What are the odd's your son will play college soccer?

I have been tracking the 94 age group club and USSF DA players that made college commitments and played minutes for their college soccer team and prepared these statistics for parents so you can have a realistic point of view on the number of players who actually get to play college soccer and where the played in their youth soccer career.  I have a whole link below that provides considerable detail on college recruiting process and how club and USSF DA prepares players for the next level including their ability to get athletic and/or academic scholarships.

My results after one year of college soccer for the 94's:

I did an analysis of how many 94 players from USSF DA and Club teams actually got playing time as a freshmen on their men's soccer teams.  I only evaluated NCAA DI, DII and DIII players and did not evaluate NAIA, Junior College, or Christian College player statistics.

PLAYED AS A FRESHMEN ON THEIR COLLEGE MEN'S SOCCER TEAM

                 ---             NCAA DI     ---        NCAA DII   ---         NCAA DIII
USSF DA                      23    ---                   8              ---          1           Total 32 players
Club                              4         ---             10        ---              12           Total 26 players

TOTAL FRESHMEN COLLEGE SOCCER COMMITMENTS 2012

                ---            NCAA DI     ---      NCAA DII     ---       NCAA DIII
USSF DA     ---               34        ---             8              ---          1           Total 43 players
Club          ---                 8        ---            14                 ---     16           Total 38 players

Looking at the above data roughly 70% of USSF DA players who signed with NCAA DI programs played as a freshmen.  For club players, that number was 50% of the players.  For DII and DIII all USSF DA players went on to play as freshmen.  For club, in DII roughly 70% played as freshmen players and in DIII 75% played their freshmen year.

There is a much bigger population of club players to USSF DA players that graduated.  Still I think these statistics are surprising given a lot of the banter that goes around on club, small clubs and USSF DA programs. We are blessed in North Texas to have some very strong teams in USSF DA and club soccer and some strong smaller clubs.  The 94's had almost as many players from club go on play as a freshmen in college soccer as the USSF DA teams just less at the DI level which is expected.  The 94 USSF DA class was very strong so this may be the high water mark for USSF DA placing players who played as freshmen in NCAA DI soccer in college.  Will be interesting to see how the 95's do this year as freshmen in college soccer.

There were 27 USSF DA and club players out of the entire North Texas 2012 graduate pool that played college NCAA DI soccer their freshmen year (played = got minutes on the field as a freshmen player).

Here is a link to all the supporting details and the player commitments, where they played college soccer, and who is returning their sophomore year which will be interesting to relook at these players and see how many are still playing in NCAA DI, DII, and DIII as Sophomores (specifically getting playing time on the field).

94 USSF DA and CLUB COLLEGE COMMITMENTS AND COLLEGE PLAYING STATISTICS & COLLEGE RECRUITING TIPS AND LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE PARENTS ON THIS FORUM

http://www.txsoccer.info/t4894-94-class-in-college-soccer-updates

So you are telling me there is a chance! LOL

You're too old to play college ball, Suki.

I wonder if NTX would be able to provide a count of the total number of '94 boys who played competitive. That would give us the percent chance of "making it".

I'm missing the importance of "playing as a freshman" and what this has to do with "making it".

allen04 wrote:I'm missing the importance of "playing as a freshman" and what this has to do with "making it".

In other sports, lots of kids don't play as freshmans or even sophomores, I'm with Allen04 on that. "Making it" for some is HS soccer or just being part of competitive team, it's different for all of us.
Dare to dream big. Yes you should have a back up plan, but as a parent .... let your kid dream and maybe allow yourself to dream even if it's for a few minutes. Enjoy the ride while it last, if not what the heck are we all doing here in the first place.

The statistics playing time are important because if players don't get time on the field they are more likely to drop out off college soccer.  The training and personal commitment required especially at NCAA DI and DII levels for fitness is intense with all the distractions of college life and being a young adult.  If you are not playing, this becomes a major consideration.  Also, college coaches will tell many of these players you will never see a minute on the field with my team.  Also, there is big drop off between who commits and who actually plays one minute of college soccer.  Some never show up for their freshmen pre-season.  These statistics also show that club players can play in NCAA DI, DII, and DIII teams and that only a portion of the USSF DA players will go on to play college soccer.  The club players get to play High School soccer and the USSF DA don't so unless your son is a top 25 player in USSF DA they might as well play club and play High School soccer if they are interested in High School soccer since so few USSF DA players get to play NCAA DI soccer.

The statistics playing time is important because if players don't get time on the field they are more likely to drop out off college soccer.

