THE RECRUITING EPIDEMIC

The recruiting tides in collegiate women’s soccer are turning. Gone are the days of youth athletes waiting until their senior year to make a decision about which soccer program they will be competing with for the next four years. Instead, over the past decade, the trend to recruit female youth soccer players at younger and younger ages has surfaced; vying for talent among girls who are in seventh and eighth grade. This has propelled women’s soccer to the top of the list among other Division I sports in regard to the age at which youth athletes are committing to colleges.

According to the NCAA, 37 percent of female athletes being recruited for college were in contact with coaches and recruiters before their freshman year of high school. This is compared to the highest threshold in men’s sports, with 34 percent in men’s basketball.

In December of 2017, the NCAA released their annual report showing the timing of verbal commitments for each Division I sport. Soccer received the fourth highest ranking for earliest time of verbal commitment behind softball, lacrosse, and gymnastics. According to the data, 55 percent of athletes commit to a college during their junior year of high school, and 29 percent commit during their sophomore year. Furthermore, 36 percent of women’s soccer recruits received their first verbal scholarship offer during their sophomore year of high school; that is compared to just 11 percent receiving offers before their sophomore year in men’s soccer.

The rise in early commitments from youth athletes being recruited for collegiate women’s soccer can be contributed to the change in ages at which prospects are starting the recruiting process.  With 333 NCAA Division I women’s soccer programs in the country, increased competition over the past decade has heightened. Title IX, increased funding for women’s sports, and the growth of the professionalization of soccer in the United States are all factors that have contributed to the increase in opportunity for women’s collegiate soccer. More opportunity to play college sports attracts more female athletes to the sport. With more interest, competition brews among programs and coaches to bring the best talent to their program. Increased competition to be a top national program, and ultimately stay employed as a coach, is a major factor driving the age at which athletes are being recruited downward.

Through this trend, the players, parents, and coaches involved are presented with a paradox. For the players, they are faced with having to make a large, life changing decision, often before they have fully developed to truly understand their true desires and needs. For the parents, it’s having to help guide your child through an often unfamiliar process, all while balancing the unforgiving pace of the process and the best interest of the child. And finally, for the college coaches, they must recruit players at young ages, despite their unwillingness to do so, in order to ensure their programs will be successful in the future so they can keep their jobs.

The current recruiting landscape, and all the benefits and risks it entails, will be thoroughly explored throughout the course of this website. Venture beyond to hear real-life testimonies from youth athletes who have already gone through the process, coaches who are stuck in the middle, and learn more about what the future holds.