Navigating the college recruiting process can be both exciting and challenging. Providence Catholic High School Soccer is committed to supporting our student-athletes in achieving their academic and athletic goals. This section provides valuable resources, guidance, and tips to help players and families understand the recruiting journey, connect with college coaches, and make informed decisions about the next steps in their soccer careers. Whether you’re just starting to explore your options or actively pursuing opportunities, we’re here to help you succeed on and off the field.

Academics play a crucial role in the college recruitment process, as they demonstrate a student-athlete's commitment to excellence both on and off the field. College coaches look for players who can balance the demands of sports with the rigors of academic life, ensuring they are prepared to succeed in a collegiate environment. Strong grades, test scores, and a solid academic record not only open doors to more opportunities but also reflect discipline, responsibility, and a commitment to personal growth—all qualities that make a standout recruit.  Providence Catholic High School is dedicated to providing a rigorous academic foundation rooted in faith, excellence, and character development. With a comprehensive curriculum that challenges students to think critically and strive for their best, Providence prepares its students for success in college and beyond. (Click image for more information).

It is still early, but it is worth thinking about how a pending lawsuit could eliminate thousands of Division I athletic roster spots.  Here is an article talking about this: 

Proposed NCAA roster changes could put squeeze play on high school recruits

The National Letter of Intent (NLI) was a formal, binding agreement between prospective athletes and college programs. The NLI will be replaced by a new financial aid agreement that will provide many of the same core functions as the NLI and will likely be tied to a contract related to an impending revenue-sharing model across college athletics. Per the NCAA, once a prospect has signed a written offer of athletic aid, other schools will be "prohibited from recruiting communications."

The early consensus is that this will not change much.   With the NLI gone, players will sign financial aid agreements, scholarship agreements. This sets up better with the looming revenue-share, so there will be more of a contract with the players and schools.  For 99% of players who are looking to be Division I athletes, there will be little change.  However, there may be changes in the recruitment calendar as there does not seem to be any deadline that that paperwork is signed or signing period window.

Many players are bombarded by invitations to College ID Camps or Showcases.  If you are considering attending one, you should do your research and set your expectations accordingly.  This includes reaching out to coaches prior to the camp and setting up your social media account, highlight film and other information.  Many showcases and ID camps are marketed to players who are interested in playing at the next level, but, in reality, are not designed to identify potential recruits or achieve the recognition that the player attending believes that they will receive.  Travel costs, lodging and fees quickly add up.  Make sure that your investment decision is informed. Click here to learn more: Article by soccerwire.com

If you going to attend a College Showcase or a Tournament that you want a college coach to watch, read this article for some tips about what you should do before the event to help get seen.  Click here for the article: College Showcase Tips

For a very good article about how the recent NCAA Men's Soccer Championship highlights the changing landscape of college soccer, please read this article by Chris Cillizza: Article Link .   Another article on Sports Illustrated talks about the impact of the recent settlement with the NCAA that will limit roster sizes:  Article Link.

A summary of the article is here:

Vermont beat Marshall to become the NCAA Men's Division I Champions. How did Marshall and Vermont get good? They brought in international players. Lots of them. Of the 22 starters on the field in Cary, North Carolina in the national championship game Monday night, 16 of them were internationals. That’s almost 75%!  All three goal scorers in the championship game were foreign-born; two are Germans, one is Hungarian.  And here’s one more stat for you: Of the 28 players on the Marshall roster, 3 were born in the United States.  The number of international players on college rosters is accelerating rapidly.

For the American players who are very good but not at that ultra-elite level, the number of opportunities for them to continue to play the sport at the highest collegiate level is shrinking. The rosters are taken up by more and more internationals. And, in some cases major programs aren’t even recruiting American kids anymore!  If there are less Division I spots available for the outstanding American players, those players are pushed down to Division II and Division III schools. And they wind up taking slots from kids who, a decade ago, would have had successful four-year careers at those lower-division schools.

Then there’s the recent settlement by the NCAA that will limit the roster sizes of most Division I programs. The average Division I men’s soccer roster this season was 32.5. Starting next year, schools will be limited to 28 roster slots.

Read the article for more information. 

If playing soccer in college is your goal, it is important for you to understand the college landscape, what coaches are looking for, what colleges are the best fit for you, and how to approach the recruiting process.   Come back to this site as we will be updating it with useful information for your journey.

Dan Rothert with Top Student Athlete provides a 45 minute overview of some recent changes to college recruiting.  Click here to watch video.
Dan discusses the following:

New Roster Size and Scholarship Limits at the NCAA Division I level and how these new limits may help some programs and hurt others.

How some NCAA Division I programs may become basically professional teams and others may be forced to change divisions or even drop their soccer programs.

How the new roster size limitations of 28 that go into effect in the fall of ’25 may force teams to cut players on their current roster and recruit less.

How the transfer portal is going to blow up and become an even bigger factor in recruiting.

How this will likely cause a ripple effect – less roster spots at NCAA Division I means more players fighting for spots at NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, NAIA and JUCO programs and the level of play at these divisions getting even better!

NCSA College Recruiting has a lot of useful information on their site.  Click here. 

For example, did you know?......

According to Worldmetrics, the average scholarship amount for a men’s soccer player in NCAA Division 1 is about $8,457 per year. However, it’s important to note that men’s soccer is an equivalency sport, meaning scholarships can be divided among multiple players. Coaches are not required to give out full scholarships to their athletes and can break them up however they want.  For example, let’s say a college soccer coach has 10 scholarships available. They could distribute 8 full-ride scholarships and split the remaining 2 to cover 50% of the tuition for 2 players. Alternatively, the coach could divide the 10 scholarships evenly among all the players. Moreover, not all athletes receive scholarships for their entire college career. Scholarships can vary year to year based on performance, team needs, and other factors.

The NCAA Division I Board of Directors on Monday approved a blanket waiver granting an additional year of eligibility to former junior college transfers opening the door for a wave of college athletes across all sports to spend one more year in college athletics. According to an NCAA memo, the waiver extends an extra year of eligibility in 2025-26 to athletes who previously "competed at a non-NCAA school for one or more years" and otherwise would have exhausted their NCAA eligibility following the 2024-25 season.  

However, Monday's ruling from the NCAA will now allow former junior college players who would have been out of eligibility following this season -- to return for an additional year in 2025-26.  The waiver does not extend to all junior college athletes, only those who would have completed their NCAA eligibility this year.  As of now, the NCAA does not plan on changing its rules regarding the years of eligibility for junior college transfers (or decline enforcement of those rules, but if they If the NCAA does not decide to change its rules they are opening themselves up to a glut of copycat legal challenges.   This story is developing.