College Baseball Blog

College Soccer Recruiting – 8 Steps to Become a Top Recruit

College soccer recruiting is changing. When I was going through the recruiting process, things were relatively straight-forward. Recruiting rules were consistent, academic requirements were less stringent, and there were only three ways to communicate with a college soccer coach – in person, on the phone, or by email. When you played for a big club, coaches came to you. A simple email ahead of time would practically ensure at least a few college soccer coaches would attend. But the times have changed…

With the explosion of college soccer, coaches now have more kids to choose from than ever before. Coaches receive hundreds (if not thousands) of emails weekly. Each email looks like a basic form – the equivalent of today’s “Spam” email sent to everyone and anyone. These emails are promptly deleted, because they aren’t personal or relevant. Coaches today can choose anyone so they’re pickier and harder to contact. Because of the huge amount of prospective soccer players, they begin to build their recruiting lists in a player’s freshman and sophomore season!

But don’t lose hope. You don’t need some expensive recruiting program or service to be a top recruit. Those services can’t help you, because they aren’t tailored specifically to your needs and unique capabilities. Most recruiting services fail because college soccer coaches recognize them as generic solutions meant for baseball, football, and basketball – which all have scouts and a wide network of personnel to aid in recruiting.

8 Steps to being a Top College Soccer Recruit

The key to college soccer recruiting is to become more relevant, personal, focused, and responsible. You can be a top college soccer recruit by embracing these qualities, and managing your own recruiting process. You will be a top recruit by marketing yourself more creatively and systematically than anyone ever could.

1. What Makes You Remark-able? Develop a Personal Brand
Brand Identity – What do You Stand For?
Positioning – How do You Stand Out?
Soft Assets – What are Your Intangible Qualities?
Presentation – What are People’s Perception of You?
Reputation Management – Your Own Personal P.R.

2. Develop a Clear Strategy – What Schools will You Target, and Why?
The key to finding potential schools is by segmenting. This simply means dividing the schools into groups based on common characteristics. You should be dividing the schools athletically – by caliber of play, type of play (in relation to your style), and need (how many current players play your position). You should also divide the schools academically – be geography, size of school, and academic admission standards (average GPA and SAT/ACT results).

3. Time to Get Personal – Be More Relevant and Personal
Being more relevant and personal is becoming a huge factor in college soccer recruiting. Gone are the days when you could spam 100 colleges with your tournament schedule. Coaches want to know why you want to go to their school, why you think you’ll fit in with their soccer team, style of play, and school’s culture.

4. Make it Easy to Find You – Create Information Hubs
By creating information hubs on the internet, you make it incredibly easy for a college soccer coach to find information about you. Search engines recognize that the more information about a topic (in this case – You), the more credible and reliable the sources are; thus a higher search engine ranking. So where should you start?
• Create Player Profiles
• Personal Websites
• Team Options

5. Create a Dialogue – Develop ongoing communication channels with coaches.
It’s important to establish an on-going communication channel with a coach, and regularly update them on your progress and latest updates. Remember not to be too pushy! Usually, you can see how often a coach will want to be contacted, or how they like to communicate (email, text, phone) and you can act accordingly.

6. Leverage Your Social Proof – Provide References and Testimonials
Social proof is a psychological incident that is validated by references and testimonials. Social proof underlies our need to seek peer evaluations and what makes us seem more or less knowledge about something. You should be getting references and testimonials from your club coaches, high school coaches, and even teachers or administration. This will give college soccer coaches more confidence in you, and make you more desirable

7. Find the Tippers – Expand your Network
Expanding your network will help you get in contact with influential people and groups that will provide opportunities to shine.

• Gatekeepers – These are the people you need to woo in order to gain access. These include assistant coaches who are responsible for recruiting, and admissions personnel who screen you as an applicant for the school.
• Sneezers – These are the people who give you access to their influence and large network of people. This is a term I’m borrowing from Seth Godin’s Ideavirus. Sneezers are usually influential club coaches who have credibility and lots of personal relationships with college soccer coaches.
• Mastermind Groups – These are important groups that again provide access to college coaches. These can be ODP (Olympic Development Program), exclusive tournaments such as Nike Invitationals, or any special/invite-only programs.

8. The “Other” Aspect of Recruiting – Shore up your Academic Ability
Ability in the classroom may not get you recruited to play college soccer, but it will prevent you from playing and getting recruited. While in the past college athletes could slide by with getting bad grades, the increasing competitiveness of college is changing that. More people are trying to go to college than ever before, so college athletes are expected to also be able to compete academically as well.

