Ohio Galaxies FC College Recruiting Newsletter

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OGFC College Recruiting Newsletter

Parents and Players,

“When a possibility is unfamiliar to us, we do not even think about it. Instead, we develop a sort of mind-blindness to it. In medicine this is called anosognosia: part of the physiology of the condition prevents a patient from recognizing that they have the condition. Some Alzheimer’s patients present this way” Nate Silver – The Signal and the Noise

On the first of March 2020, if you had told me I would not be able to attend a recruiting event or host a recruit for an official visit until April 15^th of 2021, I would have wondered what world you came from (and perhaps want to visit). It simply wasn’t a possibility. It wasn’t as though the news was bereft of a serious issue going on nationally and globally, it was being covered. It’s just the magnitude and impact it has had and is having fell outside the realm of possibility.

I’m sheepish to cite the global pandemic in a newsletter dealing with the college recruiting process; the two are such a stark contrast in terms of significance. However, that being said, this is a newsletter dealing primarily with the college recruiting process. And insofar as the recruiting process has been impacted for college coaches and programs, it has impacted the student-athlete all the more.

The process of identifying a college program which satisfies the academic, athletic and social goals within the financial parameters of the student-athlete and their

parent(s) is a very difficult process. There is no definitive road map, matrix or recruiting service that will assure you of a 100% fit. And while a student-athlete may find a perfect “fit” from their perspective, it is no guarantee a respective college coach will feel the same. They may not have a roster spot available. They may have run out of scholarship dollars. The student-athlete may be good enough to play there, but the program may already have 3 types of players just like them. And this is BEFORE the world was turned on its head!

MOUNT VESUVIUS

At the current moment, the recruiting landscape could be likened to Pompeii after Mount Vesuvius exploded.

Okay, that is just a bit hyperbolic. However, student-athletes truly are dealing with a terrain which is very difficult to navigate. You have NCAA D1 schools that have been precluded from recruiting for 10 months and are being prevented from recruiting for another 3 months (primarily to assure a men’s basketball tournament in March and prevent the collapse of the NCAA). At the same time the impact on recruiting for Division 2, 3, NAIA and JUCO colleges isn't nearly the same. So while D1 sits home, those programs are out evaluating players (good for them). They have essentially recruited as normal. While some individual institutions or conferences at those levels have placed mandates on their programs or member schools, per NCAA rules they have been allowed to continue to recruit.

However, a shared variable amongst NCAA D1, 2 & 3 is that any type of competition against outside opponents which occurred in the fall of 2020 (some D1 programs played in the fall) or will occur in the spring of 2021, does not impact their 4 year eligibility. In other words, there may be a senior in college that would have exhausted their eligibility after the 2020-21 academic year. Even if they play this year, they now have the option of returning in 2021-22 and participating an additional year.

How does all of this impact the student-athlete in their recruiting process:

For those student-athletes who are committed and have the ability to play at a D1 level, in person exposure (tournaments, league, ID Camps, campus visits) has been eliminated for over a year.

For those who are entertaining the idea of playing at a D1 level, it has been very difficult to compare/contrast opportunities to those at the D2, 3, NAIA or JUCO levels, because D1 coaches are hesitant to make scholarship offers or extend roster spots to players they haven’t seen recently in person.

At all collegiate levels, there are seniors for the 2020-21 academic year that would have normally exhausted their eligibility this year. However, since this year doesn’t count against their 4 year eligibility, many programs will have those same seniors return for a 5^th year. This reduces the number of roster spots available and diminishes scholarship dollars (D1, 2, NAIA, JUCO) available to the class of 2021 and potentially into graduating years 22 and 23.

There are of course many permutations. It may be such and similar to what the AD of Wisconsin said months ago “we are not extending an additional year of eligibility to our student-athletes” all the way to coaches/programs intentionally holding on to and extending the eligibility to as many impact seniors as possible (bad players can move on –sorry but true). Regardless, it muddies the water.

