Hi, looking for information for my S22 on soccer recruitment for NJCAA. He needs some extra time to develop academically, which is why we want him to consider junior college. Also, he is is lacking the connections many players have because he does not play club (90+ minutes away and other fall commitments). He is one of the best keepers in the area as a sophomore, and we are projecting height of 6’3”+. (Sister is 6’1”.)
Anyway… I can’t seem to find much info on recruiting timeline for NJCAA. When should he start contacting coaches? I’m also wondering what else we need to know. It appears there are rules for playing time if you are out of state. We are in TX and he would very much like to go west coast (WA, CA) and have a dorm experience. He doesn’t need a scholarship to attend. Any info or advice in this process would be appreciated.
Perhaps also consider a post-gap program at a boarding school strong in soccer rather than a CC, then go to a 4 year college from there. Also, he is young and will likely mature a lot over the next couple of years.
I have thought seriously about PG year. While we can afford it, I have decided I just can’t invest that kind of money on a kid that may or may not have a four year college in his future. Also, while he may be able to play D1, I’m not sure he wants to and it probably wouldn’t be good for a kid that already struggles with academics.
Fingers crossed on the maturity front. It’s interesting getting some insight into his work habits since he’s doing online school now. I’ll just say… yikes.
@gkunion is definitely the poster whose advice would be best!
If considering a PG year, go to a school that is known for its soccer program, like South Kent, Berkshire, Northwood or High Mowing. There’s another school, Putnam Science in CT that is new and mostly (all?) internationals. There are others, these are just the ones I know. This would have the benefit of allowing him to develop academically while also slotting into super connected programs and coaches. Northwood or South Kent might be the first schools I’d recommend looking into.
I can’t really give much info on junior colleges, but know they recruit at showcases. And some are powerhouses. My son’s team from Oxford Emory made the NJCAA national championships, and those teams were really good, to my eye as good as NCAA D3 schools, and with some players that could play D1. The best teams had a lot of internationals on them.
I would imagine getting video to coaches, in addition to filling out recruit forms and emailing coaches would be a good idea. I know there are GK specific things coaches want to see in videos.
I know a 90 minute drive is awful, but club soccer is really important. We did a 1 hour 15 min. commute four times a week ( 2 1/2 hours round trip) starting at age 11 and continuing for 3 years. We live in a rural area and there were absolutely no other clubs any closer. So just know that people do do that, especially if playing in college is a goal. And some drive farther if the team is Academy.
I suppose you could rely on attending ID camps and guest playing in tournaments, when those are resumed instead of playing club.
You have plenty of time, good idea to start thinking about the various paths to playing in college!
We just can’t do club. He is in drumline in the fall and that’s almost as important to him right now as soccer.
As a goalie, I’m honestly not sure there’s much benefit to playing club, aside from the obvious exposure. I’m not very impressed with the club goalies I see in high school. I really don’t think it would improve his ability enough to make it worthwhile, even if he didn’t have the fall conflict. He was getting training with a GK coach and we will hopefully get back to that soon.
While I would say that for any player with ambitions it is important to play club because of the frequency of practice and experience with many games (and with GK specific training) I will also say that my 6’3" son who played GK for Oxford Emory also did not play club soccer
How he managed to play in college is that he went to a prep school, and was seen at the prep jamboree held in September that pretty much all New England prep schools attend (along with hundreds of coaches). He also had the benefit of having perhaps the best player in the US at his school, and the two of them practiced together every day for hours, the other boy shooting, and my son in the net. Not really a path anyone else could replicate but it does show that there are many ways to get to the same point.
Interesting story! I’m sure if my S does make it to the next level, it will be on an alternative route like that. I’m just thankful that he is having fun with with it, because academics are definitely not making him feel good right now.
As far as training goes, it might be more than some might assume? In season (Nov-March/April), he has a 45 minute in-period workout (half field work/half weight room) and then a 90 minute after school workout on the field. He gets a LOT of practice in the net. At the beginning of the season, he was EXHASTED. He does not get goalie-specific training during the high school season, we definitely miss out there. Years ago, played for a small-town club with an excellent GK trainer so he thankfully has that foundation to build off of. I also like him to supplement with a keeper trainer off-season, when time permits… Maybe some camps this summer, too, with all the money we save not doing club. ?
@murray93 I’m not familiar with NJCAA recruiting, but my S22 is in the midst of the recruiting process as a keeper.
I guess my first question would be which activity will be most important over the next few years, drumline or soccer. It sounds as if drumline wins out currently since you’d rather stay home for that than travel to soccer. How does he manage drumline and high school soccer at the same time?
