With the spring club season upon us, I am happy to provide the materials below to assist student-athletes and their families in navigating the college recruitment process To help answer the many questions surrounding this complex and ever-changing process, I have curated some of the latest and best available resources on this subject for your reference Please do not hesitate to reach out should you have any questions
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1) Delbarton Soccer College Recruitment Guide (This Document)
The guide below contains details about the college soccer recruiting process as well as the timelines, templates, and live links to useful resources
2) In-Person Soccer Recruitment Workshop for Delbarton families (Bi-annually)
Every other year, I hold a live Zoom workshop with a Q&A session on navigating the soccer recruitment process for Delbarton students and parents This session is also recorded and distributed for those unable to attend
2025 Delbarton Soccer College Recruitment Workshop Zoom Meeting
3) Powerpoint presentation about navigating the college recruiting process
Here is a Powerpoint overview of the college recruiting process created by NCSA – an athletic recruitment service Note that I am not recommending this service itself but only providing you their Powerpoint which is very well done I would also highly recommend their web content which is free and the best available anywhere
4) College Soccer Corner Course
USERNAME: ddonovan@delbarton.org
PASSWORD: Delbartonsoccer230
The Delbarton Soccer Program has purchased this online video course for players and families. Presented by veteran college coach Tim Lenahan, our Tier 1 package gives Delbarton families full access to the College Soccer Recruiting Video Course, the College Coach Email Guide, and discounts to affiliate recruiting camps & highlight tape partners
5) Sports Recruits (College Recruitment Platform)
The Delbarton Athletic Department has purchased membership to Sports Recruits for every upper school soccer player SportsRecruits is an online portal that integrates the college recruiting process to generate exposure, create connection with college coaches, uncover opportunities for players, and help student-athletes find their best-fit college
● 3-Minute Demo:
A quick overview of the SR student-athlete experience - click here
● 10-Minute Student-Athlete Training Guide
A tutorial on how to use SR as a student-athlete – click here
● 2024 Halftime Report:
An overview of SR success rates, new features, and partnerships - click here
THE CHANGING COLLEGE SOCCER RECRUITING LANDSCAPE
One thing I would like to stress: The world of college recruiting for soccer has evolved very rapidly over the last decade and the pool of quality players is deeper and more competitive than ever This reality has been made even more challenging by FIVE factors:
1) NCAA 5-Year Eligibility Decision (Pending)
NCAA student-athletes currently have four years of eligibility to compete in a five-year window. This allows for a redshirt year (in which a player does not participate in a sport but still maintains eligibility). The NCAA announced in 2025 that is was considering extending that four years of eligibility to five years thus eliminating the need for Red Shirting. This decision will be made after a $2.8 billion lawsuit is settled, a lawsuit alleging that NCAA rules on athlete compensation violate antitrust laws. [Details here]
2) JUCO (Non-NCAA) Eligibility Rule Change (2025)
The NCAA ruled that junior college athletes can retain all four years of NCAA eligibility, even if they play one or two seasons at a junior college. This means a soccer player can compete in JUCO for two years and still have a full four years to play at an NCAA institution. [Details here]
3) Division I Roster Size and Scholarship Limits (2025)
The NCAA is implementing new roster limits for men’s and women’s soccer The new limit is 28 players per team The limited roster sizes will likely lead to a decrease in the total number of roster spots available This will mean fewer opportunities for walk-ons, increased pressure on scholarship athletes to perform, and more selective recruiting [Details here]
4) NCAA Transfer Portal (2018)
In NCAA Division I soccer, approximately 1,300 to 1,500 players (6-7% of the total) enter the transfer portal annually This includes roughly 600-700 men and 700-800 women In total, about 25% of Division I rosters are refreshed annually through transfers The transfer portal has allowed athletes to seek out opportunities at different levels of play and to seek better NIL deals [Details here]
