FAQs About Aspire Soccer Consulting + Resources

ANSWER:

The goals Aspire sets for each of its Student Athletes are:

• To attend a college where you’re challenged and supported academically, develop a deep sense of belonging, and grow as a person and professional.
• To complete your carefully selected area of study in 4 years and have your major translate into a sustainable career or an appropriate course of graduate study.
• To play on a soccer team where you will be physically challenged and foster leadership skills while developing lifelong friendships.
• To achieve your educational and athletic goals while incurring minimal debt. 

ANSWER:

Right away!

PREPLAN: Through Elementary and Middle School your athlete must pursue not only the highest scholastic track for their ability, but also the highest level of soccer. Financial planners want to meet with families as early as possible, but no later than the student’s 8^th grade year. While athletes may earn scholarship opportunities, families need to discuss college expenses with a wise financial planner. Additionally, selecting the right college campuses for soccer camps in the summer and over school breaks gives your athlete the additional life experience they need to make choices about schools. ID Camps give athletes a variety of college experiences and the unique opportuntity to live on campus for a night or more. Camps are a proven strategy for connecting with coaches.

LAUNCH: Freshmen and Sophomore high school students must start communicating with college coaches. Guidance in selecting the right list of prospective coaches will improve your opportunity for a successful selection to a quality program that meets your goals. Next, you must organize the college comparison, track timely communication and contacts, and continue to improve you soccer skills while building an excellent relationship with your current coach. Critical decision points on this path include identifying academic qualifications for selected schools, how application and acceptance decisions are determined by those schools, and whether the student’s soccer abilities and potential are a reasonable fit for the soccer program you’re pursuing.

CRAM: Junior and Senior students are in their final opportunity phases. D1 scholarship offers will be limited after Christmas of the student’s junior year for female athletes. Male athletes have more time, but the recruitment trend continues to press student athletes to make early, wise decisions. If you are just getting started, call today for help focusing your recruiting campaign.

ANSWER:

First, many good players miss their opportunity to play in college at programs that are good fits for their athletes. Fewer and fewer families are successfully finding their own way to coveted programs—largely because of the pace of the recruitment process. Families engaged in the recruiting process tell stories of wasted time, frustration, disorganization, and costly mistakes. Players that were poorly placed often transfer—potentially forfeiting a year of college sporting eligibility as well as wasting money and college credits; others were cut from their team, rarely played, or were generally dissatisfied with their school, major & program. Lastly, because the west coast has utilized college selection and athletic recruitment guidance for many years, they have historically beaten the east coast and the midwest athletes to some of the finest roster spots. It’s time we change that! While there will always be risk around recruitment, wise planning helps mitigate risk.

ANSWER:

Aspire Soccer Consulting & Resources partners with athletes and their families in the college selection and athletic recruitment process. We are dedicated to finding your athlete’s right fit scholastic and athletic environment and to optimizing their success in the classroom and on the athletic field. Aspire provides personalized service for the individual needs of each athlete. We take the time to understand the needs of your athlete and family.  The process can be divided into 3 phases:

• Phase 1: Education and Information Exchange
• Phase 2: Coach Contact and Relationship Building
• Phase 3: Preparing to Verbally Accept Your Opportunity

As part of our standard service we conduct four lessons with the player and their parent for the purpose of accelerating the clients understanding of College Selection and Athletic Recruitment. The classes and student athlete assessment move at the client’s pace in one or two hour segments. The classes cover the following material:

• Building Your Personalize Selection Criteria; Career Selection and Your Recruitment Team Responsibilities
• Analyzing Colleges and Financial Options
• Dissecting College Athletics, the NCAA, and Timelines
• Marketing Yourself to the Right Fit Program

After considering your student’s standardized test scores and projected ACT/SAT to ensure a college’s level of scholastic rigor is right for your student, we provide clients with a college comparison of up to 35 college campuses that meet the athlete’s scholastic and athletic criteria. Aspire conducts a search of up to 3 majors for your athlete to ensure they are targeting the best academic environments for their interest and potential. During this education and information exchange “First Phase” of the program, you will receive two worksheets to guide the process and connect you to key websites and college searches, as well as an NCAA publication, college comparison guide, and key questions to ask on your visit.  Aspire puts you ahead with explanations about the NCAA Guidelines and provides timeline mile-markers to help your athlete stay on track for their desired level of play.  Aspire builds your athlete’s Player Profile with you providing a template and advice.  Additionally, Aspire writes your first college coach recruitment letter for you (you provide the game and tournament information). In addition to the lessons, Aspire provides up to five 1 hour additional consultations during the first year and then 3 consultations the ongoing years until you verbally commit to a program with your selected collegiate recruiting coach.

ANSWER:

College recruiting is serious business and is more complex now than ever. Aspire is determined to save you time and frustration. Athletes can become so focused on the urgent needs of school and sporting that they fail to prepare for their future. We see clients that are entering the process late. They have missed out on scholarship opportunities before they even start the recruiting process. Don’t wait. You will need to be creative. Some families have their student make use of non-essential learning hours. Other clients prefer to meet over a student‘s lunch or study period. The biggest mistake is inaction—“hope” is not a good college recruiting strategy.

ANSWER:

Your student-athlete’s hard work and performance on the field earns them opportunities. Aspire guides you to make optimal choices and get the most from your talent, ability, and opportunity. We will steer you to the colleges that fit your carefully chosen degree while matching you with soccer programs where you can play, grow, and contribute. We will help you market yourself to coaches and drive interactions with the right collegiate programs. Skilled players miss opportunities and scholarships because they don’t understand the process or know how to navigate the winding path of college recruitment. You will be the one to make your college choice. Let us work with you to make the best and most informed choice.

ANSWER:

Yes! Our clients are receiving significant scholarship money. For example, one player received a $35,000 per year athletic scholarship with $15,000 in academic grants. Another client received a $27,000 per year athletic scholarship along with $12,000 per year in academic help. Skilled players are in demand at each level of the sport. Athletic scholarships are an excellent way to work (and play) your way through the high cost of college.

ANSWER:

Many of our clients have the skill set to play for athletic scholarships—so the most costly mistake is missing that opportunity! The average tuition for a private education is rising from an already high $180,000 for 4 years. Maybe the best question is—can I afford not to use Aspire?

ANSWER:

Give us call or email. We would like to meet for coffee and hear about your unique athlete.

PH: 630-740-8741

E: Aspire2play@gmail.com

Note: Each recruiting session should include the player and at least one parent.