College Information: A
Guide to College Soccer
• 2- Soccer Sponsorship Breakdown
• 3 - Scholarships
• 5 - Academics
• 6 - Eligibility Center Registration
• 7 - Recruiting Rules
• 16 - Official vs Unofficial Visits
• 19 - Self-recruiting
• 27 - Choosing the right school for YOU
• 35 - Extra Sources
Scholarships
Fully Funded Schools vs Partially Funded Schools
• Fully Funded: Schools that have the full amount of
scholarships to allocate.
• Partially Funded: Schools that do not have the full
amount of scholarships to allocate.
• Ex: An NCAA DII school may only partially fund
athletics, where their men's soccer program only has
7 scholarships instead of 9 and their
women's program only has 8 instead of 9.9.
• College coaches should tell you if they're fully or
partially funded, but you can always ask during the
recruiting process.
ASSOCIATION MEN WOMEN
NCAA - DI 9.9 14
NCAA - DII 9 9.9
NCAA - DIII - -
NAIA 12 12
NJCAA - DI 24 24
NJCAA - DIII - -
Scholarships FAQ's
Q. How are scholarships allocated?
A. Scholarships can be given out in full or in
partial/percentage amounts or not at all. Many
programs will break up their allotted scholarships
between multiple people on the team
Q. Are all student athletes on scholarship?
A. NO, some student athletes may be offered
athletic scholarships, while others are just offered
spots on the roster. NCAA DIII & NJCAA DIII do not
offer athletic scholarships in any sport.
Q. Can scholarship amounts ever change?
A. YES, most scholarships are one academic year
agreements between the school and the student
athlete. Scholarships can be raised, lowered or
taken away at the end of each academic year.
- NCAA DI schools have the option to offer
multiyear scholarship agreements rather than one
year agreements if they choose.
Q. What does scholarship STACKING mean?
A. STACKING scholarships is when a student can
accept and use both academic and athletic
scholarships. Some schools offer this while others
only let students accept one form of scholarship.
Academics
• Why are academics the most important thing when it comes to recruiting?
• If you don't meet the academic requirements necessary to be accepted into a school, it is extremely difficult
for a coach to even recruit you.
• If you can qualify for academic scholarships to a school, this in turn will make you more recruitable to
coaches, because then they have less of a concern with your academic standing/eligibility.
• SAT & ACT
• One or the other is required for almost all 4-year institutions
• These are not required for 2-year institutions (Junior/Community Colleges)
Eligibility Center Registration
• All prospective student athletes should sign up in the NCAA and NAIA eligibility centers. Each student athlete will
be assigned a specific number for each association which will follow them throughout their collegiate careers.
• NCAA Eligibility Center: Information
• DI & DII: In order to take official visits or sign a National Letter of Intent to a DI or DII school a
prospective student athlete will need to create an account within the NCAA Eligibility Center; a
onetime $90 fee also accompanies this.
• DIII & Unsure: If you are not sure yet as to which division you will compete at or if you plan to attend a
DIII school, you can create a free profile page and be assigned an NCAA ID number.
• If you later decide later to attend a DI or DII school, you can upgrade your profile and pay the $90
fee.
• NAIA Eligibility Center: Information
• Traditionally this is completed during a prospective student athletes' senior year of high
school, registering in the NAIA eligibility center is required to attend an NAIA school.
Recruiting Rules
Division I
• Any time: Athletes can receive non-recruiting materials from college coaches, such as questionnaires,
camp brochures, nonathletic institutional publications and NCAA educational materials published by
the NCAA.
• June 15
th
after sophomore year: Coaches can extend verbal scholarship offers, call athletes and send
athletes all forms of private electronic correspondence, including text messages, instant messages,
direct messages and emails, as well as all recruiting materials.
• August 1
st
before junior year: Athletes can begin taking official visits, and they can also arrange
unofficial visits with a school's athletic department and meet with the coach while on campus.
Coaches can begin conducting off-campus contact with athletes at their residence or school.
• Practice/Tryouts: DI schools are not allowed to hold a practice or tryout for college-bound student
athletes.
• Official Visits: Athletes are limited to five official visits and may only take one per school.
Division II
• Any time: Athletes can receive brochures for camps, questionnaires, NCAA materials and non-athletic
recruiting publications at any time. Athletes can take unofficial visits at any time.
• June 15
th
after sophomore year: Coaches can start calling athletes. Coaches can conduct off-campus
communications with athletes and/or their parents. Athletes may start taking official visits.
• July 15
th
after Sophomore year: Coaches can begin sending recruits printed recruiting materials.
