In Today’s Edition

Welcome to our important new blog series, where over the next 5 to 6 weeks, we will guide you through every step of the college recruiting journey. Whether you're just starting out or are well into your process, we'll cover essential topics like creating your standout highlight video, building a targeted college list, and strategies to secure that coveted scholarship. No matter where you are on your journey, our series is packed with crucial tips and advice to help you succeed. Join us each week as we empower you with the knowledge and tools you need to navigate the recruiting landscape with confidence.

• Step 1 - Unleashing your Potential: How Highlight Videos Can Ignite Your Recruiting Journey!
  

• Step 2 - Where Can You Play? Unpacking College Soccer Levels: NCAA, NAIA, JUCO
  

• Step 3 - Join our FREE College Soccer Network Community!

Step 1 - Unleashing your Potential: How Highlight Videos Can Ignite Your Recruiting Journey!

A common question I often hear is, "Where do I start with the recruiting process?" My answer is always the same: begin by creating your highlight video. It's a crucial step in showcasing your talent, and it's never too early to start. You can begin adding clips as early as your freshman year. This proactive approach not only highlights your progress but also sets a strong foundation for your recruiting journey.

There is no denying the crucial role highlight videos can play for many student-athletes in their recruiting process. College coaches are extremely busy; it would be impossible for them to travel the country to evaluate every potential recruit. Highlight videos are a chance to get student-athletes in front of coaches and give them an unbiased look at their skills and abilities. It’s a fact that online recruiting profiles that include a highlight video receive more than 10 times as much traffic as those without one. A great highlight video is one of the most important things to include in your recruiting profile to garner some serious attention from college coaches

How to Make a Highlight Video

After you’ve collected enough footage, it’s time to start editing. The goal is to put together a video that showcases what your student-athlete can do, as this is one of the main ways coaches evaluate a potential recruit. Here are some tips for putting together a great highlight video:

1. Include the right highlights. Depending on your sport, coaches will be looking for different types of footage. For example, it’s important for basketball and football videos to show in-game footage, but sports like baseball and softball should focus more on technical skills.

2. Keep your video short—about three to five minutes. If a coach wants to see footage of a whole game, they will request it.

3. Showcase your best clips first. Sometime coaches won’t watch more than the first 20 or 30 seconds of your video. If you start out strong, you have a better chance of capturing their attention.

4. Use freeze frames and/or spot shadows. Right before the action begins, freeze the video so the coach can see what has been set up. Then, add a circle or arrow to identify your student-athlete.

5. Vary the skills you showcase. While it’s impressive to be able to drain three-pointers, if your whole highlight video only shows that one skill, you’re not showing that you’re a well-rounded player. Include footage of other important aspects of the game such as playing defense.

6. Include footage from before and after the play. Coaches aren’t just interested in the execution; they want to see how you react and communicate during gameplay.

7. Make sure the quality of the video is high. You might have made an amazing catch, but if the camera is shaking and you’re out of focus, you’re more likely to be looked over. Coaches are making split-second decisions when they watch highlight videos. Don’t give them any reason to stop watching.

8. Keep it simple. There’s no need to include special editing effects or music in your highlight video. The fewer frills, the better.

9. Provide detailed information along with your video. The first frame of the video should include your name, school, jersey number, position, graduation year and contact information. You can also add sport-specific measurements such as height, weight, etc.

Read the full article here

Step 2 - Where Can You Play? Unpacking College Soccer Levels: NCAA, NAIA, JUCO

The college sports sector in the United States spans over 500,000 student-athletes competing in over 25 different top-level sports, so you’d be forgiven for not fully understanding the ins and outs of each division and how they play into the overall structure of the industry. Each sporting association is responsible for overseeing the championships as well as establishing and enforcing the rules for its member institutions.

NCAA

The National Collegiate Athletic Association is the highest level and most well-known governing body within college athletics. The association is split into three divisions:

NCAA Division 1 - tends to be home to the largest schools in the country. The sports played within the 350 member institutions of most of the D1 programs tend to be backed by the largest budgets thanks to huge retail income and incredibly valuable television broadcast deals via media outlets like ESPN, and thus are able to offer more lucrative athletic scholarships to their 170,000+ student-athletes. Some of the biggest-name universities in the world like UCLA, Duke, Michigan, and UNC all operate under the Division 1 banner. 

NCAA Division II - tends to consist of smaller schools than its Division 1 counterpart and contains a mix of national and regional playing schedules across their array of sports. With around 300 member institutions fielding sports teams within D2 competition, there are fewer athletic scholarships available. However D2 schools frequently offer a mix of athletic and academic funding to support students and cover a larger percentage of the overall costs of attendance.

