Recruiting in the New York Times

New York Times reporter Bill Pennington is in the midst of a very interesting series of articles on college recruiting. They are: Expectations Lose to the Reality of Sports Scholarships, New Rules Threaten Sports Tryout Process, and the latest in the series Recruits Clamor for More From Coaches With Less. There is also an excellent audio interview segment with Pennington that can be found here.

Simple Steps to Recruiting Success

If college recruiting had a motto, it would be this: “What the [insert expletive of choice] am I supposed to be doing?” It’s a perfectly reasonable question to ask. Most players and their parents have never been through the process. Or maybe they bumped and scraped their way through it with an older sibling. The pressure mounts as they realize each player only has one chance to get it right.
The response to the question above is an emphatic, “Don’t leave it to chance!” The odds don’t work in your favor. At least five competitive youth players are vying for each college roster spot. You can roll the dice and hope the right coaches contact you, or you can grab the bull by the horns and make recruiting work in your favor.

Surprisingly, it doesn’t require that much effort. A couple of hours a week is all it takes to do a really good job. Which brings us back to the original question of what on earth you should actually do.

Let’s focus on high school juniors for the moment. By the winter of your junior year, you should be recruiting in earnest. (This strategy can also be applied to elite sophomores or seniors who haven’t nailed down a spot. Just expand or abbreviate the timeframe.)

The first thing is to sit down with a cup of hot chocolate and take a deep breath. Don’t panic; everything is going to be okay. Pull out a 2008 calendar and map out your strategy. Here are the most important activities to put on the calendar:

1. Build a list of schools – Winter 2008, – Find 5-10 colleges that have the right blend of academics, social life, and soccer. To build this list, schedule an appointment with your college counselor, talk with your friends and family, ask your soccer coaches what they think, and use college selection resources on the web like Destination-U and Cappex.

2. Initiate contact – Winter/Spring 2008 – Introduce yourself to the coaches at the colleges you identified. Start with a soccer resume that contains your club and high school soccer info, academic info, and pictures.

3. Convince them that you’re serious – Spring 2008 – Communicate with each coach at least once a month. Update them on your latest exploits and let them know that you’re really interested in playing for them. Don’t fret, you aren’t bothering them. In fact, you’re making their job easier.

4. Get seen – Spring/Summer 2008 – Let the coaches know where you’re going to be playing. If they’re going to the same tournaments and you’ve convinced them that you’re serious about playing for them, they’ll probably make an effort to see you play. If your tournament plans don’t overlap, go to one of their summer camps, which are a great way to get a ton of exposure.

5. Have the tough conversations – Summer/Fall 2008 – Once a coach has seen you play, ask for his honest opinion. Is there a place for you on his team? You may not always get the response you’re hoping for, but at least it allows you to narrow your focus to the teams that are interested in you.

If you want recruiting to work in your favor, it takes a little effort. Fortunately, the emphasis is on “little.” A small time investment to get organized, put together a strategy, and actually follow it will go a long way. 

The Podcast Goes to Zambia…and Other, Closer Destinations

In the latest episode of Radio CaptainU, we look near and far at how soccer is being used to solve the world’s problems. We start in our own backyard with Urban Initiatives and then take a trip through the magical inter-tubes to southern Africa with Grassroot Soccer. Nate joins the podcast juggernaut and stumps me with obscure, forgettable, annoying trivia about the English 5th division. We dig into our mailbag to answer a pressing recruiting question and also meet the Neil Armstrong of CaptainU.

Listen Here:

Download: Radio CaptainU – Episode 5

Billy Beane Finds Soccer, Mark Rothko, and Other Tenuous Associations

I’ve been known to rant and rave about the book Moneyball, and the Oakland A’s statistical approach to evaluating players and building winning teams on an absolute shoe-string budget. What better place to apply that methodology than MLS, where the salary cap is  laughably low?  Of course, soccer has always been cursed (or blessed, depending on your perspective) by the lack of obvious and meaningful statistics.

People always look at goals and assists, which are obviously important. But what about the guy who consistently makes the tackle at midfield that starts the counterattack which leads to all the goals? It’s difficult to quantify his performance.

No less, it appears that there are a number of people working to solve this problem. Among them: Billy Beane of Moneyball and A’s fame. According to a fascinating story by Jeff Carlisle of ESPN, Beane is an integral player in the reincarnated San Jose Earthquakes. And true to form, Beane has brought his statistical methods to the table, employing Match Analysis, a stats company, and relying heavily on their analysis for expansion draft decisions. (Ivan Guerrero, formerly of the Chicago Fire is an Earthquakes acquisition Carlisle discusses in depth.)