• Practice/Tryout: DII schools can hold one practice or tryout for a college-bound student-athlete on its
campus as long as the student-athlete is a high-school senior and it is the spring season or off season
for the college team.
• Official Visits: Athletes may take as many official visits as they desire to DII schools, but are limited to
only one official visit per school.
Division III
• Any time: Athletes can receive recruiting materials, coaches can call athletes, coaches can contact
athletes digitally and prospective student athletes can take unofficial visits.
• After sophomore year: Coaches may begin to conduct off-campus communications.
• After January 1
st
of junior year: Athletes can begin taking official visits.
• Practice/Tryouts: DIII schools are not allowed to hold a practice or tryout for college-bound student
athletes.
• Official Visits: Athletes may take as many official visits as they desire to DIII schools but are limited to
only one official visit per school.
Recruiting Rules
NAIA
• The NAIA does not regulate the contact between a coach and a
current high school athlete, coaches may contact a prospective
student athlete at any time by any means.
• The NAIA does not have a limit on the number of official visits a
recruit can take.
• Prospective student athletes can have a tryout on campus.
Recruiting Rules
NJCAA
• The NJCAA does not regulate the contact between a coach and a
current high school athlete, coaches may contact a prospective
student athlete at any time by any means.
• The NJCAA does not have a limit on the number of official visits a
recruit can take, but they are limited to 1 per school.
Official vs
Unofficial Visits
Both type of visits usually include...
• Tour of campus
• Meeting with the coaches/training staff
• See housing options
• A meal in the cafeteria/dining hall
• Meeting with an academic advisor
Official Visits
• The school can pay for the following for the recruit and their parents/guardians: transportation
to and from the campus, lodging throughout your visit, three meals per day and three tickets to
a home sports event.
• Schools can pay for all of this, but they may only pay for certain things. Ex: A school may
pay for everything once you arrive on campus (lodging, meals, game tickets) but they may
not be able to pay for your flight or drive to the campus
• Each visit may be up to 48 hours long or the span of one weekend
• Coaches may extend invitations for official visits over the phone, email, text or direct message
• Prospective student athletes may only take one official visit per school
• Official Visit Information
Unofficial Visits
• These can be similar to official visits but there are a few main differences
• Unofficial visits are financed entirely by the prospective student athlete's family
• Unofficial visits are typically set up by the prospective student athletes' family and
the athletic department, whereas official visits are set up by the coach for the
recruit
• Typically these are only day visits but, in some cases,, recruits may stay overnight in
the dorms at the expense of the recruits family
• Unofficial Visit Information
Self-recruiting
• Emails
• Phone Calls
• Showcase Events/Tournaments
• ID Camps
• Online Profiles/Soccer Resumes
• Highlight Videos
Emails
• Prospective student athletes can reach out to coaches at any time during
the recruiting process there are no guidelines on this. However see the
“recruiting rules” section to see when college coaches can start to respond
and begin reaching out to recruits directly.
• Emails are a great starting point to send coaches information and express
your interest in their program/school, but be cognizant of what you’re
looking for in a school
• How to contact coaches
Emails
• All communication should come from the recruit not the parent, because coaches
are recruiting the player not the parent.
• DO NOT just send a copy and paste email to a large group of coaches
• Make each email specific to that school/program
• Reference why you're interested in the school (majors they offer, success of
the program, location)
• Include your position, year of graduation, GPA, SAT/ACT score, height/weight
• Attach your highlight video & online profile if you have those
• Emailing Coaches
Phone Calls
• Making a phone call to a coach can set you apart from the field.
Every recruit emails coaches, but very few have the courage to
pick up the phone and have a conversation.
• Be prepared to ask them questions about the school/program,
invite them to your upcoming events and answer any questions
they have about you.
Showcase Events/Tournaments
• Before going to a showcase or tournament where college coaches are going to be
in attendance, recruits need to reach out to colleges of interest and invite them to
their games.
• Coaches will have a list of games they plan on attending based on teams they want
to watch, if you email coaches inviting them to watch you play your team could be
one of those games they come to watch.
• Unless a college coach has seen a recruit play before they most likely do not know
who they are, that is why the recruit has to “Self-Recruit” themselves at the
beginning by inviting coaches to see them play.
• A good rule of thumb is to invite 10 coaches to each event your team attends.
ID Camps
• ID Camps are a great way for a recruit to get directly in front of coaches and
showcase themselves, they are also a great way for a recruit to see the coaching
style of the staff and visit the school in person.
• These camps can either be run with only one schools coaching staff or multiple
schools coaching staffs.