Student-athletes and parents must understand this has created a “Reaganomic” like “trickledown effect”. There won’t be as many roster spots and scholarship dollars available at say the Division I level, therefore some players who would have normally played Division 1 are now pursuing a different level of play. The cycle then continues on down and so forth.

A final challenge to the reduction in roster spots available at college programs are current collegiate players who are looking to transfer. The transfer portal has been inundated with players looking for new programs.

Finally we must consider international students. In my email box this week I received letters of interest from a player from the Philippines, two players from Iceland, two players from Norway, a transfer from a Power 5 team and one from Denmark (not to mention the daily barrage of ECNL players).

WHAT TO DO

The important issue is “what can I do now”.

There are two primary variables that need to be addressed. The first, depending on where the student-athlete is in the process, is to determine a pool of schools.

I’ve said this many, many times during my tenure with the Galaxies, and I know it seems like a broken record (for those student athletes reading this – a record is a round thing that went on what is known as a record player and then pleasant sounds would come out of it).

DETERMING A POOL OF SCHOOLS

1. Student body size – how large or small do you want the school to be? Do you want to potentially be in a freshman class of 3000 or 300?

2. Geography – how close or far away do you want to be? Yah I know, the University of Hawaii sounds great until you realize you won’t see your family or significant other for 8 months. Of course for some of you that may be a good thing.

3. Social atmosphere – while you can carve out your own social niche no matter where you go, this is important to identify. Do you want a highly academic culture, a party school, a commuter option or a faith based campus to name a few?

4. Academic major – Does it have your major? Do you even know what you want to major in? Does it offer enough other majors that you could potentially change majors once you’re there (which many students do). What are the entry requirements?

5. Athletic experience – What do you want your role to be in the program? Do you want to play right away? Are you willing to sit for a year or two? Please don’t go to a D1 program just so you can tell your friends you’re playing D1 – and then subsequently sit the bench for 4 years.

WHAT SHOULD I DO IF I KNOW THE POOL OF SCHOOLS I'M INTERESTED IN?

1. Create a resume – create a one page resume that highlights your academic standing and achievements, athletic information (position, club, HS, etc) and include any current or upcoming games/tournaments. Don’t include the fact that you scored 12 goals in one game when you were 9 years old and that your mom thinks you’re the best soccer player in Dayton.

2. Game footage – college coaches are different. Some want the full game footage and others want only highlights. Regardless, make sure it is from a good angle and close to the field. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tried to identify which ant on the field is the kid I’m supposed to be watching. Include jersey color and number as well.

3. Do your homework – Research a little about the program and the coaching staff and include that in your correspondence with the coach, for example “I noticed you guys were 0-20 last year, I think I can help you”. Okay maybe that’s not exactly the right approach, but you get the idea.

4. Send the resume, game footage and an introductory (keep it short) letter to the programs you are interested in

5. Be persistent – make sure to stay in front of the coach/program that you are interested in. Have a personal schedule as to when you plan to correspond with them. You don’t need to stalk them – but stay in front of them until they say no.

6. Utilize coaches to help reach out to college programs. The adage “It’s not what you know, but who you know” is more often than not true in the recruiting process. If a club/HS coach reaches out personally to a college coach it could go a long way. This is particularly true if the club/HS coach is well respected, been successful and is on good terms with the college coach.

7. Finally, there is nothing a student-athlete is unable to do in the recruiting process that a recruiting service can. In other words, no recruiting service offers a unique feature or an “inside advantage” that an SA and parent(s) can’t do themselves. It is simply a matter of SA’s doing their homework and utilizing resources, particularly at the club level, that are already available.

I would not dissuade a student-athlete from utilizing a recruiting service, it just isn’t necessary from my experience.

In future newsletters we will go into more detail with regard to logistics and components such as resumes, types of correspondence, tournaments, scholarships and such. Until that time, I hope this information helps.