NCAA Division III - is the lowest of the three tiers in terms of overall athletics budget, although actually presents the largest offering of the three in terms of members, with over 170,000 student-athletes from around 450 participating institutions. The key difference for D3 in comparison to D1 and D2 is there are no athletic scholarships offered by the member universities. Instead, student-athletes are provided financial aid to support their tuition fees via academic scholarship funding or need-based aid. Competing in a D3 athletic program tends to involve a less rigorous schedule than D1 or D2, with less long-haul travel required and more emphasis places on academic and athletic balance, so students have less pressure to contribute to the revenue-generating activities. Despite being on the lower end of the financial scale within the three NCAA divisions, D3 schools are home to some of the best academic and athletic facilities in the world.

NAIA

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics is the oldest and longest-running college athletics governing body, initially created in 1937 and sits one academic tier below the NCAA within the overall structure of the industry.

There are over 250 member institutions within the NAIA and features over 60,000 athletes competing within 21 conferences across the country.

The NAIA also has a rich cultural history, recognized and celebrated as the first collegiate athletics association to invite historically black institutions into membership and the first to sponsor both men’s and women’s national championships. The present-day NAIA also tends to be home to a wider and more diverse community of student-athletes, with slightly more lenient eligibility for international athletes. Despite common perception, a lot of NAIA teams actually boast a very successful and prolific record against teams from NCAA D2 and D3, and if any teams move between the associations, it tends to be NAIA to D2/D3 or vice-versa.

NJCAA

The National Junior College Athletic Association rounds out the three main governing bodies within college sports and is the only of three to be made up solely of 2-year community colleges, with over 500 partner institutions featuring the lowest tuition fees across the three associations. The NJCAA is a very popular choice for student-athletes who aren’t as strong academically as the eligibility profile of schools under its umbrella is more lenient than those of NCAA or NAIA standards.

Like the NCAA, the NJCAA is made up of three separate divisions of community colleges. NJCAA D1 is able to offer full athletic scholarships, D2 can offer partial scholarships to cover some tuition fees and D3 does not offer any form of athletic financial aid to go towards the cost of tuition and other expenses.

Community colleges, despite the name, are still classified as universities but more often than not are utilized as an educational stepping stone for entry to an NAIA or NCAA-level institution where they can finish the remaining 2 years or more of their degree.

For international student-athletes, playing for an NJCAA athletics program is a great way to get noticed by higher-ranked schools for potential transfer in the future as coaches place a lot of value in the life experience element of already being established within a college environment in the states.

Read the full article

Join our FREE College Soccer Network Community!

Are you enjoying our weekly newsletter but craving more in-depth insights and interactions? Dive deeper into the world of college soccer recruiting by joining the College Soccer Network! In just three days, we've welcomed over 40 passionate members, and we're just getting started. ⚽️

By joining our community, you can:

🔍 Get answers to your pressing questions from experienced parents, players, and our seasoned ex-D1 coach, Steve.
📹 Share your highlight videos and resumes directly with coaches, getting your talent noticed.
📚 Utilize our comprehensive guide to track commitments and stay informed every step of the way.

This is your chance to be part of a fast-growing team that's dedicated to elevating your recruiting journey. Join us today and take the next step towards your college soccer dreams!

Join the College Soccer Network for Free and become an essential part of our vibrant community.

‘Updated 2026 College Commitments’

Challenges of Over-Recruiting

The 28-player roster limit has become a critical factor in the recruiting process. Programs that have over-recruited are at risk of having to rescind verbal offers, creating a precarious situation for athletes who thought their futures were secured. This over-recruiting often stems from the competitive nature of college sports, pushing programs to hedge their bets with multiple commitments. For athletes, this means staying vigilant and understanding the stability of their offers.

Recommendation: Explore all levels of college soccer, as the talent pool exceeds D1 opportunities.

Where are you on your recruiting journey?

If you're a 2025/26 athlete and starting to feel uneasy about the lack of interest, it's time to take action. Remember, most schools will have their rosters locked at 28 players by 2025 and 2026. This means players could face cuts or decommitments due to limited roster spaces. Don't wait until it's too late—email me now to schedule your free 20-minute analysis and get ahead in your recruiting process.

Simply send an email to [email protected]

Your Go-To Websites

• RPI - Check out the Women's College Soccer RPI by clicking this link.

• RPI - Check out the Men's College Soccer RPI by clicking this link.

• NCAA Eligibility Center - Click Here 

• United Soccer Coaches - Awards and Rankings 

About: Steve Coxon College Soccer Network

Steve has 20 years of college-level experience, 17+ years in D1 as the Head Recruiter. He has facilitated more than $30 million in college scholarships.

Location - Connecticut, USA