College Soccer Recruiting in the USA: An Insider Goalkeepers Guide
Last month, Brad Barnett wrote about what it takes for a goalkeeper to break in at the college level. For advice about how to perform on the field to get recruited to a college soccer program in the USA, see his post. This post is mostly about what to do off the field to attract attention from coaches.
Research
In their sophomore year, the goalkeeper should research schools that they would be interested in playing for. These schools should be ones that the goalkeeper would be happy going to even if they were not playing soccer for them. This is hard to do without visiting schools in person, but that part comes later.
Just a word on levels. I am a big advocate of goalkeepers going to junior colleges for their first two years and transfering to higher level schools afterwards. At a two year school, everybody plays more, the classes are generally easier, and it is a good way to adjust to life away from home for the first time.
Introduction letter
At the end of sophomore year or beginning of junior year, a goalkeeper looking to get recruited by any college needs to make contact with the coach. They should send a letter explaining who they are, who they play for, and why they want to play for the particular school. They should also include any letters of recommendation and videos they may have. Coaches generally ask for videos later, but it can't hurt to be proactive.
Goalkeepers also need to include a player profile, or resume, with their information on it. On mine I had a picture, my contact details, my playing history (clubs, ODP, awards, etc), the camps I attended, references, and several physical test results (height, weight, 40 yard dash, etc).
Follow up
Two to three weeks after sending out their original packet, goalkeepers need to follow up with a phone call. Coaches cannot call players until their senior year, so at this point, the player will initiate most of the contact. In this phone call, the goalkeeper needs to ask if the coach received the packet (sometimes the addresses on web sites are wrong or outdated) and if the coach is interested in seeing the goalkeeper play.
Be seen
This section bleeds into the last one. Goalkeepers should tell coaches which tournaments and showcases they will be playing in so the coaches can make arrangements to watch them play. Usually an email is a nice way to send a schedule when the tournament releases it, and send directions to the fields if it is a big tournament with many locations. There are two tournaments and one showcase on the west coast that I always attended with the Alaska state select team: Nomads Thanksgiving Tournament in San Diego, FC Portland Winter Showcase in Portland, and FC del Sol President's Day Tournament in Phoenix. There are many others.
Stay in contact
The goalkeeper should strive to stay in contact with the coaches of schools they are interested in pursuing. Eventually, some coaches will say that they are looking at other players and the goalkeeper should move on, but that's just fine. It doesn't mean that the goalkeeper will not be picked up by a school, but each school has unique needs and every coach has their own opinion.
Being at the end of my recruiting process, I can say that it's a very stressful time. As long as a player takes all the possibilities into consideration and doesn't close any doors too soon, they will find a good team for them. If I can get recruited out of Alaska, players in other states will have it much easier.
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Liviu Bird
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