Source
r/Fieldhockey•
werdsmart

U.S. Based Question - Does High School Matter?

Question

U.S. based field hockey question - but all comments welcomed! OK, so my daughter is not at high school age yet - she is currently in middle school - but she started taking stock of what her future goals were already.

  1. Academics - she is angling to get accepted into a magnet program for high school because her career goals are fairly rigorous (Astronomy/physics or Cyber Security/Programming)
  2. She has specifically one or two D1 schools in mind based solely on their academics BUT those schools also have top ranked field hockey teams (in example one school on her list due to their Astronomy and Physics department is the University of Maryland Terrapins).
  3. To continue moving up on her club team.

So framing this she is not under the illusion that she WILL play or even be recruited for college sports, but her competitive nature has opened that door for her as over the past year she has managed to work her way to be primary or secondary goalie on her clubs A-team which in her age group is a top 25 ranked club (U14, ranking based on USFH posting this week). Mention this because the majority of her high level competition and experience has been coming from her participation on this club team.

She also currently plays with her local rec. team but it's a mixed bag in terms of competition - with some teams being full of people with no play experience while other teams having a handful or more club level players.

I am assuming that once we start looking at recruitment (as she is interested in the idea of playing at college but still not sure - as currently she is playing for pure love of the game)... would she be best suited using club as her primary way of getting tape and demonstrating skill/ability? Or does high school sport experience matter as much? In our area there are several high schools with highly competitive field hockey teams which consistently vie for state championships, and she is districted to one of those schools. BUT us originally having set out focusing on academics has her looking at the magnet schools which sadly have field hockey teams that are by no stretch competitive at all (and we would not be able to afford private school tuition to find a school that would get her both academics AND field hockey at high level).

So just wanted to hear from others - is the high school field hockey experience detrimental to a prospective recruiting process if the team is not a competitive team? Can club experience be a reasonable substitute? Or if D1 or even D2/3 is on the table would it be preferred that high school team play is reasonably competitive?

Exploring options in advance so she can make a better informed decision in the coming year :)

Posted Sep 15, 2022, 3:57 PM UTC

514
spiraldive87•

Heya, I can’t speak with certainty on all universities or even regions. But in my experience of the recruitment process the standard of the team isn’t super important. They’re recruiting an individual so they don’t particularly care if the high school team is bad. The issue will be getting seen. Tape is good but typically they aren’t going to recruit of that alone. The best way is going to camps and festival tournament where university coaches see you play.

Once again though that’s just my experience and I’m no expert.

6
werdsmartOP•

Thanks for the information! I am a complete newbie to the process in it's whole and although we haven't begun, I want to try and know more before we get there. So as you state if it is more about being seen by the coaches at showcases and camps then I know to start gearing towards that direction and can plan forward :) Thanks again!

3
spiraldive87•

No problem, best of luck

2
LOrchidNoire•

you're still early in the game for recruiting really but when you get there - showcases, club tournaments, and single-day college-hosted ID clinics are the Way. don't worry about longer summer camps - just do those for fun.

if she's not in club hockey yet do that, and have her go to whichever HS she wishes to.

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werdsmartOP•

Wow, that is very good information! Yes I know I am very very early but both my girls are in club field hockey and planning forward, for me anyways will hopefully make things a little less stressful...having this advice in pocket will hopefully allow me to budget time and money better... Thank you!

2
LOrchidNoire•

Club hockey is the most important thing, not high school. Is she in a club yet?

3
werdsmartOP•

Yes she is playing club hockey and just this year made their A team and is slated as their goalie for upcoming Disney Showcase after tryouts recently. Thanks for that info! Being new to the whole club play and recruiting concepts is hard since as a kid we just played rec ball and nothing else 😆

3
Snoo28181•

She should start corresponding with coaches to watch her play at this tournament

2
TerrificTorsion•

My oldest daughter recently graduated from college and was a D1 starting goalie. Her high school team was one of the weaker programs that constantly played state champions and several nationally ranked programs.

One thing to keep in mind is video. My daughter got a ton of shots on her during high school, so I had no shortage of video to upload and send to college coaches. I believe this is key since college and high school seasons are at the same time. I spoke with one parent of another goalie on an opposing team and he expressed some frustration with college coaches not coming to high school games.

I pointed out what I just said, and he asked how are they supposed to see them play; I just held up my video camera. My daughter also played club field hockey and made her way through the USAFH futures program which helped a lot.

Another thing that high school might help with is the accolades. Is she a team captain, did she get selected for all district, all city, all conference, all state? Another thing is, I forget the name of the hockey website, but did she get selected as a top player, or a player to watch? It’s almost like padding a resume.

One last thing to keep in mind is the high school coach. Is her coach well connected, and is willing to contact a college on her behalf to say “hey, I have this player who you might like”?

Just my experience with the recruiting process when we went through it.

2
werdsmartOP•

Thanks for that information - so looks like decent video camera is on the future purchase list. Did she enter the futures program after she went to high school or before then?

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TerrificTorsion•

Well before high school, I believe she started in the 6th or 7th grade.

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Snoo28181•

Father of a former lower level D1 player here, she played at St Francis in central PA

  1. college coaches do not recruit high school matches, they recruit at club level, at various tournaments - Festival, Disney Tournaments, Shooting Star, etc
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Snoo28181•
  1. attend summer college camps, this is very important and gives players and coaches opportunity to work closely
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n00balicious•

My daughter is currently playing d1 in the Ivy League. As others have said, recruiting is done at club level over high school. It’s super important for your daughter (eventually) to advocate for herself and be communicative with prospective recruiters. Send her club schedule to coaches and ask if they can come. Especially for things like futures and NITs and other tourneys for which her team qualities. Ncaa rules have limits on coaches initiating communications directly with students till a certain standing (10th grade I think, although it changes). But your daughter can reach out to them herself. Also, not sure if it’s been mentioned, but I strongly encourage you to send your daughter to field hockey camps at the schools she likes to build relationships there. My daughter went to camp at her school several times over the years.

Apart from that, it comes down to your daughter’s dedication to making the grade. It takes going above and beyond team training. Individual workouts, small group or individual skill training consistently. My daughter worked super hard to get where she is, and I couldn’t be more proud.

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