soccer icon USA

Lokolo

gillbaby wrote: »

Thank you The One Who. I totally agree with you. I am having a terrible time trying to get this through to my daughter though.

Good luck, no-one likes to be the bearer of bad news.

oliversw

This can be done in the UK, when I was 17 I had trials for a college football course in kent, it consisted of half studies half training, it also didn't bear these high costs. I did get in but I had a very sensible family who persuaded me otherwise. As for shattering dreams, sometimes the hard thing and the right thing are the same, it never did me any harm turning my back on the game (I did sixth-form and went onto uni, where I did a 6 month placement abroad and I also aspire to do a masters) football is not the be all and end all of one's life and he needs to accept that regardless of if he makes it or not.

Johnny111

Hi...No disrespect to the others posters but you have been given some bad advice. Listen up.

There is a place in college soccer (football) for everybody. The highest division is NCAA D1. This division will have the top players and many youth internationals. You then have NCAA D2 with some very good international players and you also have NAIA divisions and NJCAA Junior College divisions. Grades and ability will dictate what division/s he should be looking at.

Every year hundreds of kids from Europe go over to the US to study and also play football. If you can afford it, it's a great opportunity. Absolutely amazing and an experience you won't get anywhere else. I don't know how good the kid is but as long as he is half decent, committed and focused he will be able to find somewhere to play. It doesn't matter if he's not good enough to progress as a professional. During his time in the US he will develop and only get better as a player, whilst studying a degree, in possibly a great location with top academic and athletic facilities.

No dreams have to be shattered. Yet anyway. In the States it's the norm for college players to be drafted around the age of 22. They are selected straight from college into the MLS via the MLS SuperDraft. If he's not at that level, he will still be able to continue his playing career in a structured organised environment whilst studying a degree. That's what college soccer is there for. It's impossible to say what % of scholarship he will get. Some average players get full scholarships and some USA youth international player's have receive 0% scholarship money. It depends on the programs and the coach and what they look for in a player.

Now I stress that you do not have to go through one of these scholarship companies. If you've got the money and want most of the work done for you, then go with one of these companies. Bear in mind that they are usually in total control if you leave it to them so they can find you a scholarship anywhere, and sometimes not where you would want to study. Soccer Icon are OK. I've put a list of some companies that you can 100% trust below. One thing I will also say is that your family needs to do more research into the different divisions and college soccer in general. A lot more research is required especially if you want to go for the option below.

The other option is to go through the recruiting process yourself. It's a good idea to meet with the companies so you get free advice on recruiting and he may even be able to play in some trial games before they require a payment. Remember you can always go back to the companies if this option doesn't work out. To do the process himself he needs player information/player CV, video footage of himself playing in matches, coach recommendations, proof of grades and he will need to spend endless hours researching different universities and colleges. He will also need to put a lot of time..a good few hours every couple of days emailing, phoning and faxing college coaches. They often do not reply until they receive around three emails and phone calls. Anyone call contact a college coach...they will only invest their time replying to a prospective player if they can see that the player is seriously interested in there program and college. He won't get a reply if he contacts coaches in bulk and sends a general email either. He will need to send personalised emails to every college coach he is interested in playing for. After this stage there is still a lot of hard work that needs to be done to secure a place/scholarship. This is where companies are good for because they are a middle man so they can push coaches and pressure them where a player can't because it wouldn't be their place to be telling a coach they should offer them this or that.

My advice. Give the process a go yourselves..after research of course. Every email/call needs to come from the player to show he is mature. The parents can help advise him, but should never get involved in the recruiting process. He's only 17...he's got years till the latest deadline to move over there, which is around 21. Try starting the process now for enrolment in August 2012. If he doesn't get anywhere by January 2012 then sign up with a company below.

In order:

College Soccer USA
College Scholarship USA
Sports ED
Pass 4 Soccer USA
Sporting Chance USA
Soccer Icon USA

Avoid First Point USA...and Soccer Icon should be last on the list below Sporting Chance USA.

Check out for advice:

Captain U Soccer

Be Recruited

NCSA Soccer Recruiting

lucylucky

At the end of the day does he hope to be a professional footballer in the UK/Europe?

I have a friend's whose son has been training 5 nights a week and on Sundays since he was 7.

When he was 10 one of the top clubs in Scotland (there are only two!) signed him.
He is now 12 and hopes to keep developing with them.

Just an example of the ages involved and dedication required.

Do you think your grandson can put in the necessary effort?

