I'll give it a shot to share what I think for recruiting. I'm very involved in the 09 class in ECNL soccer for the North Texas area. I think there are some really good players still uncommitted in the area. I think the best players in the Houston (Albion and Challenge), Austin (Sting and Lonestar) and San Antonio (CE) regions are already committed but there are some top Dallas players that still deserve a look. If you don't know the Dallas area well, there are basically 6 ECNL teams and all of them are better than the GA and RL teams for the area. Those 6 (with their Top 100 national ranking) are Solar #1, FC Dallas #2, Sting Royal #9, Sting Black #10, DKSC #48 and Texans. Solar has only a few uncommitted and those would be players A&M shouldn't have interest in. Texans and DKSC have a couple of decent players but not at the level A&M should entertain unless they were walk-ons and even that is debatable. I will say DKSC's keeper has D1 size and potential so she is worth a look. Sting Black and FCD both have a player or two in the midfield that are worth a look that are not committed that I personally like better than a player already committed to A&M. I have talked to a center mid on both teams that should be great D1 talents but have fallen thru the cracks in the recruiting process which makes no sense… both would be ecstatic to hear from A&M.

College coaches for soccer completely whiff on certain players that should be hot commodities. They watch a couple highlight films, or see a player at a camp or go see a live game or two at a Showcase and think they can assess which players they want. It's a crazy inefficient and uninformed process that reminds me of college football recruiting 40-50 years ago… poor/limited information on players, worthless "quid pro quo" rankings and heavy reliance on coach relationships. I digress. Back on topic… I also like a CB on FCD that is excellent that is better than a current defender already committed to A&M and would jump at any interest from A&M. Royal has some good uncommitted players but I don't know enough about that team to make comments. I will say they have a forward that is one of the fastest players in the country and she should be recruited if she is open. I'd be interested in a couple others but I just don't know enough there.

Coach G should have recruited about 5-8 players on Solar that were elite but they are already committed to big D1 schools across the country at this point including 2 going to Texas and 2 going to Baylor, and a few more to Duke, Virginia, and South Carolina. The two going to Texas and the one going to Duke should have got the red carpet treatment from us but oh well. I have only seen/heard of A&M at 1 Showcase or league game and that was last years Dallas Showcase. A&M just wasn't putting the work in when it came to recruiting and the product on the field reflects that among other variables. Obviously, there are players across the country that are excellent but my region is Dallas so I know that best… and from my perspective, A&M totally dropped the ball for this class in this region. Four top 10 teams in the country for the 09 year and A&M has hardly anything to show for it. SMH.

I've talked to coaches and parents about how the portal era is affecting ECNL level HS soccer players and came to an interesting conclusion. Basically there will be a lot more HS girls retiring from soccer going forward.

The reason being that more and more D1 schools will lean on the portal for filling rosters. Many HS players that are D1 level talents but not getting interest from any D1 schools they are interested in since so many schools are filling rosters with the portal. Girls don't want to transfer 1 or 2 times while in college to eventually get to a school they want to attend and graduate from. Remember these are kids that want to enjoy college and make friends. So, they are just retiring from soccer all together so they can go to the school they want to go to and have a positive college experience.

This will lead to a lower talent level across the board because the players that are being hurt the most in the NIL era are the 2nd tier D1 talents that don't want to play for a smaller D1 or D2 school with the hope of transferring elsewhere after a year or two. It's not the college experience they want to have… they were more than willing to join a school and develop on the bench for a year or two but transferring around isn't appealing.

Just thought I would add this insight to this conversation.

Carnwellag2 said:

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ProphAC said:

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Just saw an A&M scout at the Florida ECNL Showcase… nice to see the new regime putting in the work.

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So is your daughter interested in going to A&M

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She isn't good enough. She has interest from some lower level D1 schools. She is very technical and skilled but just doesn't have the athleticism needed for the highest level. I blame her mother. Lol.