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Walking On

I just had a very interesting conversation with a top Division I regarding walk-ons. I had called to recommend a young player I have watched play for many years. The player just graduated from high school. In the fall he's going to attend this school and is hoping to walk on to the soccer team.

The coach has told the player that the team rarely takes walk-ons because they generally quit after a year or two. By that time the team has invested significant time and resources into the player. This isn't a knock on walk-ons. It's an objective fact. I've seen this storyline play itself out many times. It goes like this: The walk-on trains hard all summer and makes the team. He doesn't get into any games as a freshman and sees very limited playing time during his sophomore year. He decides that there are other things in life and leaves the team.

For the player this is a perfectly reasonable decision. It's not working out with the team and there are tons of other things to get involved with in college. From the team's perpective, however, the player's exit is disruptive. Having experienced this many times over, the coach I spoke with is understandably leery of walk-ons.

So what did the coach recommend for the player I was calling about? The player needs to prove that he's totally committed. How can he do this? Not by pledging to stay on for four years if he's selected to the team. Rather, the player should be in touch with the coaching staff throughout the summer, keeping the coaching staff up to speed on his training, performance at regionals, fitness, etc. In short, the player needs to continue self-recruiting!

Posted 6/14/06 by Avi Stopper, selfRecruiting.com

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