Recruiting: College Soccer Showcases

For high school and club soccer players, the arrival of spring signals the beginning of tournament season and, for many, attending the all-important college showcase tournaments. The stakes are high but it’s not bragging rights or a tournament trophy that’s on the line, these athletes are showcasing their soccer talent and skills hoping to attract the attention of the soccer coach from the college of their dreams.

College soccer showcase tournaments have rapidly grown in popularity over the past few years with major sponsorship support from companies like Under Armour, Nike, Puma, Adidas, Toyota, Gatorade, College Soccer Tours and SC Premiere Sports Management. The tournaments are designed to promote the highest levels of competition in youth soccer by drawing from the best state, regional and national level teams from all over the country. They provide college coaches a chance to evaluate young players for possible recruitment to their college teams and, for players, an important opportunity to be seen.

There are many additional benefits for soccer players attending these showcase tournaments: Exposure to top teams and players in the U.S and internationally, and to play at some of the best soccer facilities in the country. A few of the tournaments also feature great college teams playing in “friendly” or round robin games which provide young players and their families an opportunity to view a variety of elite college players and school teams in action.

The first thing to remember about college showcase soccer tournaments is that, no matter how well-run the event is, how well you play, and which coaches are present, simply showing up and playing is not nearly enough to have every division 1, II or III coach in the nation beating a path to your door. It’s important to do your homework, plan ahead and make informed choices.

Most of the top tournaments are invitational so getting accepted into the tournament may be the first obstacle a team must overcome. A little advance planning may be necessary to help your team collect the required tournament experience and points to get accepted into these tournaments. Some showcase tournaments are not truly competitive. That is, although the competition on the field may be top notch, the tournament subscribes to the ‘everyone plays’ approach to allow all the players on a team to get exposure to the college coaches. Often, there are no playoffs or finals and the team coach can choose the number of games the team will play during the tournament. This is especially good for the athletes since no one benefits from playing two games a day throughout the tournament and burning out, or possibly injuring, the athletes.

When choosing college showcase tournaments, it’s important to remember that the best ones are not necessarily the same for boys and girls. Find out which coaches will actually be attending. Coaches, not schools. Will it be the head coach, assistant coach, or a junior assistant at the tournament? Does the person attending have the power to recruit if they like what they see? Some of the top tournaments for women in the U.S. are:

Although the college coaches are not allowed, by NCAA rules, to speak directly with the athletes at these showcases, the athletes can contact the coaches directly by email or phone before the tournament to invite them to watch them play. It’s particularly important to note that college coaches expect to hear from the athletes themselves, not their parents. Contact the coaches early and update them about specifics on playing times and fields. Many of the tournaments also offer, for a fee, a player profile form for participating athletes to fill out and update for attending coaches to view.

For most college coaches, the trend for evaluating young soccer athletes has evolved from an emphasis on recruitment through high schools to club and tournament recruitment. Since most recruitment is based on play, the almost year-long club and tournament season provides coaches more time to see players in action and the showcases allow the coaches to cover more players in a shorter period of time. It’s far easier to make determinations of a player’s athleticism, size, speed, movement, technical skills, team and personal attitude at a showcase than by watching a video. But don’t forget to follow up after the tournament by providing the coaches with a well-produced highlights video, too!

NCAA rules: summer & vacation jobs

If you plan on getting a summer job, then be sure you know the NCAA Regulations regarding prospective student-athlete employment.

Listed below is some important information that all current and prospective student-athletes, alumni, athletics representatives, and fans should know.

For example, if you plan on getting a job (summer or otherwise) then you should know the NCAA Regulations regarding prospective student-athlete employment.The org has strict rules about the amount and source of employment income a student-athlete may receive during the academic year so read carefully.

Division 1
Non-athletics award winners

A college’s athletic department can hire you as long as the college did not award you an athletic scholarship or recruit you. However, you cannot start the job until you’ve completed your senior year of high school. To apply for the job, you must use the college’s regular employment procedures, such as a bulletin board listing or newspaper ad; and if you’re hired, you can be paid only at the job’s going rate for the actual work you do.