5) International Recruitment
In NCAA college soccer, a significant portion of athletes are international students. Approximately 31% of NCAA Division I men’s players come from one of 122 nations worldwide. 74% of Division I soccer programs and 33% of Division III programs recruit internationally. This growing trend in soccer means that many top NCAA programs rely heavily on overseas talent to maintain a competitive advantage. [Details here]
TAKEAWAYS…
Consequently, I am urging all players and families to be realistic about their chances of being recruited to play soccer in college On average, nationally only 8% of male high school soccer players are recruited to play in college (.9% to Division I) Only about 3-5 graduating seniors from the Delbarton varsity soccer team (out of roughly 15 seniors on roster in a given year) are recruited to play at the college level annually--these are not large numbers
That being said, the Delbarton soccer staff encourages its players to explore its college athletic options We help players seeking assistance throughout this process by providing guidance, support, and advocacy This includes, among other things, meeting with players and parents to establish a college soccer list, strategizing about the college search, reviewing highlight video, offering feedback on correspondences and college visits, and contacting coaches on behalf of interested players
Of course, if anyone has any particular questions about material contained in this letter or would like a candid assessment of their college soccer prospects, we are glad to offer this to our players in a way that is sensitive, realistic, and helpful Please see us as partners (along with parents, teachers, guidance counselors, and other coaches) in navigating your college journey ahead Players are encouraged to seek us out, therefore, should they require assistance because the coaches stand ready to help at every stage of the college recruitment process
ID CLINICS AND CAMPS
Below are ID Clinics and Camps our players have used to be seen by college coaches. Although the quality of these events do vary year-to-year, they are often worth considering because they are relatively affordable, short in duration so have lower physical demand loads on players, involve coaching staff from multiple programs, are regionally-based for convenience, and are not blatant money-grabs like some larger, multi-day Division I camps like Villanova, Penn State, etc…
This 1-day college ID Clinic will be held at Delbarton School 10-3 on Monday, July 28th. Details and registration information may be found here. [Returning varsity players receive a 30% tuition discount.]
These are other Single-Day ID Clinics to consider:
● Exact Sports
● Peak Performance Soccer
● Super Sixty Soccer
● ID Sports
These are the Multi-Day Camps to consider:
● Soccer Masters(Academic schools popular with our players)
● Future 500(Good feedback from players. Multiple locations & diversity of school sizes and types.)
● Collegiate Soccer Academy(1-Day and Multi-Day options. DI-DIII colleges)
● Elite College Soccer Camps(West Coast concentration. Delbarton has limited experience.)
This is a website alphabetically aggregating U.S. soccer ID Clinics and Camps by college type:
● Soccer Camps US (Good research tool to identify college-specific ID events.)
RECRUITING TIMELINE
Approximately 74% of college soccer coaches reported that they began evaluating talent in 10th grade; 22% began evaluating talent in 11th grade.
Therefore, players can start attending these ID Clinics/Camps as early as their freshman year, but I do not necessarily recommend this as coaches will always need to see players when they are older so they can more accurately assess the athlete’s most recent soccer form, physical assets, and playing ability as well as their most updated GPA and SAT/ACT scores. This is why most coaches really conduct their recruiting in earnest starting in the winter of a player’s junior year (after the business of the college season has ended for the coaches) extending often into the summer and, for some lesser competitive programs, sometimes into the early fall of a player’s senior year.
This means most players start the ID Clinic/Camp circuit after the player's sophomore fall season to get their feet wet and check out the college recruiting scene – this has the added advantage of putting players on the radar of college coaches a little earlier than the player’s junior year.
