where 2028s are being recruited.)
IMO the main reason to go to summer clinics is if the travel would be difficult during the fall or spring. (One downside is that it’s hard to get much sense of what the campus is like when it’s closed.)
Many if not most colleges have at least one clinic in the fall, consider trying to go if these schools are still a target. It’s a way to show interest, and become a real person to the coaches.
Absolutely contact them if they are attending a showcase or other event your player is at.
Also, consider going to an ID clinic or two for a school that isn’t your player’s top priority, before the target schools. ID clinics have a somewhat different dynamic, even than the many other tryouts your D has been through to get to this point.
And make a plan to get any testing (eg SAT) done by mid-spring of junior year, or sooner if possible.
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