If you’re hoping to play soccer in college, there are many things to consider beyond the general characteristics (large, small, urban, rural, etc.) of the school. At some point you’ll want to speak to the coaches at schools on your list, but you can check out many aspects of the soccer programs prior to contacting them. This will help you further winnow the list of schools you’re considering.
Author: Anita Nolan
If you want to play soccer in college, you can’t sit back and wait for coaches to contact you. Only the top few percent of players are recruited without promoting themselves. The rest (which is almost all players) need to market themselves in order to catch a coach’s attention.
These days, many players create an online presence to get their information in front of college coaches. Some send DVDs to coaches, but these tend to get misplaced and might not be seen. An online résumé and video is a good alternative.
If you’re a high school soccer player and want to play in college, start planning early, as early as your freshman year. It might seem like you have plenty of time before you need to think about college, but the months will go by quickly. There are things you can do, even before entering high school, that will get you started on your college search and position you so that you can best promote yourself as you enter your junior and senior years.
Luis Suarez, the player from Uruguay red-carded in the 121st minute of the Uruguay-Ghana game in the Word Cup quarterfinals, has turned from a goat into a hero, at least in his home country. While his handball was a blatant foul, it put his team into the semifinals of the World Cup.
Cheating is never a good thing, but there are times when a player must sacrifice himself for the team. And for Luis Suárez, who plays as a forward, this was one of those times.
If you want to play soccer in college, obviously the best situation is to be recruited by a top school, but sometimes it doesn’t work out that way. Whether due to injury or not getting in front of the right coach, some players just don’t make a connection with the coaches at a school they want to attend, yet they want to play soccer in college.
In that case, the player might try walking on.
What Does “Walking On” Mean?…
During hot, humid soccer tournaments, heat stroke or heat exhaustion is always a possibility.
Heat-related illnesses occur when the body can’t stay cool. The human body normally cools itself by the evaporation of sweat. But on hot, humid days, sweat evaporates more slowly due to the moisture in the air. When the body can’t stay cool, its temperature rises, and heat-related illness can occur.
One way to determine the risk of heat-related illnesses is…
If you’re a high school soccer player and want to continue playing in college, start planning as early as your freshman year. While premier-level teams or developmental programs like ODP usually market their players and are well known to college coaches, some other teams aren’t so organized.
If your team is lacking in the marketing department, you can still make a college squad. It will just take a little more effort on your part. To make sure you find a spot on a roster when your time comes, consider doing the following.
Athletic scholarships drive college searches more than they should. Some parents seem to think the money they’ve “invested” in training, teams and travel should come back to them by way of college scholarships.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the reality. Athletic scholarships should not drive the college selection process and it’s important to understand the advantages—and disadvantages—of receiving them.
Muscle cramps, an involuntary and painful contraction of a skeletal muscle, are a common problem for athletes. Muscle cramps can affect s player’s productivity during a game.
It’s not known what causes muscle cramps, although they’re often associated with excessive heat and the loss of fluids and minerals, such as calcium, sodium, and potassium, through sweat. In addition, a tight muscle tends to cramp more easily. They occur without warning, typically in a working muscle. Muscle cramps usually occur near the end of the activity, after the body has been stressed for a period of time.
Dehydration can seriously affect a player’s health and performance. After all, the body is made up of about sixty percent water, and players can lose as much as three quarts of water in a single game.
If your child is participating in a soccer tournament, spend a little time beforehand planning what he’ll eat and drink. The foods he ingests before and during the event will impact affect his performance.