I’ll echo @cinnamon1212 and suggest that high level club is valuable for both practice frequency, demonstrated commitment, strong competition and potential exposure to recruiting.
A gap year at a strong soccer prep school could make an enormous difference in terms of recruiting trajectory, especially if your son is as talented as you suggest. An extra year for keepers to grow, fill out and mature can make a successful transition to college soccer much more likely. I’m sure a Junior College can provide similar benefits, though the right prep school would most likely ensure the better recruiting opportunity.
As for keeper specific recruiting suggestions I would recommend identifying 10-15 schools at a minimum that your son would like to contact. Formulate an introductory email and send it to each school individually. Make sure you address it to every coach at each school because you never know who’s in charge of recruiting. The best case scenario would be to include a highlight video with that introductory email.
If you plan to make a video here is what I’d suggest for keepers. First, try to keep it to 5 minutes or less. There are a lot of skills you’ll want to highlight so I’d limit yourself to 3 clips per skill.
Start with saves first, but be sure to show 1v1’s, reaction saves, low dives to either side and high balls. Don’t discount the importance of showing the correct positioning in relation to the goal mouth and the incoming shot/attack. Coaches will look at the footwork employed to get to the shots as well. Did the keeper catch and maintain control of the shot? If deflected, punched or parried away was it strong enough to get the ball away from other offensive players ensuring no follow up shot?
Show how he deals with corners and crosses. Organizing the defense is key here. Starting position is important. How does he react to inswingers and outswingers? Is he decisive and dominant in the air and in crowds? Does he catch balls when able and does he punch them away when necessary? If he’s quick to distribute the ball upfield accurately after catching a ball I’d let that footage play out.
As stated above, quick and effective distribution of the ball is an important skill to represent in your video. For my son’s video he transitioned from crosses to distribution by including a final cross that he quickly threw hard and low to an attacking mid at a full sprint up the sideline. After that he arranged traditional distribution clips where teammates passed it back and he switched fields, both under pressure and not. Show strong passes on the ground as well as accurate balls over the top to teammates.
My son is a sweeper keeper so he had clips of him coming off his line hard and fast to deal with through balls behind the defense, but outside his 18 yard box. He also had clips of him getting to balls just before the attacker where he dribbled around them and connected a long pass. He specifically hoped to demonstrate his speed, athleticism and excellent feet.
The last skills he showed were goalkicks and punts. Show long and accurate kicks, all well beyond mid-field if possible to demonstrate leg strength and skill.
Some people recommend creating a training video. We haven’t done that yet, but we might not have a choice since there aren’t going to be games anytime soon, so footage will be sparse.
S prefers soccer over band, but is unwilling to quit band. Here in Texas, high school soccer is a winter sport so there is no overlap with band/football. But there is 100% overlap between club and band. We made the decision early on to let him enjoy multiple activities as opposed to focus on one. I realize it could severely limit him, but I don’t think he has any regrets yet.
Thanks for the pointers on video! Right now the only video we have is Hudl which is taken by the JV players, so the quality varies from bad to worse. (And their comments are quite entertaining, they are clearly under the impression they can’t be heard LOL). Should I try to get my own footage next year, now that this season appears to be over? (Aside: we were not done with our season when Covid hit and would have gone deep in playoffs and are losing a key player this year. ?)
As an aside, it isn’t a bad thing for a GK to be on a weak team – that way they see a lot of action!
Another way, that would get attention, would be to play over the summer on a USL 2 team if that is possible. That’s a team that has many college kids and kids with pro aspirations playing on it.
I guess another question is: what’s the end goal here? To just keep playing soccer because he loves it? To have soccer help get him into a school he otherwise wouldn’t get in? What are his academic goals? Why is he going to college?
Because he can skip the recruiting and club and ID Clinics etc and either try to walk on, or if he goes to a 4 year school (and maybe for a JC, don’t know) he could play club soccer in college (many colleges have club teams that play other college’s club teams).
On rereading I see you don’t want to invest in a PG year. I will say both South Kent and Northwood have players that are very focused on the athletic piece and not so much on the academic side, so they might have experience with kids with your son’s profile.
I totally understand the quality issue. We utilized a lot of video taken by other clubs because every game played needs to be available for US Soccer. I downloaded a free video editing program called VSDC that allows you to take out the audio and leave the video silent, or you can add your own music. That might be a good option for you to avoid the “commentary.” Getting your own footage in the future is a good idea. Luckily, keeper parents can generally aim a video camera at the goal with a fairly wide field of view and hit record. We don’t necessarily need to stand there and follow the action, we actually get to watch the game!