Lots of college students drop out between Freshman and Sophomore years. I think any link to playing time as a freshman in the numbers is dirtied by the transition from a controlled home environment to the college life and that telling kids "if you don't play as a true freshman you will be more likely to drop out" becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

[quote="Rancho4C"][quote="allen04"]I'm missing the importance of "playing as a freshman" and what this has to do with "making it".

[/quote]In other sports, lots of kids don't play as freshmans or even sofmores, I'm with Allen04 on that. "Making it" for some is HS soccer or just being part of competitive team, it's different for all of us.
Dare to dream big. Yes you should have a back up plan, but as a parent .... let your kid dream and maybe allow yourself to dream even if it's for a few minutes. Enjoy the ride while it last, if not what the heck are we all doing here in the first place. [/quote]
Love your comment Rancho4C.

All of you folks on here seem to care very much for your kid and want what's best for him or her.

Over the years, I've seen some pretty jacked up parents who don't give a rat's @$$ about their kid or the kid's future.
Regardless on whether I agree or disagree with your personal opinions, you all have your kids' best interest in mind.
Time will fly by quicker than you think.
Enjoy.

I think this is just another PR stunt by soccernovice and his dislike for the DA's. He will soon tie this into how Ayses is the best Club in the world and everyone should play there so they are not sitting their freshman year of college...

cowpukesfan wrote:

Rancho4C wrote:

allen04 wrote:I'm missing the importance of "playing as a freshman" and what this has to do with "making it".

In other sports, lots of kids don't play as freshmans or even sofmores, I'm with Allen04 on that. "Making it" for some is HS soccer or just being part of competitive team, it's different for all of us.
Dare to dream big. Yes you should have a back up plan, but as a parent .... let your kid dream and maybe allow yourself to dream even if it's for a few minutes. Enjoy the ride while it last, if not what the heck are we all doing here in the first place.

Love your comment Rancho4C.

All of you folks on here seem to care very much for your kid and want what's best for him or her.

Over the years, I've seen some pretty jacked up parents who don't give a rat's @$$ about their kid or the kid's future.
Regardless on whether I agree or disagree with your personal opinions, you all have your kids' best interest in mind.
Time will fly by quicker than you think.
Enjoy.

Thank you Cowpukesfan. I have a passion for this game..... I'm just happy my son has it as well.  So thus, we both enjoy and yes dream.

SN, I have to ask where do you get these stats. The clubs do not publish them except for the DA players. For example there are three 96 DT players I know of from one team that are all playing college soccer ( or at least on the teams) but you will not find that info on their site. I know of players from a 4A high school the last few years that played no club or limited club but went on to play DIII. That will not show up anywhere either. My point is I think there are alot more that play than show up in any listings.

It's very easy to ensure you play as a freshman, go to a school with a crappy team.  What does that prove?  Utterly nothing.

Whether you play as a freshman, in any sport, is substantially more telling when combined with information regarding the competitiveness of the program (historically), whether there were specific needs in the position played by the incoming freshman, and the competitiveness of the team during the players frehsman year.

Want to play as a freshman, go to a crappy school if you're a better than average player, you'll get minutes.  Go to a good school during a down year or a rebuilding year, you'll get minutes.  Go to a good school that doesn't have a full midfield (assuming the player is a midfielder) and isn't heavily recruiting midfielders, you're likely to get minutes.  None of this proves anything.

Nor does it mean anything when you compare it to a player who wants to push him self and goes to a top ranked school and sits his freshman year either because he's redshirted or because he's playing behind (and learning from) a highly talented junior or senior. 

It all comes down to the individual player.  You need to know what works best for your son and what doesn't.  Some step up their game when they are the best on the field and for those players, if they aren't highly, highly talented, going to a top D1 school where they suddenly are unlikely to be the best player on the field might not be the best option.  Other players respond substantially better to adversity and lift their level of play when confronted with other players substantially better than they are, for this player, walking on at a D1 school and sitting the bench might be the best thing for their development.  My point is that it's different for different players and playing time as a freshman doesn't tell us anything about either the talent level of that player, whether that player has "made it" or anything else if not viewed in context with a lot of other factors.

Ask yourself, would you be impressed if you were told the MVP in DA last year went to a low ranked D2 school in a conference not known for strong soccer programs and led the conference in scoring or would you be more impressed by that same player going to the top ranked D1 school in the country and working his way into the rotation (though not getting many minutes) by the end of his freshman year?  One might look good on paper as it reads "led conference in scoring as a freshman" (while it actually means top player went to crappy school with lots of crappy players and beat up on them all season and didn't really challenge himself at all), the other actually is good even though a summar of that individual's season might only read "played in 2 games as a freshman (which really means worked hard as a freshman on the top team in the country and by the end of the season was a contributing member of the team).