THE MORALITY OF STATISTICS IN SOCCER

Any time I start ranting about the untapped opportunity of applying statistical methods to soccer, I feel compelled to acknowledge that soccer is, at its core, a subjective game that in many ways cannot and should not be quantified. Imagine going to the Guggenheim Museum and trying to quantify all of the Mark Rothko paintings. It is argued that reducing soccer games to numbers undermines what is so cool and so unique about the game. But here’s the flip side: statistics have the potential to reveal unknown dynamics of the game.

What if we looked at a data set collected from 10,000 games and found that positioning a defensive center midfielder 10-15 yards in front of two center backs is highly correlated to scoring 2-3 counterattacks goals a game? That would be pretty powerful stuff that wouldn’t undermine the game. Rather it would deepen our understanding of how things work.

Rip Van Winkle: Meet College Soccer

What happened to the season? It’s unbelievable how quickly it passes. It’s really an injustice. Things kick off, there are too many games to follow, and then before you know it, it’s sleeting outside and all you have to look forward to is the Premier League holiday session.

You really don’t have to be Rip Van Winkle to miss the college season. It just passes way too quickly. One of the things that has always amazed me about college soccer is how little soccer is actually played. This is particularly striking for first year players who are used to playing 60+ games a year. Finally you get on a college team — which has been your goal for years — but there are only 20 games a year. (Throw in the spring season and you get 30 games if you’re lucky.) Not to mention the fact that there are 30 players on the roster, rather than the 15 or so on a youth team.

As much of a bummer as this is for some people, it has a very cool effect. It makes every game count that much more. For even the most competitive youth teams, there are only a handful of really important games in a given season. But in college, every game is critical. When I was a college player and coach, every game felt like an absolute must win. This sense of urgency is what makes college soccer so great.

Epic Battle of North and South

14 hours and 57 minutes ago, I set forth to see Northwestern take on the University of Illinois-Chicago in a second round, men’s D1 NCAA game. Northwestern, from the far north side of Chicago against UIC, the team from the Southside — well, if you Chicagoans want to get technical, maybe I am splitting hairs here, but UIC is at 600 South. (here is Google street view of UIC’s stadium.) While I’m noodling around with Google maps, I might as well show Northwestern’s stadium (which was apparently under construction when Larry and Sergey drove by to take this picture.)

Like virtually all NCAA tournament games, last night’s showdown was a riveting affair, even though neither team played to its full potential. There were moments of brilliance, but by and large it was what they call a “midfield battle.” Which is to say the ball was flying all over the place all evening. Still, it was great fun to be in the stands. UIC brought a huge student contingent that was singing and cheering the whole time. The rest of the stands were packed with Northwestern fans.

It was just one of those games where neither team could generate a serious attack. And after a short time it became clear that the game would be decided on some sort of opportunistic goal. Northwestern had the first chance off a sloppy back pass to the goalkeeper that was intercepted by a Northwestern forward. Somehow, and I still can’t figure this out, the UIC player who passed the ball back was able to race back and slide tackle the Northwestern guy on the goal line. Crazy play, but still 0-0.

The big break for UIC came on a corner kick with about 15 minutes to go. Two UIC players headed the ball in a row, which froze the Northwestern defense as the ball found the back of the net. The pace then became frenetic and Northwestern almost scored off a couple well developed opportunities. Finally, with 40 seconds left, Northwestern won a dangerous free kick and brought everyone including the goalkeeper into UIC’s penalty box. UIC cleared ithe ball and one of their players gathered it up about 40 yards out from goal and ran the length of the field and finished it off with a tap in. I honestly don’t remember ever seeing another empty net goal. It was wild, and of course the UIC fans went crazy.

This game was only one big surprise in a night of huge upsets. Notably, UMass knocked off top-ranked Boston College and Bradley beat Indiana. There are a lot of very interesting games to come. Santa Clara — Notre Dame is one of particular interest. Here’s the bracket. Get to a game if you can.

DIII Champions!!!

What a weekend it was! Eight teams went to Disney, but only two got to enter the magical kingdom of national champions. For the second year in a row, Wheaton College beat Messiah to win the women’s crown.

On the men’s side, Trinity dug deep and overcame a Messiah team that had won the national title for three years in a row. Unfortunately for Trinity, the magic ran out in penalties in the final against Middlebury. (See my post from a few days ago for my take on penalty kicks as the way to decide games… let alone the national titles.).

For me, it was great to see a NESCAC team finally win. Those teams have been battling it out in New England for a long time, only to come up short in the tournament. No less, it was painful to see a couple of Albuquerque boys on Trinity go home empty-handed.

Meanwhile, the Wheaton women’s juggernaut rolls on. I have seen this team play a couple times in the last few years, and they are in a word, imposing.

Loving the Tournament

I have been avidly following the NCAA tournament over the last few weeks — much to the detriment of my regular blogging. It’s been a thrilling couple of weeks, and it’s only going to get better.

