College showcase tournaments are a critical component of the recruiting process for 1,000s of youth soccer players each year, and parents can play an important role in helping the process go as smoothly as possible.
Displaying positive sideline behavior and etiquette, and respecting the boundaries of college coaches are absolutely pivotal for youth soccer parents attending showcases. In most cases, less is more when it comes to parents. Continue reading for a look at the most important things for parents to keep in mind when attending a college showcase tournament.
HANDING OUT TEAM ROSTERS
This is one of the most important parts of the recruiting process during weekend showcases, so it is VITAL that all parents reach out to your club and confirm someone will be handing out rosters and collecting info on which coaches attend each game. If your club says they don’t know or that they are not planning on it, it will absolutely affect your son or daughter (you might need to do it yourself if that is the case).
Important Note: college coaches hate having a parent hanging over them or talking to them while they are trying to scout or preparing to scout. You do NOT need the email address or any info of a college coach other than the school name and possibly the coach’s name, so quickly get that information, and quickly move on to the next coach for their information. If a parent ‘hovers over’ or tries to ‘sell the college coach on their daughter/son’, 99% of the time, that recruit will be REMOVED from consideration as soon as the parent walks away. In addition, when a parent ‘hovers over a coach/coaches’ the coach will immediately LEAVE THE GAME after the parent walks away.
Reminder that some college coaches will not sit in the ‘coaches area’ during a game, so do not immediately assume a college coach on your daughter/son’s college list did not attend. The most successful coaches in the country are often coaches who ‘blend in’ somewhere else so they can actually scout players vs. having another college coach talk to them and preoccupy them all game.
GIVE COLLEGE COACHES THEIR SPACE
The biggest mistake a parent can ever make is walk up to a college coach before, during or after a showcase game and start a conversation with them. If you have built a friendship with that college coach, the best practice you can follow is to say a simple ‘Hello’ as you keep walking past them before or after a game. (NEVER walk up to them DURING a game). If the coach wants to chat with you, they will find you after a game, or stop you before a game. But always allow them to dictate whether there is a conversation or not, and never expect one. With 1,000s of recruits to see, most college coaches are running from game to game, and have a very tight schedule all weekend.
