By Adrienne Treado
As a Soccer Recruiting Coach at the National Collegiate Scouting Association, I speak with high school student-athletes on a daily basis about everything from increasing ACT/SAT scores to scheduling unofficial visits. One of the most common questions from upperclassmen is, “Is it too late for me to get recruited to play in college?” The answer to this question varies upon each student-athlete’s expectations and goals but it’s never too late to get started.
If your ultimate goal is to play at the Division I level, it is important to acknowledge that Division I programs can be broken down into two tiers. Top tier Division I programs are on the fast track for recruiting. These colleges/universities perennially finish in the top 25 in the nation such as University of North Carolina, University of California - Santa Clara and University of Portland. These soccer programs begin recruiting student-athletes who are as young as freshman in high school. By the time these student-athletes reach their junior year, they are in constant contact with the coaches and in many cases have already taken unofficial visits. Tier I, Division I programs receive verbal commitments from their incoming recruiting class by the summer before their senior year.
The rest of Division I programs are on a timetable that is a little slower and longer. The majority of all Division I universities will fill their recruiting class needs by early fall of that class’s senior year. This means that if you are a Division I soccer player, you have already visited that campus, sat down with the coach and know where you stand on their recruiting list by your first day of class senior year.
The early commitment trend is becoming increasingly prevalent at the Division I level. This only increases the amount of time and research that must be put into recruiting on the student-athlete’s end.
Division II colleges are typically the next to finish up their recruiting classes. Some Division II colleges will have prospects verbally commit during the summer, but most will finish during the fall and into the winter of their senior class.
Division III, NAIA and Junior Colleges recruiting typically continues into the winter and spring of a student-athlete’s senior year of high school. If you are not on track with this timeline, do not panic, these are general guidelines and every college/university has a different situation.