 

Having coached and played in men’s Division III, I am always interested to see what’s going on there. I was bummed when Wesleyan, my alma mater, didn’t get into the tournament. It just goes to show how competitive the NESCAC really is. Somehow though, the quality in that conference has never really shown in the tournament. Williams in particular has had some ridiculous teams in recent years, but just hasn’t been able to put together a run to the title.

 

This year it’s a little different. Middlebury is in the Final Four after beating an excellent York team that I blogged about earlier this season. Middlebury faces Loras College, a team that has come a long way in the last few years. But the most mouthwatering semifinal matchup has to be between Trinity University and Messiah College.

 

Messiah has won the national title for three years in a row. They’re just ridiculously good year in and year out. I don’t understand how they do it. Trinity is undefeated this season, and has been ranked #1 throughout the year. I watched two of Trinity’s stars grow up in Albuquerque — Kyle Altman and Robbie C’de Baca. That game is going to be an absolute thriller. If you live in Florida, there’s no excuse not to go…

Notes on a Game That Just Isn’t Fair

It’s time to end the shootout madness. This weekend, I went and watched the University of Chicago women’s team dramatically outplay the University of Wisconsin Steven’s Point. Despite peppering the Steven’s Point goal with 27 shots, Chicago just could not finish.

So, the inevitable penalty kick shootout. Over seven rounds of PKs, Steven’s Point made five and Chicago made four. Over 110 minutes of open play, it was painfully obvious who was the better team on the field. But somehow, that team ended up losing.

It’s very telling that the NCAA counts a game that goes to penalties a tie. Of course, there has to be a way to end games that go on forever. But I am more and more convinced, watching everything from high school and club games to college games to World Cup games, that there has to be a better way. In all these situations, the stakes are high and the game gets determined by what is essentially a flip of the coin. Obviously there’s a little bit more skill and psychological dueling in a shootout than in a turn at the roulette table. No less, is just seems like a dismal way to decide games.

One reason is that people only remember the negative. Reflect back on a shootout you watched. Do you remember who scored? Other than Roberto Baggio, do you remember anyone who shot for Italy in ‘94? Do you think about the great goal Baggio scored against Bulgaria? Does anyone remember anything about the England-Portugal Euro 2004 game in which Beckham missed his penalty? Reflecting on the shootouts I’ve been involved in, I can only remember those players who missed — two UChicago players a few years back at Wartburg College in the NCAA tournament, and my friend Isaac when we’re about 10 years old and playing in a local Albuquerque tournament. (Incidentally, those were the days when we shaved our numbers into our hair. I’ll save that story for another day.)

The problem is, no one has really come up with a good alternative to penalties. We saw the horrific MLS shootout in the early years of the league. It was an attempt, but a failed one. There are also the considerations of time. Games simply can’t go on forever. Or maybe they can, like marathon 15-inning baseball games and six day cricket matches. Here are a few ideas I’ve had over the years. I’d love to hear yours.

1. Let the game play itself out. Allow unlimited substitution in overtime and just keep playing until someone scores.

2. Change the offside rule in overtime. Make it so offside begins 35 or 40 yards out, rather than at midfield. This would have the effect of stretching the game, as defenses couldn’t be as tightly compressed without allowing players to run in behind them. Since the defense wouldn’t be so compact, seams would open up.

3. If it has to be a shootout, at least make it interesting and challenging. Take free kicks from 25 yards out with a wall. This would be a true test of skill and individuals wouldn’t take so much heat for missing.

Well, like I said before, no one has come up with a really good alternative — myself included!! All I can say is, at least without shootouts we wouldn’t be deciding games like this.

The Tournament Beginneth!

It has always amazed me how quickly the season passes.  You get back from summer vacation, and immediately you’re in the thick of it all.  And then, two short months later it’s all over.

Monday was D-Day for Division III and Division II teams. (Brackets: IIM, IIW, IIIM, IIIW.) (Scoreboards & Links: W, M)For many on the bubble, including my alma mater, things didn’t go so well. I guess a 10 game winning streak isn’t good enough for the selection committee.  Go figure. But for a small minority of teams, the season lives on.

I’m headed out this afternoon to watch Wheaton College play Carroll College.  Wheaton is one of those powerhouses in Division III.  Year in and year out, they bring excellent teams to the field. Say no more than last year their women’s team won the national title and their men’s team lost in the national final.

If you have the opportunity this year to see some tournament games, whether they are Division I, II, or III, I highly recommend checking it out.  The mania and intensity of March Madness, with which everyone is so familiar, is no different in soccer.

The games are unbelievably intense, and even when the result isn’t that close, there is a palpable sense of urgency in the air.