This article was an excerpt from College Soccer Recruiting 101. Your Guide to Becoming a Top Rec

Now Pay Close Attention –

Using Video Testimonials to increase your websites sales and revenue is simpler than you’ve been told. Everyone with a website faces the same two problems:

[Problem #1] How To Build Credibility With Potential Customers

[Problem #2] How To Obtain Testimonials Which Have Been Proven To Improve Sales

Fast Video Testimonials has been solving these two problems for hundreds of satisfied customers. Fast Video Testimonials has been tried and tested and known to produce excellent results.

First: Click Here For Fast Video Testimonials
Fast Video Testimonials always supplies REAL VIDEO TESTIMONIALS created specifically for your website and business.

Second: Order Your Video Testimonials Package of 1, 5 or 10 original Video Testimonials for your website.
Your new Video Testimonials will arrive within 7 days and all Video Testimonials are done by REAL PEOPLE and are guaranteed to boost your sales by up to 30%. Buy Video Testimonials today and boost your businesses online presence overnight.

About the Author

College Baseball Recruiting Video – Joe Ford

JACKIE ROBINSON Baseball Hall of Fame 4 Sport College All-American ’91 VHS Video $0.00

1993 The Year In Sports[Sports Illustrated] $0.72 …

The Jackie Robinson Story $24.95 This is a chronological history of Jackie Robinson, “The Pride of Brooklyn”. From his boyhood love of baseball to his distinguished career as a college track and football star to his time in the Negro Leagues and on to his signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers. In 1947, Jackie Robinson became the first black man to break baseball’s “color bar” in his first major league baseball season. Robinson hit a …

2011 World Series Collectors Edition $32.98 Please Note: This is a preorder item and will ship on approximately December 6. Every complete game from the 2011 World Series is available to own in this one-of-a-kind 8-DVD collector’s set-just in time for the holidays. Each definitive 2011 World Series game is presented in its entirety, preserving the complete, unedited footage of every World Series game and key postseason games-plus exclusive …

NCAA March Madness: The Greatest Moments of the NCAA Tournament $9.95 Each year in March, the sports world goes crazy along with the 65 teams vying for a national title. Relive the most spectacular and dramatic moments from over 60 years of NCAA tournament footage. From Magic Johnson to Michael Jordan, John Wooden to Coach K, Texas Western to the Fab Five – witness the greatest plays, players and performances in the history of the game, narrated by CBS Sports announ…

Eddie $1.99 …

2006 College World Series-Oregon State $10.59 Take the Road to Omaha? and the greatest moments of the 2006 NCAA Baseball Championship from the Super Regionals to the College World Series. The big plays, clutch hits, and great events of the tournament are included in this exclusive DVD, as well as exclusive post-championship interviews with The Oregon State National Championship team members, including head coach Pat Casey. See the post-game field coverage of all the national championship celebratory moments and press conference interviews with coaches and players. Go behind the scenes with the most complete coverage of the events in Omaha. Bonus features include an inside look at the Omaha experience from the fans and players. Visit with fans and watch ballpark organist Lambert Bartak as he ?pulls out all the stops.? This video even includes the national anthem in every arrangement from barbershop to saxophone. And witness the final moments of the OSU Beavers incredible victory.

Accidental Human Deaths In Oregon $8.87 Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher’s book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: James Kim (August 9, 1971 December 34, 2006) was an American television personality and technology analyst for the former TechTV international cable television network, reviewing products for shows including The Screen Savers, Call for Help, and Fresh Gear. He most recently worked as a senior editor of MP3 and Digital Audio for CNET, writing more than 400 product reviews. He also co-hosted a weekly video podcast for CNET’s gadget blog, Crave, and a weekly audio podcast, The MP3 Insider (both podcasts were co-hosted with Veronica Belmont). His disappearance and death, and his family’s ordeal, made them the subject of a brief but intense period of news coverage in December 2006. Kim graduated from Ballard High School in Louisville, Kentucky in 1989 and from Oberlin College in Ohio in 1993 where he double-majored in Government and English and played for the varsity lacrosse team. Son of Spencer H. Kim, an aerospace company executive and internationalist, Kim and his wife, Kati, owned two retail stores in San Francisco. James Kim was most widely known as a television personality on the international cable network TechTV, where he was a senior technology analyst for TechTV Labs. He made frequent appearances testing new products for shows including The Screen Savers, Call for Help, Fresh Gear, and AudioFile. He was best known for his “Lab Rats” segments, in which he reviewed the latest electronic gadgets. After leaving TechTV, he became a senior editor for CNET, a technology trade journal, which he had joined in 2004. He wrote product reviews and co-hosted a weekly podcast for CNET’s gadget blog, Crave. Prior to working for TechTV, Kim had been a legal assistant at law firms in New York and France; a media relations assistant for baseball’s America… More:

Angelo State Rams: Foster Field, LeGrand Sports Complex, Angelo State Rams baseball, Junell Center, $17.69 Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher’s book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: Angelo State Rams Football, Angelo State Rams Football Head Coaches, Angelo State Rams Football Players, Angelo State Rams Men’s Basketball, Grant Teaff, Dane Krager, Chris Brazzell, Jim Morris, Phil Danaher, Foster Field, Joe Esposito, Alvin Garrett, San Angelo Stadium, Dale Carr, Jim Hess, Shockmain Davis, James Cameron, Legrand Sports Complex, Angelo State University Rams Baseball, Pierce Holt, Tramain Jones, Junell Center, Jerry Aldridge, Rod Cason, Clayton Weishuhn, Ken Kennard. Excerpt: Angelo State University Rams Foster Field at Angelo State University The Angelo State University Rams Baseball team represents Angelo State University in NCAA Division II college baseball . The team was resurrected in 2005 after a long hiatus because of continued student requests and support. The team belongs to the Lone Star Conference and plays home games at Foster Field , an on-campus field shared with the minor league team the San Angelo Colts . The field was constructed in 2000 and features 4,200 seats, a Triple-A lighting system and an inning-by-inning scoreboard with a video display. It features major league style dugouts and locker rooms and a complete training facility, making it one of the most modern facilities in Division II college baseball . In addition the ASU Sports Complex consists of two NCAA regulation fields used for practice, along with indoor practice facilities. The Rams are currently led by head coach Kevin Brooks. Rams in Major League Baseball References (URLs online) Websites (URLs online) A hyperlinked version of this chapter is at Foster Field is a baseball stadium in San Angelo , Texas . It was built in 2000 for the independent San Angelo Colts of the now-defunct Texas-Louisiana League . The Colts now play in United League Baseball and are still the

Basic Mathematics $26.34 From the Publisher:As you have come to expect when you see the Bittinger name, Basic Mathematics, Ninth Edition, continues to offer you and your students a completely integrated text and package that will help your students to succeed not only in this course but other courses as well. In addition to an exceptional 4-color text that has been significantly revised with respect to design and a new art program, students can also experience learning through the Digital Video Tutor, MathXL, the Addison-Wesley Math Tutor Center, and now MyMathLab.Basic Mathematics, Ninth Edition, continues to bring students the Bittinger hallmark five-step problem-solving process, a clear and easy-to-read writing style, real-data applications, a superior supplements package, and most of all–an accurate text.About the Author:For over thirty years, Professor Marvin L. Bittinger has been teaching math at the university level. Since 1968 he has been employed as a professor of mathematics education at Indiana University – Purdue University at Indianapolis. Professor Bittinger has authored 159 publications on topics ranging from Basic Mathematics to Algebra and Trigonometry to Brief Calculus. He received his BA in Mathematics from Manchester College in 1963 and his PhD in Mathematics Education from Purdue University in 1968. Special honors include being Distinguished Visiting Professor at the United States Air Force Academy and being elected to the Manchester College Board of Trustees from 1992 to 1999. His hobbies include hiking, baseball, golf, and bowling and he enjoys membership in the Professional Bowler’s Association and the Society for the Advancement of Baseball Research.

Dan Marino $29.95 Football fans everywhere know of Dan’s amazing NFL career and his dozens of league records, but little is publicly known about the early path he took on his road to superstardom. Where the Dream Began chronicles Dan’s formative years growing up in Pittsburgh, starring in both football and baseball for Central Catholic High School, and his All-American career at the University of Pittsburgh. The rare video footage is accentuated by present-day interviews with Dan and several of his coaches and teammates as they all reflect on the beginning stages of what ultimately became one of the greatest careers in NFL history.From The Publisher:Being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame was only a matter of time for Dan Marino. With that stage in his career now behind him (Marino was inducted on Aug. 7, 2005), he is able to reflect on his entire career in his own words and by sharing his own private photographs and videos from his family collection.Dan Marino: My Life in Football by Dan Marino with David Hyde takes fans into the private life of arguably the greatest quarterback to ever play the game. In addition to his own personal reflections, stories and anecdotes from his playing days at Central Catholic (Pa.) High, the University of Pittsburgh and, of course, with the Miami Dolphins, Marino shares some of his most private moments with his family, friends and behind the scenes of some of the more exciting and unusual moments that he’s been able to enjoy.Hundreds of vibrant, full-color photographs accompany a specially-produced DVD that is available only with this book. Where the Dream Began is the exclusive DVD that contains never-before-seen footage of Marino’s high school and college playing days in addition to interviews with former teammates and coaches that aims to explain the ‘how’ and ‘why’ behind the genesis of Marino’s amazing talent.Dan Marino: My Life in Football will reveal for fans some of the stories behind Marino’s career that they