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for the above list, unless the Big-12 isn't considered a major conference...

2010 Waldon,Mackenzie Iowa State University (CESA '91 Challenge team, JL Mann)

Delta Dog makes some very good points here, especially that some very good players are capable to play at big university and just make a good decision to go to a school to actually play and contribute.

This thread might be better off moving away from since its so subjective and there's so much we don't know about individual players and their recruiting process.

I often wonder –

How many players feel forced by their parents to play soccer in college and is this a reason there is a high “quitting” rate in college soccer?

If more good/skilled players decided to play in college or played 4 years would the level of play be improved and would more teams be more competitive?

Are player’s demands and time commitment required to play soccer in college hurting the quality of the college game?

With many teams having 28 to 32 on a roster how could any player not realize there is a good chance of not playing much over a 4 year period?

Why is the injury rate so high in women’s college soccer? Is the training over the top and players on the edge of injury?

Is club soccer the new trend at universities/colleges and how many quality players will opt for club vs playing varsity?

Delta:

Are you trying to say there isn't a difference between a SOCON soccer program and a ACC or SEC soccer program ? Are you also saying that the SOCON schools get the same talent as SEC and ACC schools.
By the way... the coach that put Furman's women's program on the map left to coach SEC as did Clemson's coach.
Butler beat quality schools on their way to the NCAA final's however it doesn't change the fact that there a mid major school,even if they have a good two or three year run it still wont change the fact that they are a mid major and the majority of the top talent will still want to play for a major school. I'm done discussing this topic, its a sensitive subject for most parents.. Hopefully we all helped our daughter make the best personal decision that individually matches her soccer talent... I'm not even going to get into what people are even considering scholarships (only book money,etc).

At the end of the day how much is pure talent versus contacts and relationships. Sweet Feet, if your daughter had stayed in SC and not made the contacts, relationships, and exposure from IMG do you think she would have had as many offers from your "majors"? Are there any 2011,2012 SC players being sought heavily after by the majors or making the region III team. SC has a U17 and U16 club team that have done decent in the region III premier league which have some of the top teams in the nation but no player good enough to make the region III ODP team? My guess is the same skilled player has more opportunities playing for a club out of Ga, FL,TX, or NC then out of SC. Maybe USC's success will bring more attention to SC but it appears the better USC gets, the less they seem to look at SC players even with their star player coming from SC. Remember they recruited her when they weren't doing very well. Look at the 2011 commits so far for SC and Clemson. SC commitments are from Canada, NJ, Penn and Clemson are from California and NC. I would assume by now the 2011 verbal commits are where the colleges have invested their scholarship money. Some already have their 2012 commits.

I think also sweet feet might have misspoke slightly when he said that we all help our daughters to make the best personal decision that individually matches her soccer talent because I'm guessing 99%, including sweet feet, are helping their daughters make the best personal college decision that matches not just her soccer talent but her academic, personality and financial situation. She has to feel good about the school with and without soccer. 99% of the players will need a means to support themselves in a way besides soccer when they graduate.

scwame has nailed it! In the end, isn't what everyone talks about being the right "fit? What is most important for the player which is boils down to an individual decision? The best advice my daughter got early on when she started her college selection process was "Assume you blow you ACL in the first season as a freshman, the most important question is Will you be happy there as a student first and an athelete second? Will you be challenged? Will you be a better person by your experience? Along with finances, that in itself will determine size and/or location of school. Then go look for the soccer program that best matches your what you are looking for." Sure we would all love for our daughters to be playing at national NCAA Division 1 soccer program in the Final 4, Elite 8, Sweet 16, but parental egos aside... don't we want them to be the best young adults they can be while enjoying and growing through collegiate soccer expereinces? We are all very lucky and blessed to have daughters who will receive better and less expensive educations as a result of their youth soccer experiences. They are very gifted students and athletes that makes them unique individuals as a combination of these abilities along with a dedication and love for their sport.

Thoughts from the elderly:

1. There are five types of "D1" situations: full scholarship where you start, full scholarship where you play but don't start, full scholarship where you get there and never play; partial scholarship; walk on. In every one of these situations, the player can say that they "played D1 ball". Long, long time ago, I had a full scholarship to Clemson to play basketball, but went to Davidson and walked on and played (never got a scholarship). I "played D1 ball" but in reality didn't play a lot but I got two years of the experience.

2. EVERY young soccer player has a day in their future where their career will slow down dramatically or end. It is not a matter of if, but when. They may be 50, but it will eventually stop.

3. Most importantly, in my personal opinion, is that your daughter remembers that she is a daughter who plays soccer instead of a soccer player who happens to be a daughter. D1, D3, community college - my grandsons could care less what level I played at or what sport. Time is coming where the kind of person you are is much more important than the level you played at or the sport.

4. Best coach/athlete conversation that I have ever heard was between Hershey Strosberg (Clemson) and my daughter Marissa. Hershey watched her very early this year after promising Marissa to wait until she had finished rehab. She could barely run in early February, but he kept his promise. He told her that: (1) she could play D1; (2) with the record in the ACC that last year's Clemson team had, he had to recruit players who were exceptionally better than the current level just to compete in the ACC which I believe is very realistic; (3) she could play at Clemson, but she might not play very much and she might never get on the field if they were able to recruit the kind of kids he hoped to recruit. FLAT HONEST - I loved every word,and Marissa did too. End result - Hershey recruits the ESPN player of the year as a striker (160+ career goals; POY 3 times), and Marissa is going to Clemson as student tickled to death.

If it is that important to a young lady to play in college at some level, I do hope that they make it. My advice would be to let them enjoy every day of this and not push some possibly unreasonable goal on them that an injury or change in their life might make impossible.

They are only kids once.

ROH

roh - very nice post and i believe more coaches today are giving players a honest assessment up front about their fit and amount of playing time to expect. i have a question for you regarding clemson and hs but will start another post as not to highjack this one.