Virus’s effect on recruiting
Athletes’ focus back on schools; pause could benefit players.
In the weeks following the nationwide shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, UCF women’s soccer coach Tiffany Sahaydak has received a daily stream of emails from potential recruits.
Each message is similar — an update on a player’s training process, film from their most recent game, questions about how recruitment will continue in the absence of a typical cycle of matches and tournaments.
“You can almost feel their anxiety in the emails,” Sahaydak said.
The annual recruiting season for women’s college soccer revolves around the NCAA offseason, which takes place in the spring and summer. But the coronavirus pandemic is now bringing Sahaydak and recruitment coordinators like Jimmy Angeles to a standstill.
As the recruitment coordinator for Polk
State College and local club team Florida Kraze Krush, Angeles said the result will be a compacted schedule during which
colleges will scout talent.
“Spring is very busy for recruiting,” Angeles said. “Now pretty much we have to make a decision in the fall because we won’t be able to watch kids play in the spring.”
For many programs, the pause in play won’t make an immediate impact on the upcoming recruiting class. At UCF, for instance, Sahaydak already had signed or locked in commitments from most of her incoming 2020 and 2021 classes.
It will, however, change the landscape for many players who were seeking offers and commitments next year.
Although high school soccer seasons might still be played in the fall, many players earn attention from Division I coaches through performances with club teams, not their high school squads.
Oviedo High girls soccer coach Scott Waisanen has seen a downturn in college scouts at his program’s matches as a result of this emphasis on club programs.
Even if a player is earning interest and offers, coaches typically attend club tournaments rather than high school games.
“They do come occasionally, but it’s not lining the sidelines like they have at the showcases,” Waisanen said. “They’ll have 100 coaches on the sidelines to watch a big match; we might get one or two at a big game once or twice a year.”
However, club programs will be more greatly impacted by the coronavirus pandemic than high schools due to their schedules and emphasis on travel.
The Elite Clubs National League — which encompasses almost 100 of the top girls clubs across the country — initially suspended all sanctioned activity until April 30, then extended its stop in play through midMay.
As that restriction lifts, however, clubs will begin to face the decision of whether to take the risk of traveling to showcase events.
Clubs in Central Florida will have a slight advantage due to their proximity to the Disney Girls Soccer Showcase, which took place at ESPN Wide World of Sports in January and typically draws large crowds of college scouts near the start of each year.
But other showcases around the country — such as the Las Vegas Players Showcase — have been canceled. With limited options to provide high school athletes with exposure to scouts, Angeles said clubs could feel the pressure to return to travel soccer early.
“I doubt we will be able to recover every event that we wanted to do,” Angeles said. “It really depends on the clubs to make this decision. How much are they willing to wait to travel? Is it worth that risk?”
Despite the inherent challenges, Sahaydak said the pause in NCAA recruiting could benefit players, who she believes are pressured into committing too early in their young careers.
During the past few years, girls soccer recruiting has become relentlessly accelerated. California standout Olivia Moultrie made headlines in 2017 when she accepted a scholarship to North Carolina at the age of 11.
The NCAA has created restrictions to abate this, such as age restrictions on unofficial campus visits and mandates that coaches don’t communicate with recruits by phone until they reach their junior year. Still, unofficial offers persist, and it’s common for players to commit to colleges as high school freshmen and sophomores.
By forcing a complete halt on all recruitment-related activities, Sahaydak hopes this time will help to reset the process for many athletes.
“I think it’s good that it has slowed down for them,” Sahaydak said. “I think it needs to be slowed down in general. I don’t think they realize what their priorities are until they are a little bit older, but because there’s a rat race for scholarships, it becomes this vicious cycle.”