Athletics award winners

If you’re an athletics award winner, any department outside of intercollegiate athletics can hire you. One exception: you can be hired for college recreation programs only if intercollegiate coaches are not involved in hiring or supervising employees. Your employment must be arranged through the college’s normal employment procedures and cannot involve any members of the coaching staff. You must be compensated at the job’s going wage and for the actual work you do.

Employment at a sports camp or clinic

Schools recruiting you cannot hire you to work at their sports camps or clinics.

Division 2

Once you’ve started your ninth grade classes, a college cannot hire you to work at their sports camps or clinics. However, you can be hired once you complete your senior year of high school.

Division 3

Once you’ve started your ninth grade classes, a college cannot hire you to work at their sports camps or clinics. However, if you’ve graduated from high school and intend to enroll at a D-3 college, you can work at their sports camps or clinics, after you’ve accepted the school’s offer of admission.

Division 1, 2 and 3
Transportation to a summer job

A college cannot provide you with free transportation to and from a summer job, unless the college’s established policy is that all employees receive transportation.

Concessions

It’s against NCAA policy for a college to arrange for you to work at a concession to sell items associated with their camp.

Other

You may also be required to fill out a form stating whether a representative of the University’s athletic interests, such as alumni, fan or staff member, assisted you in securing employment. Be careful here – this could mean anyone who made any type of contribution to the Department of Athletics and Recreational Sports or booster club. If there’s ever a question, check with the Athletic Compliance Office.

Did You Know?

The NCAA stipulates that once a person becomes an “athletics representative” they are one forever, even if no longer contributing to or involved in the athletics programs. (13.02.12)

Jordan Hasay to Announce College Selection Live Today

Has this ever been done before by a female high school athlete?  Jordan Hasay will be announcing her college choice today at 2PM Pacific and her announcement will be broadcast LIVE by SanLuisObispo.com.  The senior cross country and track standout from Arroyo Grande has made official visits to Arizona, Arizona State, Stanford, Oregon and Washington.  Her career in cross-country and track has been making history since she was in grade school.

NCAA early signing period begins today

November 12, 2008 – Today marks the first day of the NCAA’s early signing period, where student-athletes in basketball, baseball, softball, track and field, tennis and wrestling can sign national letters of intent to formally decide their college plans.

Know the rules before YOU sign.

Some early signings include:
Missoula Big Sky center Joslyn Tinkle has committed to play basketball at Stanford as has Beavercreek’s Mikaela Ruef.

Faith Dupree, Taber Spani and Kamiko Williams are heading to Tennessee to play hoops for Pat Summitt.

The Baylor Lady Bears have added #1 ranked high school basketball player Brittney Griner along with Mariah Chandler, Jordan Madden, Shanay Washington and Kimetria Hayden.

Guard Erica Wheeler and post player Christine Huber also signed letters of intent today. They will be at Rutgers for the 2009-10 school year.

OSU women sign six -  Cowgirls coach Kurt Budke says Keuna Flax, Heather Howard, Desiree Jeffries, Lindsey Keller, LaSharra Riley and Toni Young signed with the program.

For more on women’s basketball signings, the Girls Basketball Recuit blog has compiled all the latest info.

Getting in shape physically & academically

September 16, 2008 – If you want to participate in collegiate athletics, getting into top physical condition is important. But if you’re not in good shape academically, your physical condition doesn’t really matter.

When it comes to being academically eligible to participate in college sports, there are three things to consider:

Completion of a required number of NCAA-approved core courses.

Test score results from either the ACT or SAT.

Grade-point average in NCAA-approved core courses.

Just like adults have to be truthful about themselves when applying for a job or a loan, student-athletes have to be honest about their academic standing.

Thankfully, the NCAA Clearinghouse does a good job of helping athletes negotiate this path. The NCAA Clearinghouse basically verifies you meet the requirements in the three variables mentioned above: core courses, GPA and test scores.

The process matches your GPA from the core courses with your best scores from the SAT (math and critical reading) or ACT tests. It’s called gaining “initial eligibility”.

For Division I there is a sliding scale which matches your test score and GPA. For example, with a core GPA of 2.85 you are qualified if you make a minimum total score of 56 on the ACT. If your GPA is lower, you have to make a better score on the test. If your GPA is high, then the test score can be lower.

For Division II eligibility, a minimum score of 820 on the SAT or 68 on the ACT is required.