The above ID Clinics/Programs are offered usually throughout the year from December to July. Please also be aware of your own club’s policy on ID event participation as some MLSNext teams, for instance, have stated policies against player participation in these college recruiting clinics and camps You will also want to be aware of the financial, physical, and time costs involved as you decide on different ID clinics and camps to attend
Once the player has an idea about which colleges he likes and which might be good matches for him academically and athletically by his junior year (at this time he will have early SAT/ACT score and at least 2 1/2 years of high school grades), he can then be strategic about which camps and clinics make the most sense to attend during his junior year and summer before his senior year
At most of the colleges Delbarton players attend, pre-reads, recruiting offers, and verbal commitment agreements for soccer start in the junior spring and run through the summer and early fall of the player's senior year That said, some DIII's are still looking to close their recruiting year as late as fall of the player's senior year prior to ED II deadlines in January But because recruiting boards at colleges are not fixed (players come on, off, or change place rankings depending on any number of things like how many players accept other offers, their run of form in recent competitive play, financial and academic reasons, etc ), interest from schools may come early or late so there is no “rule” on when college offers arrive Therefore, do your best not to get caught up in things like social media “commitment” announcements as they are not always real or meaningful
APPROACH
Throughout high school, players should try to visit campuses of different types whenever they happen to be near a college so they can get a feel for what they like and not like -- big or small, rural or urban, etc When on a campus that they like, they should sign into the admissions office. These contact points are tracked by almost all schools – except for the larger universities – to measure each student’s Demonstrated Interest (DI) and become an important admission office consideration as yield is a critical concern to colleges because it informs rankings. So do not be a “ghost” applicant by applying to schools you never visited as it will diminish your chances of acceptance When on a campus, you may want to visit the soccer coach and facilities to make a contact -- nice but not necessary at this time. If it turns out to be a school a student really likes, he can return to do a more in-depth visit and tour, attend an Open House or Junior Day, schedule a meeting with the coach, etc
At the same time, players should make a point to send coaches from colleges they like their club team schedule, especially informing them of their upcoming games and tournaments with dates, times, opponent, field location, and jersey number. This can be sent as an email to the coach (cc'd to the entire coaching staff) along with a brief academic/athletic resume, club and high school coach references and contact information, and a link to a short (three-minute) highlight clip. Finally, if there is an athletic recruiting questionnaire on the website of a school's soccer program, some coaches really like players to fill these out because it gets seamlessly entered into their existing database system, making the coach's job easier, and it also indicates genuine interest as you took the time to complete their form. Likewise, before attending an ID camp or clinic, players should reach out to the specific coaches in attendance from the schools they are interested in to make sure they will be seen while at the camp or clinic; they should also follow up with these coaches after the event to thank the coach and gauge their potential interest. (Note that Division I soccer coaches may not contact a student-athlete until after June 15th of the student-athlete’s sophomore year)
RECRUITING TOOLS AND SERVICES
Generally, services are only worth considering if you are looking for help ORGANIZING the college research and recruitment process (rather than AGENTING your process for a fee, for instance) This is why we have chosen Sports Recruits for our Delbarton soccer families
The Sport Source
The Sport Source is another college search and recruitment platform with various research tools.
iSoccerPath
iSoccerPath is not a recruiting or scouting service but an educational program helping student-athletes understand the recruiting process
COLLEGE SOCCER RESEARCH TOOLS
NCSA
NCSA is the single best one-stop shop for free online resources of which I am aware – articles, webinars, templates, strategies, tips – about every stage of the college recruitment process. It is not soccer specific and I am not recommending you retain NCSA services, but their web offerings are comprehensive, super useful, and really high quality For your convenience, I have aggregated the links below from NCSA which I think are most helpful for our soccer student-athletes and their parents in navigating the college recruitment process
Recruiting Rules & Calendar
● What you need to know about the NCAA soccer recruiting rules
● The importance of June 15th for soccer recruiting
● How do coaches contact soccer recruits before the NCAA rules allow it?
● Complying with the NCAA soccer rules and calendar
● NCAA D1 recruiting rules
● NCAA D3 recruiting rules
● 2024–25 soccer recruiting calendar
● NCAA D1 soccer recruiting calendar
● NCAA D3 soccer recruiting calendar
Scholarship Facts
How to Get Recruited
● When does the recruiting process start for men’s soccer?
● Starting the recruiting process: setting expectations
● Am I ready for the demands of being a college soccer player?
● Am I good enough to play college soccer?
● What division level is right for me?
● Your coach’s role in the recruiting process
● Researching schools and creating a target list
25 Reasons To Connect With A
Contacting Coaches
● Key steps to contacting college coaches
● When can college coaches contact you?
● When should you start contacting college coaches?