Again, can't take any meaning from simple "games played" stats without a lot of other context taken into account.  Personally, I'm much more impressed by the young man that challenges himself on a solid team and has to work hard to have even a hope of playing time than the gifted player that goes to a weak school to ensure he's a starter as a freshman.

The exception rather than the rule. But very impressive. I think this kid has shown up at a few keller high camps.

http://m.goduke.com/mobile/ViewArticle.dbml?atclid=205518862&DB_MENU_ID=&SPSID=&SPID=&DB_OEM_ID=4200

Here’s my followon question for you guys to toss around. You all know my preachment elsewhere about the overall Club Soccer Club journey and what you may hope to get out of it.

So, let us say that it all goes great and you are now a freshman on a NCAA D1 team. And maybe you are even getting minutes or lots of minutes and you carry this through your whole college career. As parents, we joke about what will we do when the kid leaves and we don’t have soccer consuming our lives. What is the kid’s perspective on this? What’s next after college soccer? A career in the MLS? Stop playing ? Be a soccer coach? Move on to family and career and say “Thanks, Soccer for getting me where I am today” ????

I am wary of those whose ultimate objective is playing MLS and thinking they’re going to be some sort of A-Rod making $$$ salary. Because soccer is not a marquee sport in the USA, there is just not a lot of money to go around. I think your BB could make more money working at Costco than they would as a newbie on an MLS team. And have full benefits as well!

Yeah, sitting the bench in mls pays far less than the average DI college grad will eventually.make.

http://www.bigdsoccer.com/fc-dallas-news/2013/5/6/4305986/2013-fc-dallas-salaries-revealed

But there may be more and more opportunities to make a decent living n the big business that soccer is becoming.in the USA.

allen04 wrote:I'm missing the importance of "playing as a freshman" and what this has to do with "making it".

the importance is that it was probably the only stat soccernovice could fine that can make a case that playing for ayses is just as good as playing for da.

OnTheSurface wrote:Here’s my followon question for you guys to toss around. You all know my preachment elsewhere about the overall Club Soccer Club journey and what you may hope to get out of it.

So, let us say that it all goes great and you are now a freshman on a NCAA D1 team. And maybe you are even getting minutes or lots of minutes and you carry this through your whole college career. As parents, we joke about what will we do when the kid leaves and we don’t have soccer consuming our lives. What is the kid’s perspective on this? What’s next after college soccer? A career in the MLS? Stop playing ? Be a soccer coach? Move on to family and career and say “Thanks, Soccer for getting me where I am today” ????

I am wary of those whose ultimate objective is playing MLS and thinking they’re going to be some sort of A-Rod making $$$ salary. Because soccer is not a marquee sport in the USA, there is just not a lot of money to go around. I think your BB could make more money working at Costco than they would as a newbie on an MLS team. And have full benefits as well!

The lowest I saw on there was 3 guys making 35-36K per year. Wow, did not know Costco was paying $18/hr ! I think most who are good enough to play college and smart enough to succeed academically are well aware of the odds of making it big in soccer. I believe the overwhelming majority have a back up plan. Graduate and get a good job.

Even if you get the numbers of the kids playing in NTX in a given year, it's still a false statistic because the number that you'd really need is the number that [i]attempted[i] to get onto a college team.

Remember some choose to go for a degree at an university that doesn't even have soccer because of the quality of academics...i.e. the burnt orange place down the road that's ranked #1 in petroleum engineering, biomed, and accounting. Lots of those schools around here!

DragonStryker wrote:It's very easy to ensure you play as a freshman, go to a school with a crappy team.  What does that prove?  Utterly nothing.

Whether you play as a freshman, in any sport, is substantially more telling when combined with information regarding the competitiveness of the program (historically), whether there were specific needs in the position played by the incoming freshman, and the competitiveness of the team during the players frehsman year.

Want to play as a freshman, go to a crappy school if you're a better than average player, you'll get minutes.  Go to a good school during a down year or a rebuilding year, you'll get minutes.  Go to a good school that doesn't have a full midfield (assuming the player is a midfielder) and isn't heavily recruiting midfielders, you're likely to get minutes.  None of this proves anything.

Nor does it mean anything when you compare it to a player who wants to push him self and goes to a top ranked school and sits his freshman year either because he's redshirted or because he's playing behind (and learning from) a highly talented junior or senior. 

