The Long Island Junior Soccer League is in the process of re-vamping the program formerly known as ODP. Now the LIJSL
Select Player Development Program, the league is looking to attract the top players on Long Island in every age group and expose them to the highest levels of the sport possible. Part of that charge is to provide added programs and services to the players.
Those efforts were on display Monday night as LIJSL Hall of Famer and Director of College Bound Athlete Services Pat Grecco spoke to the Select PDP program’s high school players about the recruiting process.
“These are kids who are playing above their club level, with professional coaches, who expect to be recruited for a college scholarship, or to use their soccer skills to get themselves into a better college,” Grecco told us before her talk. “The benefits of a program like this are to improve skill level, expose athletes to better players and higher levels of play, and get them identified by college coaches.”
The meeting came about after Select Boys 1994 coach Stuart Love read one of Grecco’s entries on the LIJSoccer.com Blog. He contacted her to see if she could speak to all the high school Select players, and was impressed by all he heard.
“It is clear that Pat has a wealth of experience in this field and provided some invaluable information on the college recruiting process,” Love said. “She went to great lengths to review the whole recruiting process and was kind enough to provide each player with an information packet that they could use as they try to realize their dreams of becoming college soccer players (anyone who did not receive a packet should e-mail Pat at soccervol@aol.com).
“Pat spoke to all of our High School age teams, from current freshman to current juniors,” he continued. “She explained to each age group what stage of the process they are in and told them exactly what they need to do to achieve positive results. “
What student-athletes need to do is take ownership of the process and become intimately involved in choosing their future path
“Tonight, my plan was to give them the map and the passport, and empower them to approach the process in an intelligent way, with limited stress, and a greater chance of finding the college that best fits them,” Grecco said.
“One of the key points Pat made was that the players have to be very active in the process themselves,” Love added. “They should not rely on their parents to contact college coaches and she emphasized that the players must demonstrate their ability to be responsible and to show that they possess the necessary motivation to succeed at the next level, both on and off the field.”
“That is the key to the college recruiting process,” Grecco agreed. “Networking by the player – not by mommy, not by daddy, not by the coach. Players have to be proactive. They need to get video of themselves online. They need to contact coaches and let them know where they will be playing, what level of competition they are playing at, and what kind of student they are (SAT scores, GPA, etc).”
While Love was happy to be able to expose his players to Grecco’s expertise, and felt setting up the meeting was just part of his role in the process.
“Aside from direct assistance with the recruiting process, I also feel that it is important for a select coach to stress to the player what type of things a college coach might be looking for when they observe the player,” he explained. “The player needs to be educated about the demands of high level college soccer and prepared for the next level by increasing their tactical knowledge of the game.
“I also believe that realistic advice can be one of the roles of the select coach in the recruiting process,” Love continued. “The select coach should be able to give each of their players an honest evaluation of their playing ability and guide them towards colleges that fit their level of play. I also feel that the select coach should act as a reference for each of their players and be willing to discuss the player with a college coach who was interested in recruiting them.”
The overflow crowd in the bleachers at Soccer Park's Petro Field took in a lot of information, but Grecco hopes they heard the most important part. No matter how good an athlete you are, your first responsibility is as a student.
“The better student you are, the more coaches will be interested in you,” she said. “Technically there is more money out there for good students than there is for good athletes.”
To Read other blog entries by Pat Grecco click here.
"The Benefit of Soccer Camp to College Bound Players"