Below is a list of common myths regarding the college soccer recruitment process with sources to refute each myth. Sometimes these statements are made to recruit players to a travel soccer club or make money by encouraging unrealistic expectations. Please note that grades are the most important factor in the recruitment process regardless of ability.
This is not a true statement. The NCAA Guide for the College-Bound Student Athlete explicitly states that athletic scholarships exist for one year and are renewed at the coach's discretion.
SOURCES REFERENCED:
- NCAA Guide for the College-Bound Student Athlete
It is rare for a player to receive a full soccer scholarship. When you hear about this, its usually a combination of academic scholarships, grants, and athletic money. Per the NCAA, there are a maximum of 9.9 soccer scholarships available at the NCAA Division 1 and Division 2 schools. Some schools choose to fund less than the maximum. There are no scholarships available at the NCAA Division 3 level.
Look at the roster of any college program and notice there are at least 20-30 players. A player that receives an athletic scholarship will almost certainly receive a partial scholarship. If you are not convinced, think about the odds. With limited scholarships and huge rosters, why would an incoming freshman unproven at the college level receive a full scholarship over a player firmly established at the college level ?
SOURCES REFERENCED:
- NCAA Guide for the College-Bound Student Athlete
The NCAA states that only 2 percent of all high school age athletes receive athletic scholarships. A 2008 New York Times article lists the number of athletes receiving soccer scholarships. There are millions that play youth soccer and only a small percentage play in college. An even smaller percentage receive any soccer scholarship money.
SOURCES REFERENCED:
- NCAA Article: How do Athletic Scholarships Work
- New York Times March 2008 Article: Scholarships, Slicing the Pie
College recruiting services exist to make money and function as an unnecessary middleman. FSCI provides significantly better assistance to players than any college recruiting service at no additional costs.
SOURCES REFERENCED:
- Talk to college coaches directly
Playing on a certain team does not guarentee anything. Players create their own opportunities thru their talent and strong passion for the game. Much of the responsibility is on the player to follow up on opportunties and contact college coaches. Our club assists players but there is no replacement for the player taking a leadership role in the recruitment process. If the player expresses no interest, the college coach will focus their energy on other prospective players since they are literally looking at hundreds of other players.
SOURCES REFERENCED:
- Talk to college coaches directly
- The Sports Source: Mens Soccer Guide
If you have the ability but struggle academically, your chances are eliminated. Many of our FSCI Phoenix coaches talk to college coaches directly. The grades issue is either the first or second topic of conversation. There is no getting around it. Grades will make or break your opportunity to play in college.
SOURCES REFERENCED:
- Talk to college coaches directly
A recent Wall Street Journal article points out that there is 9 times more academic scholarships than athletic scholarships. This number does not include academic scholarships from private sector sources so the number is obviously much higher. Your best chance of getting a scholarship is to focus on your grades.
Signing up for every posssible camp, winter league, summer league, and clinic for the sole purpose of landing an athletic scholarship is really a waste of money. If you saved all the money spent on these items from 10 years old to high school graduation, you would have accumulated enough money to fund your own scholarship for college.
SOURCES REFERENCED:
- Wall Street Journal August 18 2010 Article - More Money Found in Academic Scholarships
- NCAA Article: How do Athletic Scholarships Work
