The college recruitment process can be intimidating. Our Tournament Director, Kiley Graham, sat down with former teammates to compile a list of their recruitment tips and tricks.

Kiley Graham
Mount St. Mary’s University ‘18

Personal Recruitment Process

I worked directly with my club coach. He had me make a list of all schools I wouldconsider playing at. From that list he created a binder and made me go to eachacademic and athletic website of the school

I created different profiles on sites like BeRecruited and CaptainU (most have the freemembership or a small fee to pay that will give you access to a lot of coach contacts)

At tournaments we would just go around different campuses to get a feel of schools inthat area

I would attend different tournaments, ID clinics, and camps where coaches that Iconnected with would be attending

Do’s

Look at the list of college coaches attending your events and reach out to them withyour interest and schedule (they won’t know where you are playing unless you tell them)

Follow up after an event with coaches

Keep up with academics and research scholarship opportunities for those schools

For profiles add in any past event placement, pictures, and or video (it helps showcaseyou and gives coaches a face to place with a name)

​​DON’T

“ghost” coaches of schools you are no longer interested in (if you are no longer interested in that school send an email letting them know you appreciate their time, but you are choosing to look elsewhere)

Don’t focus on the division, DI might not be the best fit for you and what you are lookingto accomplish

Don’t forget to focus on the academics of the school you’re looking at (your major willbe what comes after college soccer)

Biggest Tip

​Always play like someone is watching when you’re at an event because you never know who is (personally I always kept moving and never took plays off which was a key factor for coaches)

Now

​I am the Tournament Director for Elite Tournaments organizing events for players that I used to play in. I always try to make these events successful for players to have a good experience and showcase their talents to coaches that are attending.

Morgan Cary
Stevenson University ’18; Senior Captain

Personal Recruitment Process

My mom educated herself on the process with me

I created a spread sheet of what I was looking for in a college and what I didn’t want in acollege (class size, university size, location, athletics level, major offered)

As I visited colleges, I would add them to my spreadsheet and mark them off

I went to different ID clinics in locations (like NC) that I was looking at and after theclinics I would reach out to a coach that I liked through email or they would contact meshowing interest

My club team would travel to different showcases as well where coaches would watch usplay

Do’s

contact coaches through email on your own email (not mom and dads)

it’s never too early to start looking at colleges, so go out and visit ones that interest you

it helps to communicate through or with your club coach (keep your club coach in theloop of what coaches are contacting you)

Do a campus visit if you can and doing an overnight with a player (Great experience andgreat way to really talk to girls on the team and get the feel of things)

DON’T

don’t pass by or ignore a college coach who is contacting you. You never know, you maydo research and end up loving that school or program

coaches are always watching you, on and off the field

Biggest Tip

Do something that make you stand out or makes you different on or off the field. For Instance – in high school my voice mail greeting on my phone was my firiend and i taking turns speaking every other word. It was goofy but funny. I remember I had 4 different coaches tell me that it made them laugh. It was a good way to show them my personality. Also, they said they remembered me. (Not sure if i recommend doing that now but something to help you stand out).

What Colleges Look For

how you play as an athlete of course but specifically if your coach-able, a team player, and look for good attitudes

Communication on the field is huge

fitness

As an outside back, when being recruited my college coach he said that he liked and waslooking for outside backs who play box to box. Meaning while playing defense I would work the ball up the field and play in the offensive half as well

Now

I am a co-coaching a U16 team for Severna Park with a college teammate. We are helping them understand the college recruiting process, as well as training them to compete at a high level.

Katie Kirschenmann
McDaniel College ’18;
2x All-Conference; 1x All-Region, Leading Scorer Junior & Senior Year

Do’s

The recruiting process can be overwhelming, so my best advice is to start early

Student-athletes can start by thinking about location and distance from home, academicmatch, what division they are interested in playing and then start reaching out tocoaches who meet that criteria.

NCAA recruiting rules are different for each division, so it helps to understand those aswell.

Start thinking about reaching out to colleges/college coaches as soon as you are able tobe recruited (as permitted by NCAA Rules), start to schedule visits and campus tours (as permitted by NCAA Rules).

DON’T

Don’t be afraid to ask the coaches and teams questions!

What colleges are looking for

​Colleges are looking for a complete student-athlete; students who are committed to doing the work academically as well as on the field.

Now

I am working as an Assistant Coach for McDaniel College Women’s Soccer while earning a Master’s Degree in Kinesiology from McDaniel College.