• They are open enrollment so anyone can register for them, but coaches who are
interested in certain recruits may invite them directly to come to an ID Camp after
seeing them play in a previous event so they can further evaluate them.
• Many schools send out mass email blasts inviting players to their ID Camps be
aware not to confuse these with invites directly from a coach.
• These camps can either be one day events or over a weekend where recruits stay
on campus in the dorms, eat in the school cafeteria, and tour the campus.
• NCSA Camps & Events Guide
Highlight Videos
• Highlight videos should generally be 3 - 6 minutes in length.
• Make sure you start with your personal information before jumping straight into
game film.
• Include your best highlights first, if you don’t catch the coach's eye early, they most
likely won’t watch the rest of the video.
• Highlight videos are meant to attract coaches to get them to come watch you play
in person; players are rarely recruited off their highlight video alone.
• These can be emailed directly to coaches, linked on your online profile/soccer
resume, and posted on social media/youtube.
• Highlight Video Information: Men & Women
Online Profiles/Soccer Resumes
• Creating an online profile or soccer resume is a great way to compile all your
recruiting information into one document that can easily be sent to coaches for
quick reference and background info.
• There are a multitude of soccer resume templates online, but it should include at
least the following
• Player contact information, Academic Information (School, GPA, SAT/ACT,
Achievements), Athletic Information (Club Team, Position, Achievements,
Coaches contact information, Picture or Headshot of player
• NCSA Soccer Recruiting Homepage: Men & Women
Academics
• Do you know what you want to major in?
• If a school doesn’t have your major, then you probably shouldn’t be looking at going to
that school
• Make sure that you meet the academic standards for that school, because if you don’t get
accepted into the school you have no chance of being recruited there
• What is the job placement percentage of graduates from that school within a year of
graduation?
• What type of internship opportunities can that school provide?
• What are the schools graduation rates?
• What type of tutoring or academic success programs do they have?
• Does the athletic department have any student athlete specific advisors, tutors, or
study centers?
Location
• Do you know what part of the country you want to go to school in?
• How big of a school do you want to go too?
• Do you want to go to a private or public school? Religiously affiliated?
• How far away from home are you okay being?
• Do you have family near where a school is? Does that matter to you?
• Do you want your parents/family to be able to see you play?
• Ex: If you don’t want to go to a school more than 5 hours away, look at a map and draw
circle with a radius of 300 miles from your home. All the schools within that circle
would be close enough for what you want.
Athletics
• How important is it for you to go to a winning program?
• What is the relationship between the coach and the team?
• How important is playing time for you?
• Do you want to be a 4-year starter?
• Are you okay with being redshirted your freshman year?
• How many players do they currently have on the roster that play your position?
• What are your goals as a player?
• Would you rather be on a lower level NCAA DI team or be on a nationally ranked NCAA DII
team?
• Do you want to be an All-Conference, All-Region, All-American player?
• If you had a career ending injury would you still be happy at that school?
• What type of athletic facilities does a school have?
• Locker rooms, athletic training equipment, student athlete specific weight room,
field/stadium, uniforms, etc.
Finances
• Can you afford to go to a certain school?
• Are you considered for any grants or loans from FAFSA?
• FAFSA: Free Application for Federal Student Aid, this application can be filled out every
year of a student being in college.
• What is FAFSA?
• Would you rather go to a school where you have a 70% academic
scholarship and a spot on the team but no athletic scholarship? Or a school
where you have a 50% athletic scholarship and no academic scholarship?
Finances
• What does your scholarship actually cover?
• There are four main aspects that go into paying for college
• Tuition, Books, Meal Plans or Groceries, Housing (on or off campus)
• Scholarships can go towards paying for any of these items
• 529 Plan: These are great options for saving money for college, one popular
option in Texas is the Texas Guarnteed Tuition Plan
Finances
• Public vs Private Schools
• Public schools will have a different cost for "In-State" and "Out of State"
students, with the Out of State usually being at least double the cost of In-
State. Some schools have waivers that students can qualify for to receive
either In-State tuition if they are an Out of State student, or some other
form of discounted rate.
• Private schools will have one set cost no matter where students come from,
though they are usually more expensive than public schools.
• College Tuition Comparison
College Board
• The College Board is a great resource to find a mass amount of information on almost
every school across the country.
• You can view and filter schools based on what you're looking for.
• Sponsors intercollegiate soccer
• Accepts your SAT or ACT test scores
• What degree programs they offer
• How large the enrollement of the school is
• Cost of the school
• What extracuricular activities the school offers
• Campus & housing
• Location
