Students become eligible to apply to schools in ninth grade, although realistically coaches won’t show any interest before a student’s high school sophomore year, and more commonly the junior year. Most students come from a background of club soccer, while many have played high school soccer (if offered) and have earned recognition that way. Students can write to coaches, asking to be seen in tournaments or at showcases for players that are organized locally. Parents can also send videos of the children in action playing competitive soccer, whether professionally made or otherwise. Foreign players wanting to play soccer at a Division III school will need to provide references and video of performance.
At a Division III school, the emphasis is much more on academics than on sports, which are competitive but played for fun by the student athletes. As with Division I and II schools, a GPA of at least 3.0 is needed, along with a 24 ACT and 1000 SAT score, to be offered a place. The students will need to be accepted at the school on academic, not sporting ability, with academic, needs-based and merit scholarships offered, so a coach will want a student with strong academic skills to match sports ability.
Division III coaches will attend showcase events for high school soccer players to assess hopefuls, and also attend a number of tournaments where they can see potential recruits in action. In some cases the coach will already have been contacted by the student and, after a competition, can talk to the student and parents. In other cases the coach will contact the student during the “contact period” allowed by the NCAA, which has strict rules on the process. The coach can evaluate a student by visiting the high school or watching the student play competitively. The coach can talk to the student and parents in person at the school during an evaluation, but not outside that, although he can initiate phone or written contact.
A student can offer a verbal commitment to attend a Division III college at any time after becoming eligible, although that commitment isn’t binding, either on the student or the college, until a National Letter of Intent has been signed.