The REAL Soccer Mom » Recruiting

Is There Any Logic to In-State Recruiting?

The Real Soccer Mom — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 21:30:31 +0000

Someday soon I’m going to corner Doyle and make him show me how to plot a scattergraph (or is it scattergram?) on his brother’s programmable calculator.

I would love to see the trends spelled out as to where soccer players go to play college soccer. If you kick out the obvious, like community colleges tend to draw in-state students, and regional factors (how many Alabamans survive more than one season in Massachusetts?), I wonder if certain coaches have bias for and/or against local kids.

If I could bottle this knowledge I’d make a fortune selling it to parents of 11-graders. (“No, Junior, I will NOT drive you to look at the University of Nine-States-Away. You KNOW that coach never recruits from our region.”)

I could market my knowledge thusly: “Save on Hotels and Gas! Learn which college trips are a waste of your time!”

The women’s soccer coach at Colorado University made headlines because his incoming class is composed of — gasp!— all Colorado players!

C’mon, Doyle, get Mom that calculator before the X-Box self-destructs!

” . . . but drives to campus in a better car than the coach.”

The Real Soccer Mom — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 11:44:09 +0000

Here’s part II of the funny – harsh – revealing look at college recruiting from the coach’s perspective. Keep in mind that these are junior college* coaches, in case some of the comments seem irrelevant.

Maybe it’s a good thing that I only drove Holmes in our plain ole car (rather than the shiny red Odyssey I covet) on our recent college visits.

* Do not underestimate the soccer played at junior colleges in the United States. The rosters are filled with international players/recent immigrants and they are GOOD.

Contacting College Coaches? Read This First

The Real Soccer Mom — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 08:02:02 +0000

Catching the interest of college coaches should be so simple. However, from the coaches’ point of view, there is a lot that can screw up a prospect’s prospects.

Cynical College Coaches?

Here is part I of a two-parter written by a couple of longtime Junior College Coaches–very successful coaches, I might add. I laughed out loud at some of these, nodded knowingly at others, and was VERY glad that my webcam was turned off so as not to capture my red face for a few.

Yep, the all-knowing Watsons goofed a few times while shopping our boys. Minor ones, I think. Like point #14:

The player looks like he is 12 years old in the photo. Sure, no problem going one on one against a 26-year-old international player.

I hope you enjoy the mildly cynical comments that accompany this list. Forewarned is forearmed!