It is important to know where an athlete stands in terms of the clearinghouse. Athletes obviously want to know if they meet initial eligibility requirements, but it is just as important to know in which facets a high school student needs to improve.

Some of the best high school athletes fall short of these eligibility standards not because they are bad students, but because they did not take their education seriously enough early in their high school careers. Don’t let this happen to you.

The NCAA Clearinghouse also provides a lot of other helpful information for college-bound athletes including timelines and advice for homeschoolers.

And now you know!

National Letter of Intent

Feb. 5, 2008 – Where are you going to College? February 6th marks the National Letter of Intent signing day for many NCAA sports and it’s the time of year when high school seniors across the country make their commitment to a college.  

By signing a National Letter of Intent, a prospective student-athlete agrees to attend the designated college or university for one academic year. Students are not required to sign the NLI on the first day of the signing period (commonly called “Signing Day” in the sport of football) but many do so to bring to an end the recruiting process.

Started in 1964 with seven conferences and eight independent institutions, the National Letter of Intent program now includes 55 leagues with more than 500 participating institutions. The program has many advantages to both prospective student-athletes and participating educational institutions:

Once a National Letter of Intent is signed, prospective student-athletes are no longer subject to further recruiting contacts and calls.

Student-athletes are assured of an athletics scholarship for one full academic year. (If not for the program, a student could find her scholarship taken by a more highly recruited student at the last minute.)

Institutions can be certain that once the student-athlete has signed a Letter of Intent, there is no need to continue recruiting for that position.

For some athletes, the day is immortalized. When every girl on an Idaho club team committed to play soccer at the college of their choice, the players went to the Boise Capitals soccer complex to sign their letters of intent together. Three different news stations attended along with several broadcasting members from the respective high schools.

Others commemorate the event by signing in their school gym or library surrounded by friends and classmates. If you’re one of the lucky ones signing a LOI this month (or in the coming months) congratulations – your hard work and dedication has paid off!!

Water ski your way through college

While most college students worry about test scores and GPAs, some stress over buoy counts and maximum speeds. If you’ve got the chops, you may be able to use your water skiing skills to pay your way through college.  Many students at colleges across the United States do just that.

Opportunities for scholarship and financial aid exist with the American Water Ski Educational Foundation. Check their site for equirements, selection criteria, deadline, and an online application.

For everything you wanted to know about collegiate skiing but were afraid to ask see National Collegiate Water Ski Association. It includes team lists, by conference, with addresses and contacts, tournament schedules, results, rules, technical information, ranking lists, and more.

Here are some tips for making your water skiing passion pay off:

Hit the Books: Remember to make your mark in the classroom as well as the water.

Stand Out: It’s important to separate yourself from the pack. Try to write a unique essay or include ways in which you might try to popularize your sport.

Join the Team: Being a member of USA Water Ski and part of your college ski team shows you’re committed to your sport.

NCAA – the National Collegiate Athletic Association

If you’re a student-athlete then you’ve probably heard of the NCAA. But do you know what it is? Do you know the differences between Divisions 1, 2 and 3 schools? How about what sports are covered by the NCAA?

To start, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a voluntary organization through which the nation’s colleges and universities govern their athletics programs. The NCAA administers 88 championships in 23 sports for its member institutions and more than 40,000 student-athletes participate in championship competition each year. Read more

What’s the Difference Between Division 1, 2 and 3 Schools?

Why would an athlete sign with a D1 school, a D1AA school, a D2 school, a NAIA school or a D3 school?  What’s the difference and what kind of school is right for you?

Read more

Recruitment – Four-Year Time Line

Whether you’re a high school freshman or senior, here’s what you need to know about the recruiting process.

Freshmen: The first two years of high school are an athlete’s time to grow and to develop skills. It is also a time to get a start on academic eligibility. No matter how good your skills, you will not be eligible to play as a college freshman if you do not have the right high school courses on your transcript. Therefore, your very first job, even as you develop your athletic skills, is to read the NCAA Guide for the College Bound Student Athlete and to plan your high school schedule with eligibility in mind. Enlist the help of your counselor early. Remember, it is not enough to have good grades and get a good score on the college entrance exam. You must also have the right mix of courses to meet NCAA standards.

Read more

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