(But High School and College Coaches Always Notice Them) By Coach Dave There’s something I see every year in youth sports and it’s something I also hear about directly from high school and college coaches across the country. Some athletes are loud with their effort.Some are emotional.Some need constant reminders, motivation, or correction. And then there are the athletes who quietly show up every day, do their job, and compete the right way. Ironically, those athletes often get less attention early on. Not because they aren’t good, but because they’re reliable. When an athlete brings consistent effort, a steady attitude, and handles adversity without drama, coaches don’t worry about them. They don’t have to manage them. They don’t have to guess who is going to show up. And that’s exactly what coaches value most. What Coaches Actually Look For Through my conversations with coaches at every level, one message comes up over and over: “We want athletes we can trust.” College coaches aren’t just recruiting talent.They’re recruiting predictability. They ask questions like: - Will this athlete show up the same way every day? - How do they respond when they’re not playing well? - How do they handle coaching? - Do they stay composed when things don’t go their way? Talent gets you noticed.Consistency gets you playing time and recruited. The Difference Between Inconsistent and Game-Ready Athletes Most young athletes aren’t inconsistent because they don’t care.They’re inconsistent because they haven’t trained the mental side of their game yet. One day they’re locked in.The next day they’re frustrated. One game they respond well to mistakes.The next game they spiral. Coaches see this immediately. A game-ready athlete isn’t perfect.They’re dependable. - Their effort doesn’t swing with emotion - Their body language doesn’t collapse - Their response to adversity is steady That’s not personality. That’s mental performance training. Why “Boring” Is Actually a Compliment in Recruiting

Hi Team, If you made the starting 11 Congrats! Here’s the lineup: - @Diego M Lopez (My midfield engine work rate, positivity and energy!) - @Duncan Parsons - @Jack Burridge ( On very thin ice after his poor performance last week! 😉) - @Garrett Hofer - @Jason Wheaton - @Johnathan Corsetti - @John Daniels - @Selena Salas Alonso (My Spanish #10 pulling the strings!) - @Courtney Osman - @Meredith Trimble - @Brian Jankins You’re kicking things off, and I’m counting on you to keep setting the tone—no pressure, of course! Now, it’s time to build the bench. Who’s warming up? Who’s in the training squad, waiting for their call-up? And who’s ready to prove they deserve a spot in the starting lineup? How to get in the lineup: Post, ask questions, and comment. Check the Leaderboard at the top of the page to see the results! Cheers, Steve

Professional teams have done this for a while and now it appears some Men's College basketball/football teams are also building pro-active "Free Agent/Transfer Portal" wish lists. It involves building a potential roster/list/rank of players that are in other similar programs and then watching the portal to see if they become available at some point. Noticed a lot of coaches watching club games where majority of players are committed to other schools??? Makes a lot of sense but college soccer does not have the budget resources like basketball/football does to build and monitor these types of lists.

Welcome to your Wednesday soccer briefing! 🏆 What Do Soccer Scholarship Offers Look Like for the Rest of Us? (An honest look at three real offers and why “28 full scholarships” isn’t what it sounds like) @CollegeSoccerConfidential has a great article on the changing landscape of the college scholarship world. When families think about “soccer scholarships,” many still imagine full rides: tuition covered, room and board included, and a payoff for years of club soccer investment. But that expectation has always been shaky—and even with recent NCAA rule changes, it’s still not the reality for most families. Here’s a quick breakdown: The Old Model - Division I women’s soccer programs were capped at 14 total scholarship equivalents. - Scholarships were split into partial awards across rosters of 25–32 players. - Full rides were rare, reserved for elite national-level recruits. The New Model - Division I programs can now offer up to 28 full scholarships. - On paper, this sounds like a game-changer. - In practice? Very little has changed. What’s Actually Happening - Most programs are still operating at or below the old 14-scholarship level. - Scholarship dollars depend on school budgets, which haven’t increased. - Full rides remain rare, except for elite talent at top-tier programs. Key Takeaway: The rule changed, but the money largely did not. For a deeper dive into real scholarship offers and what they look like, check out the full article here: Read More 🧠 Recruiting Wisdom Coach Jennifer Turner (@CAASoftballAdv) shares some powerful advice: "Recruiting Success = Right Place. Right Time. One of the hardest lessons in the recruiting process is this: Sometimes it’s not about how good you are — it’s about when and where you show up. You can be talented. You can be working your tail off. You can be doing “everything right.”

Absolutely! If you have any recruiting questions, just drop them in the comments section below, and I’ll be happy to answer!