Article 1 A Recruit’s Story and Message to Players “Been There, Done That,” Here’s My Story and Advice to You It wasn’t long ago that I was in your shoes: trying to decide what caliber of player I really was, what I needed to do to get noticed, what college I wanted to attend, and many other issues you may be struggling with at this very moment. Hopefully, my experiences as a college athlete and my recommendations will be helpful to you. In this first article, I will tell my college story, divulging some very specific things I did during my youth and high school years to make me a better player and a more attractive recruit. I’ve also included some “Lightning Round” items on college soccer and college life experiences which may be of interest to you. Finally, I’ll give you a daily schedule of my life as a college soccer player during the season. Our goal in this book is to help you reach your maximum potential as a student athlete. After this initial personal account, we have 32 additional articles which will help clarify the recruiting process, maximize your visibility, and help facilitate your efforts to get recruited by colleges that best meet your soccer and academic aspirations. Now, here’s my story and advice to you. My College Story My soccer recruiting class was ranked number 4 in the nation for Division I. I came in my freshman year on top of the world with a scholarship in hand and an opportunity to play for a top twenty program. Yet, I was scared out of my mind! The game was three times faster than what I had played before. Everyone on my team was as good as or better than me, and there was not much room for error when trying to impress the coach. Paralleling my youth soccer experience, I did not see immediate success. My parents repeatedly told me, “Just do your best, work hard, and things will work out.” As a player, this is the only thing you can guarantee… your effort. Well, I did my best, and tried my hardest, and I did it every day. Fortunately, I consistently came into the preseason fit (which is a very big part of college soccer). Being smaller in stature also required that I develop my strength through weight training; an additional aspect of college soccer training that goes on for four years, in-season and off-season. Another strength I was fortunate to be able to bank on was my technical skill. Regardless of these plusses, I found that my biggest shortcoming was the speed of my decision making process in the highly-paced level of play. I kept finding myself in the wrong position off the ball, and at times it took me too long to find the right play to make when I did have the ball. For me, this was the hardest thing to improve upon. College soccer is renowned for being a very fast-paced game in comparison to the many youth levels.
Copyright 2010 Rich Rydarowski