Lokolo

Johnny - I don't feel as your post has got what we are saying.

For starters, you are saying loads of people play football at college, yes, we know this. But does this mean the OP has to pay £2.5k to find this out?

To say - oh he might not be as good as professional but he can still do well - of course he can still play football at college - anyone can do this! They don't need to go through someone to do it.

No-one is saying that the OPs grandson can't go over to the USA to study and play football - of course it can be done. But the OPs grandson and parents clearly feel he's going to go over there, come back and play for a premiership football team. If he wants to play football and learn a trade - he can do this in the UK. If he really wants to go to the USA to do it - he doesn't need to go through an organisation.

gillbaby

Once again, thanks for all the feed back. As I said previously, I don't know the first thing about football, I wouldn't know a good footballer from a bad one. My grandson is quite academic, but therein lies another problem! He wants to study law, which is totally different in the States to the UK. If he went to USA and got a degree, he'd have to do another course when he returned home to convert to English law! It's a real minefield, as I think he would want to play football in Europe.
My daughter can't afford to pay this amount of money out and my grandson is talking about getting a student loan (which he would have to get in the UK as well). My husband and I, are now retired so money's a one way street, so we can't afford to help either. I suppose we'll find out more on Wednesday when we meet with the principals of Soccer Icon. I'll keep everyone posted.

Johnny111

Again you need to your research on issues like student loans. You cannot get student loans in the States. You may be able to get an independent loan from a company and some colleges also offer institutional loans.


Lokolo- He doesn't have to pay £2500 to find that out. What the £2500 will pay for is the hours that the recruiting company will put in to finding the kid the best scholarship and the right place to play. If he want's to do it himself that's great but it's a lot harder than you think, especially an an international player. In some cases it may cost more to do it yourself. You have to get your own match footage which costs, and also may have to visit colleges in the US first to meet with the coach. You are under estimating the process which is why there is a market for these companies. Most of them have built up relationships with coaches over a number of years, which allows the door to open for many kids who don't jump out at the coach from what's on paper.

Pass 4 Soccer are a non profit charity who have fees of around £800 everything included, so that's a good company to look at. Loads of international students do play at US colleges, and a lot of them pay fees to these recruiting companies. A lot of the kids that do it themselves are top players or have been released from academies so they instantly attract the coaches attention while some other kids need companies to market them.

He can play semi-pro football or any type of football in the UK and study or learn a trade. What the US offers is an opportunity to mix both together as a student athlete with great coaching, facilities and experiences. Most student athletes get to see a lot of the States in their time there.

I don't know the playing history of the kid but statistics will show he probably won't go from US college to Premiership in four years. Of course you have to be realistic. Like I said before he would come back from his experience in the US a much more rounded person and athlete. Nothing can beat training everyday with a network of coaches and strength and conditioning staff. The set-ups are impressive even at the lowest of the low of college soccer in the US, and that's why the recruiting process is so long and tough.

Again he needs to do his research. He won't have time to study law and be an athlete in the US. Law's a tough degree that needs full attention. As a student athlete he will be travelling on long road trips often doing homework on the coach/bus/plane. There is no way he will be able to combine playing at the college level and studying law regardless of the differences between UK and US law.

At this stage you, he or whoever shouldn't be talking about his future playing career after college if he has no experience with a professional team. College soccer primarily isn't there to produce and develop professional players. The top players use college as a stop gap...they stay for a few years and then get drafted or sign with agents and move to Europe. In this case, he will likely develop as an athlete and person, gain a degree and possibly get a % of his education, housing and meals paid for him.

If your going to speak with Soccer Icon you need to make sure to speak with the other company's so you get an idea of who you trust and who is better. If it's down to cost, Pass 4 Soccer are good and cheap. If you want the best people, it's College Sport USA who charge around £1500.

gillbaby

Thank you Johnny 111. I will certainly make a note of your points and it might make things easier for him. I think his intention is to get a UK student loan but I will be very surprised if he could get a UK loan to study in the States.
This site has been wonderful and the feed back fantastic, although I must admit, I think I'm in more of a quandary than before. The options are just getting overwhelming. For now I think it will be just to go with the flow, and see what happens.

The_One_Who

He will not get a UK student loan for study elsewhere, and he needs to know that. It would need to be a commercial loan, which isn't ideal.

gillbaby

Thanks for your comment Oliver. I've mentioned this to my grandson and he would like, if possible if you could tell us the name of the college in Kent. Thanks.