EXCERPT
The Importance of Social Media Presence
"Often when social media and college recruiting pop up in the news, the articles tell cautionary tales of recruits who have lost an offer or a scholarship because of poor social media choices.
However, social media, when used properly, can be an effective recruiting tool. In fact, recruits can use the power of social media to contact coaches, show coaches what kind of recruit they are and even gain the attention of college coaches who weren’t previously recruiting them."
Source: NCSA College Recruiting
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"High school soccer players should create a professional Instagram account specifically for college coaches. There are two primary reasons for creating social media profiles for college recruiting:
To showcase your soccer skills.
To prove to college coaches that you can be a positive role model and a team player.
College coaches do not want to see your vacation photos, your latest outfit, or your embarrassing moments. Put those on your “finsta,” and make those moments private. If a college coach searches your name, they should immediately find your dialed-in soccer account, not the account you use to impress your friends."
There is no one, single way to go through the recruiting process. It is a different experience for every single player. Please let the John Jay Soccer Coaching Staff know any way that we can guide or assist you in the process!
What Types of Content Should You Share
Videos of training sessions. Make sure to caption videos explaining what you’re posting. For example, if you’re posting showing you 1v1 with a defender, you might write something about ball control, throwing the defender off balance, protecting the ball, or timing.
Photos or videos showing you are attending events and showcases. Coaches want to see that you’re attending the most competitive events available to you, so players attending a competitive ECNL or National League events might document the scene at these events.
Videos of your home workouts. Prove to college coaches that you’re putting in work on and off the pitch. Maybe this means a video of you practicing your footwork with a ball and wall. It might be basic, but it shows you are committed to the game.
Year in review videos or slideshows. Compiling videos of your best moments from the past year can be helpful in resurfacing your best moments, the ones that you might want to feature on highlight videos.
Trick shots. Since you won’t be showing how you can kick a ball into a basketball goal on your official highlight reel, social media is a good place to highlight the cool things you can do and show off a little bit.
Strength training. Show coaches that you are researching ways to improve your technique and make yourself a better player through exercises and drills.
Team photos. Coaches are looking for team players. It might seem cheesy, but showing team photos after big games or after long tournaments is a good opportunity to prove that you are grateful for the experience and do not take your teammates for granted."
Source: Traceup.com: How to Use Social Media for College Soccer Recruiting
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"Summertime is normally a time for taking a break, recharging, and getting ready for the big year ahead. While there are elements of truth to this as it pertains to youth soccer, the summer is usually a busy time for players. Between ID camps, off-season training, college visits and summer leagues, there’s a lot going on!
Here are some key tips on how to keep your social media fresh during the off-season.
Make sure to do a postseason recap: It’s tough to talk about the end of a soccer season, especially if it does not go as expected. But as difficult as it may be to sift through video and photos, and talk about the end of the year and the previous season, it’s a necessary exercise. First, from a recruiting perspective, colleges want to see recent game footage of you. Even if the final result may not have gone to your liking, you should review the game film and share the best aspects of it. It’s also important to talk about the season as a whole and discuss where things went well and end them on a hopeful note.
It’s OK to take a break from soccer: The youth soccer calendar is a real grind and it takes a toll on a players body and their mind. But there seems to be this notion that breaks are bad and the sheer number of players posting videos of their off-season training, ID camps, and summer league games seems to point to the idea that the season never stops. It does and that’s OK.
While it may seem counter-intuitive to take a break, taking some time off to regroup and recharge is a vital part of the overall process. There is the physical aspect (injuries take time to heal and even if one is not seriously injured, the nicks, bruises, and knocks all add up) but there is also the mental aspect as well. Especially when results don’t go the way we expect, there is this reaction to immediately ramp up again. But sometimes the best thing to do is step back and rethink how one can get better and do it with a fresh set of eyes.
It’s important to note that the idea of taking time off isn’t linear. Given how packed summer schedules are ones break from the game might not happen until say July or August. That’s OK too! It doesn’t really matter when one takes time off just that one does do it. Players aren’t robots."
Source: SoccerWire.com: College Soccer Recruiting and Social Media: How to Handle Summertime
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"The growth and proliferation of technology and social media has had a profound effect on the college recruiting process. Most aspiring student-athletes as well as the coaches they are trying to impress have a presence on a multitude of social media platforms including: Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter. Coaches are becoming more social media savvy and, in addition to large numbers of coaches watching and identifying you at Future 500 ID Camps, will probably check your social profiles to gain a better understanding of your character and personality while they are evaluating you. As a result, it is critical that you make sure your social media accounts are appropriate and reflect positively on you! Here are 6 Do’s and Don’ts to help you out during the college recruiting process:
1. Do follow & subscribe
Follow and subscribe to College Programs that you are interested in on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Youtube. Many college programs have a strong presence on social media, so following their pages can be a great way to get to know them better and keep track of how their seasons are going. Use the information that you get from social media to personalize the emails that you send to college coaches. For example, start your email with “Hey Coach K, great win over UNC the other day!” Short, personalized lines like this make your emails stand out by showing a coach that you care about their program.
2. Do post and engage
Don’t let the fact that college coaches may see your profile discourage you from using social media altogether; go ahead and post about the things that you’re interested in or cool experiences that you’ve had. Coaches aren’t expecting you to post pictures of yourself studying for the SAT or being inducted into the National Honor Society. They want to see a picture of the huge fish you caught when fly fishing or that awkward family photo from your fun family vacation. Overall, coaches will hop on social media to get a better idea of who you are as a person and make sure that you’re staying out of trouble.
3. Don’t be offensive or inappropriate
Not only should you never post distasteful or inappropriate pictures of yourself, but you shouldn’t like, comment on, follow, or be tagged in any offensive posts. Hopefully you know what qualifies as inappropriate, but we’ll spell it out for you just in case: don’t associate yourself with anything related to drugs, alcohol, sex, racism, or foul language. College coaches want mature, coachable players on their teams, and it is a big red flag for them when a prospective student-athlete is inappropriate and immature on social media.
4. Don’t be confrontational
Coaches are looking for mature student-athletes that are respectful and coachable. If you have an issue with friend, relative, or classmate, don’t hash it out with them on social media. Talk to them in person and resolve the problem privately. Conflict is often unavoidable with team sports, and coaches want players that can handle tough situations in a healthy, mature way.
5. Don’t be arrogant
There is a difference between promoting yourself and being arrogant. There is nothing wrong with posting a short video of your recent game-winning goal…that’s awesome. But adding a caption like “Had to put the team on my back again” comes across as conceited. College coaches don’t want to deal with wannabe superstars, they want hard working players that put the team above themselves in all circumstances.
6. Do Clean Up Your Accounts
Before you begin engaging with the college recruiting process it is important to backtrack through your various social media accounts to ensure that there is no offensive or inappropriate content. Coaches are unlikely to dive too deeply into your past, but might scroll through content from the last few months. Delete any content you wouldn’t want the coaches to see before you are on their radar.
Social media can be a great tool to help the coach get to know you, and also for showing your legitimate interest in a program. It is important to be conscious of your social media presence while going through the process. Follow the Do’s and Don’ts above to give yourself a great social media presence to complement your other recruiting efforts."
Source: Future500IDCamp: SOCIAL MEDIA & COLLEGE SOCCER RECRUITING: 6 DO’S AND DON’TS