It all comes down to the individual player.  You need to know what works best for your son and what doesn't.  Some step up their game when they are the best on the field and for those players, if they aren't highly, highly talented, going to a top D1 school where they suddenly are unlikely to be the best player on the field might not be the best option.  Other players respond substantially better to adversity and lift their level of play when confronted with other players substantially better than they are, for this player, walking on at a D1 school and sitting the bench might be the best thing for their development.  My point is that it's different for different players and playing time as a freshman doesn't tell us anything about either the talent level of that player, whether that player has "made it" or anything else if not viewed in context with a lot of other factors.

Ask yourself, would you be impressed if you were told the MVP in DA last year went to a low ranked D2 school in a conference not known for strong soccer programs and led the conference in scoring or would you be more impressed by that same player going to the top ranked D1 school in the country and working his way into the rotation (though not getting many minutes) by the end of his freshman year?  One might look good on paper as it reads "led conference in scoring as a freshman" (while it actually means top player went to crappy school with lots of crappy players and beat up on them all season and didn't really challenge himself at all), the other actually is good even though a summar of that individual's season might only read "played in 2 games as a freshman (which really means worked hard as a freshman on the top team in the country and by the end of the season was a contributing member of the team).

Again, can't take any meaning from simple "games played" stats without a lot of other context taken into account.  Personally, I'm much more impressed by the young man that challenges himself on a solid team and has to work hard to have even a hope of playing time than the gifted player that goes to a weak school to ensure he's a starter as a freshman.

I know a player that walked on to the HS team as a junior, never played before. Senior year District Keeper of the Year. Figured he would try college soccer. Went to Howard Payne University, a real crappy soccer program, just to try to play. All the other 5 keepers there trying out were top club players, one even ODP ( '90, back when it was significant). Ended up the starter as a soph. The real success of this college soccer experience is that he went there for soccer but ended up getting a real love of academics. Graduated and went to Europe. Not to play in the EPL or Bundeslega but for his Masters Degree and is now in Chicago getting his Doctorate. That is the point of college soccer for all but the very few who go pro. That impresses me more than either scenario you mention.

my2cents wrote:Wow, did not know Costco was paying $18/hr !

Admittedly, this was a very specific choice of company, but yes, they do.
http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2013/06/11/costco/

my2cents wrote:

That impresses me more than either scenario you mention.

Absolutely, totally, 100% agree!

I wasn't trying to imply that my scenarios were all inclusive, clearly they aren't as you've detailed.

Actually there were quite a few of the 94 NCAA DI players who went on as starters their freshmen year for quality programs.  Some earning conference recognition one making it to the pro's already.  It does matter if a player goes as a freshmen and plays in general.  Means when they arrived they were able to demonstrate the ability to contribute to the team as a freshmen.  For some players, there may have been situational needs where the player depth was so great they were not needed.  Typically, that is when the coach will red shirt a player.  In general, the stat's speak for themselves academics is #1 and a great player in club or USSF DA can contribute on a NCAA DI their freshmen year.  College soccer is fun similar to High School soccer and kids should remember they go to High School for an education and have fun playing High School sports with their friends.

There are more players in NCAA DI who played a lot from USSF DA but club is a suitable alternative for a great player.  You do not need to skip High School soccer and play USSF DA to play in NCAA DI on a top team.  There are many parents who do not know this fact and I share these facts so they have alternatives to following the herd mentality in club soccer.  A great player will get discovered by college coaches in club or USSF DA.  

How do you get these statistics for the 95 or 96 class?  It takes a little time you research the college commitments published in various news sources then check the roster for the 2013 college team.  If they are on the roster, you can check at the end of the year every team keeps statistics on details like number of games started, games played, minutes played, etc.  There was quite a bit of banter by parents on this site comparing players from USSF DA and club soccer.  Even recently one parent said club was mostly recreation players now with USSF DA and PA.  I thought it would provide a more facts based discussion looking at results recognizing that some kids drop out of college or college soccer due to maturity issues, shift in priorities (girl friend at home), financial reasons, etc.  We are tracking enough players here a sample size of 100 these results can be considered directional in nature and valid for your use.

There are some players who can handle the rigor of academics and college sports and do well in both. There are others the college sports provide the time management skills and structure they need to get a college education. There are also some players that without the athletic scholarship ride they got they would not be getting the quality of college education they are getting. There are players on the 94 list that fit all of these categories.

Ths odds of playing college soccer are very high. Plenty of opportunities to play soccer in college BUT it might not be the level he/she or his parents want/expect and there most probably not be much/any money attached to it.

Interesting point, Barca! Novice, can you tell us the scholarships for those 100?