There is so much to unpack playing college soccer that it’s going to require multiple posts.
Please share this with your soccer circle!
Do you or does your child want to take the leap into collegiate athletics? Let’s leap into this post then.
I played college soccer at the Division I level for four years. Learn more about my unique path in soccer.
We are going to talk about some of the commitments and rewards it takes to play college soccer in a broad scope. We’ll narrow it down as we go along. This is all from my personal experience. The goal is to help paint a picture on what the next level of soccer is past youth club soccer.
The carrot on the end of the stick…or on top of the Roomba
I wanted to play D1 since I was in ninth grade because my brother was playing D1. When he was a freshman in college I was a freshman in High School.
Right away I knew that’s what I wanted to do as well. My parents and I would drive 6 1/2 hours to watch his games and I wanted to get as close to the action as possible so I would volunteer to be a ball boy. That was an ultimate preview of what college soccer looks like.
18 year old’s are in shape, right? I thought I was
College soccer starts in August. There’s typically a 2 to 3 week preseason before the official season starts and when classes begin. I think I wore my running shoes more than I wore my cleats the first few days. I’ve never run so much in my life.
My college had three-a-day’s for two straight weeks (I was in NY so it was a bit cooler, but still hot).
If I was to give advice to a prospective college soccer player no matter what level, it would be to run and run and run some more before you get to college.
By the time preseason is over you’re officially in shape.
Being injured is almost a right of passage
I tore one of my left quad muscles halfway through preseason but I played through it. I played the first five games my freshman year until the pain was too much and I had to sit out the next 10 games. After recovering I finished out the season playing the final five games. That was really the only injury that I suffered in college that set me back a little bit.
Stay mentally strong. It can go south quick if you let it.
Hopping around the country
As a D1 player, I traveled to some cool places:
Freshman – Maine & Florida
Sophomore– Wisconsin & Ontario
Junior – US Naval Academy & Indiana
Senior – Southern California
At the University of Maine, I played on a beautiful campus in front of all the locals. Side-note: this was my very first college game and my man beat me to score. Also in my freshman year we went down to Florida to Walt Disney World for our conference tournament.
In my sophomore year we went to Canada for a week of preseason.
We went to Wisconsin for an early season tournament in Green Bay.
In my junior year we traveled to Indiana and the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland which was probably the coolest soccer field I’ve ever played on.
Senior year we went to California near Huntington Beach and played an early-season tournament. We spent about one hour at the beach before flying home to New York.
Jealous of the regular students?
During the season life never stops. You’re always either practicing, playing games, going to class, studying, eating, sleeping and rehabbing the sore muscles.
It’s ok if you give a regular student that’s bright eyed and bushy tailed walking to class a scowl.
Guess what? It’s AWESOME. The season always flew by. I was physically tired by season end, but mentally always ready for the next game.
What about academics?
Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that. School doesn’t slow down for student athletes during the season. You have to keep your head above water and make sure your work is getting done. Some of my teammates were declared academically ineligible. Be careful.
We have so much more to talk about such as:
- The recruiting process for parents and players
- Playing against players four sometimes five years older than you.
- A typical day during the season and expectations.
- Being heckled by other schools fans
- Lessons you learn after four years
