The College Soccer Recruitment Process: A Student-Athlete’s Perspective and Strategy

October 25, 2023
By Aubrey McLin

I always knew the recruitment process would be stressful, and there would be no way around it. However, I didn’t anticipate how unprepared and overwhelmed I would feel. Nor did I realize how hush-hush athletes and their families are around the whole recruitment process, as well as the tension it can create for coaches, athletes, and clubs.

I guess there’s no real way to fully prepare for the recruitment roller coaster ride since there are so many variables in the process.

What I did know was, since the age of six, I dreamt about playing collegiately and then professionally and how exciting the journey would be. As I get older and now closer to June 15, 2024, when I will have the opportunity to talk to college coaches, the excitement is still there, but I can’t help but feel like it’s a bit buried by all the pressure to get through the recruitment process successfully.

I think the moment the recruitment process and stress started to take shape and intensify was last year, a couple of weeks before June 15, 2023. And it continues to grow. Seeing and hearing stories from the 2025 class and seeing some of their social media posts about how uncomfortable and up and down their recruitment experiences were or are having scares me a bit. There are quite a few top athletes who I assumed wouldn’t have bumpy experiences. I disliked feeling this overwhelmed and knew this could spiral fast if I didn’t become more proactive about doing something to lessen the load. So, I recently started to look into resources and tools to help me feel less stressed but also feel better prepared mentally, physically, and academically. So, I did the following:

1. Goals.

I set some goals to help break down the recruitment process and make it more manageable. It makes it less overwhelming when I break it down into steps and goals. So, I used a lot of resources through the NCAA Eligibility Resource Center, my club’s college recruitment informational meetings, the club’s online library, and speaking to former student-athletes who went through the recruitment process.

2. Mindset.

My mindset regarding the recruitment process needed some reframing. I started to frame what I wanted my self-talk to sound like throughout the recruitment process.

“I am confident and capable.”

“You’ve worked hard, and now it’s time to share some of your successes.” “This is part of the journey to finding my path.”

3. The Controllable

“Me.” I can control my actions, reactions, attitude, perspective, and effort regarding the whole recruitment process.

4. Plan.

Write out my four-year academic plan, such as what high school classes I need to take each year to stay on course with meeting NCAA eligibility. Then, I write down what I need to focus on athletically during my freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior years.

I’m currently in my sophomore year, so this year, my goals are:

To talk to coaches and trainers about my ability, ambitions, goals, and skill development.
I reviewed my top 20 college list for my realistic academic fit, financial fit, athletic fit, culture, size, and location.
I checked out what ID camps I wanted to attend and then sent pre and post emails to coaches regarding introduction, interest in their program, highlights, etc.
Attend fall college soccer games for colleges of interest or also watch ones that are televised.
Send college coaches the ECNL Showcase schedule and send post-showcase emails.
Keep my Student-Athlete Profiles and resume, Scouting Zone, and YouTube-Highlight Reels up-to-date.
At the end of the year, ask the high school counselor to upload an official transcript so I’m ready for June 15th college coach calls.
And then make sure I have my questions and communication log ready for those calls.

5. Check-Ins.

Check in often with my circle of support. Any time I start to feel the pressure and stress of the recruitment process, I will immediately pause and reach out to someone. My mom, dad, GK trainer Nate, my club girls director, a mentor, etc…

I will also remind myself of a helpful quote another student-athlete shared with me, “You can’t master your entire life in one day. Master the day. And then keep doing it every day.”

6. Webinars!

There are so many free webinars for student-athletes and their parents regarding preparing for the recruitment process. I took quite a few of these with my parents and learned how to navigate through some of them better. I will continue to take them as well.

While I’m not an expert regarding the recruitment process and am only in the beginning stages of this process myself, I do know how valuable it is when others share helpful tools, tips, advice, and support. For me, I feel less on my own, and it has helped make the recruitment process a little more manageable.