● How to find coach contact information
● What to say to a coach when you want to be recruited
● Communicating with college coaches about camps
● How to tell a coach you are interested
● How to let coaches know you’re NOT interested
● Parent Tips: Preparing for coach communication
● Frequently Asked Questions
● Help with contacting coaches
Emailing Coaches
● Crafting a subject line (examples)What to say when emailing a college coach
● Writing your introductory email (example)
● Template for emailing college coaches
● How to start an email to a college coach
● Sample emails to college coaches
● Best time to email college coaches
● What to do before emailing a college coach
Calling Coaches
● When to start calling coaches
● Best time of day to call college coaches
● What does it mean when a college coach calls you
● How to get ready for calling college coaches
● General script for calling college coaches
● How to talk to college coaches on the phone
● Leaving a voicemail for a college coach
● Making a follow up phone call to a coach
● Questions to ask college coaches
● Questions to avoid asking college coaches
● Questions coaches will ask recruits
Texting Coaches
● NCAA rules on texting coaches
● Is it okay to text college coaches?
● How does texting work in recruiting?
● How to text a college coach
● What to say when texting coaches
● Your texting checklist
Social Media in Recruiting
● NCAA social media policy for student-athletes
● How coaches use social media for recruiting athletes
● Tips for athletes using social media
● How to set up an athlete social media account
● What do you DM a college coach?
● How to announce college acceptance on social media
● Mistakes athletes make on social media
● Can athletes lose athletic scholarships due to social media?
Recruiting Letters
● How to know if a college coach is interested in you
● How do you know if a college coach is NOT interested in you?
● Brochures, pamphlets and questionnaires
● Invitation to a camp
● Recruiting questionnaire
● Personalized college recruiting letters
● Personal contact information
6 Sample emails to College Coaches
These are six sample emails from athletes to coaches These examples will help give athletes a better understanding of the various recruiting topics they need to cover when writing emails to college coaches
● Athletic-focused introduction
○ Introducing yourself to a coach with an emphasis on your athletic accomplishments and stats.
● Academic-focused introduction
○ Introducing yourself to coach with an emphasis on your academic background.
● How to email a coach about walking on
○ This email will guide you on how to communicate your walk-on intentions to a coach.
● Requesting a college visit
○ Learn how to approach your email to set up a visit to their school to get a better feel for the program and campus life.
● Inviting a coach to evaluate you in person
○ This email will provide guidance on how to invite a coach to watch you compete in a game or event
● Follow-up email to camp invite
○ This email covers the basics of following up with a coach after a camp invite, ensuring you stay on their radar and maintain communication
Follow Up with Coaches
● 4 ways to maintain communication with college coaches
● How often should you check in with college coaches?
● Tips for following up with a college coach
● 20 reasons to update a college coach
● Which communication method is best for follow up?
● Email and follow up letters (examples)
● Recap: Keeping up with coach communication
Sample Questions (Athlete)
Academic
● What are the most common majors amongst athletes on the roster?
● What academic resources are available to the team, such as an advisor and/or tutoring?
● Are there any specific majors that aren’t feasible to pursue for athletes in my sport?
● What academic goals do you set for your team?
Athletic
● Can you tell me about your recruiting class for my graduation year? Is it finalized?
● How would you prefer I share updates with you on my progress?
● Do you have any recommendations for camps, combines or showcases that I should attend?
● Where do you typically evaluate your athletes?
● Would you be available to meet with me if I schedule an unofficial visit at your school?
Culture
● What is the current team dynamic like?
● Does the team interact outside of practice and competition?
● What is the housing situation for athletes?
● Is it typical for athletes to stay on campus during the summer?
Financial
● Does the program have athletic scholarship funds available?
● Does the school offer work-study opportunities to help supplement scholarship aid?
● What specific expenses are covered by the financial aid and/or athletic scholarship package?
● What factors do you consider when determining an athlete’s financial aid and/or athletic scholarship package each year?
Sample Questions (Coach)
● How’s your season going?
● What are you looking for in a school?
● Where are you at in your recruiting process?
● What other colleges are recruiting you?
● What questions do you have for me?
● What are your GPA and test scores?
● Do you know what majors you are most interested in?
● Describe your strengths and weaknesses as a player
● What areas are you working to improve?
● What does your training plan look like?
● Why are you interested in my school and/or program?
● Why do you think you can play at this level?
● How will your strengths positively contribute to this program’s current roster and needs?
How AI is Revolutionizing Athletics Recruiting
How Will A/I Change the College Recruiting Process?
How to Create a soccer recruiting video
● How to make a soccer skills video
● Where to get highlight video footage
● College soccer recruiting video tips
● How long should a soccer highlight video be?
● Defenders
● Midfielders
● Wingers
● Defensive center-midfielders
● Attacking center-midfielders
● Forwards
● Goalies
● Editing tips, how to pick the right plays
● Soccer recruiting video services
Mass Athlete Performance (MAP) Q&A Video Panel on College Soccer Recruiting
How Coaches Evaluate a Recruit’s College Potential
Choosing the right tournaments, camps and showcases
Soccer Events
● Find soccer combines near me
● Find soccer combines near me
● Find soccer tournaments near me
Soccer Camps
● What are the different types of soccer camps?
● Why are soccer camps important?
● When do camps take place?
● How do I choose a soccer camp?
● What are soccer ID camps?
● How do ID camps work?
● Who should go to a college soccer ID camp?
● Do you have to get invited to a college soccer ID camp?
● Are soccer ID camps worth it?
● How can you can stand out at soccer ID camp?
● Goalkeepers camps
● What is the best soccer camp?
Soccer Tournaments & Showcases
GRADE-BY-GRADE: Managing Your Soccer Recruiting Process
● Summer Recruiting Checklist for Freshmen
● Summer Recruiting Checklist for Sophomores
● Summer Recruiting Checklist for Juniors
● Summer Recruiting Checklist for Seniors Understanding
COLLEGE RESEARCH AND SOCCER PROGRAM INFORMATION
● The College Board Big Future
● Academic Index (AI) Formula
● Colleges and Universities That Are Test Optional
● Colleges and Universities That Meet 100% of Student Demonstrated Need
Delbarton players over the last decade have attended a variety of college and university soccer programs, mostly but not exclusively in the northeast These programs represent different soccer levels and the success of our players at these programs has been similarly varied Below are the college conferences our players typically research in their recruiting process:
Colleges with Soccer
● D1 Colleges
● D3 Colleges
Division I
● Ivy League
● Patriot League
Division III
● NESCAC
● Centennial League
● University Athletic Association (UAA)
● Liberty League Delbarton Soccer College Players 2012-2024:
Notre Dame (3), Dartmouth, Princeton, Hamilton (2), DePaul, Middlebury, Syracuse, Rutgers, Lehigh (2), Columbia (2), Tufts, Haverford, Holy Cross (4), Bates, Cornell, Bucknell (4), Penn, Colgate (5), Villanova (2), Williams, Gettysburg, Washington and Lee (3), Colby, Fordham, Stevens (2), Providence, Howard, Bryant, Babson (2), Seton Hall, Case Western, Amherst, Wesleyan (2), Fairfield
One final thought: Playing on an Intramural soccer team (against students from your own college) or a Club soccer team (against other college teams) are fantastic options for you to continue the game you love Club teams, in particular, are highly competitive activities but without the daily, year-round varsity commitment You wear your college uniforms, travel, and compete for national titles And the level is high with many Division I club teams being able to compete with lower level DIII varsity teams Tryouts for these club teams, however, can be quite competitive as most of the rosters are composed of high level academy players, high school team Captains, and All-State honorees Boston College’s club team in 2024, for instance, had 160 players trying out for 7 available spots Similar numbers are found at Villanova, UNC, etc
Here is an article about playing club soccer in college for those interested in learning more
In closing, I hope families and players alike find the information contained here helpful as they explore the college soccer recruitment process together We understand that much of the recruitment experience and exposure comes through club soccer and playing in national club tournaments and ID showcases This is why we remain in close contact with area clubs and coaches about how best to advantage our common players That said, please let us know if you have any questions and how we can assist you on your journey forward
