June College Recruiting Newsletter 2023

Welcome to the Kings Hammer June College Recruiting Newsletter! The club is excited to work with you to accomplish all of your player’s goals for this upcoming calendar year, on and off of the soccer field. We hope you find value in this newsletter and are excited to assist in this exciting process for your family!

Recruiting Terms, Rules, & Regulations

Summer is finally here!  And while the club season has ended, the recruiting season for all schools at all levels is still in full swing.  Many colleges will be conducting Summer ID camps, Player Development Camps, or just open soccer camps.  This might be a great time to dive into what a prospective athlete or the college coach can and cannot do in the Recruiting Process.

Recruiting Terminology

• What are recruiting calendars? Recruiting calendars help promote the well-being prospective student-athletes and coaches and ensure competitive equity by defining certain time periods in which recruiting may or may not occur in a particular sport.
• What is a contact period? During a contact period a college coach may have face-to-face contact with college-bound student-athletes or their parents, watch student-athletes compete and visit their high schools, and write or telephone student-athletes or their parents.
• What is an evaluation period? During an evaluation period a college coach may watch college-bound student-athletes compete, visit their high schools, and write or telephone student-athletes or their parents. However, a college coach may not have face-to-face contact with college-bound student-athletes or their parents off the college’s campus during an evaluation period.
• What is a quiet period? During a quiet period, a college coach may only have face-to-face contact with college-bound student-athletes or their parents on the college’s campus.  A coach may not watch student-athletes compete (unless a competition occurs on the college’s campus) or visit their high schools. Coaches may write or telephone college-bound student-athletes or their parents during this time.
• What is a dead period? During a dead period a college coach may not have face-to-face contact with college-bound student-athletes or their parents, and may not watch student-athletes compete or visit their high schools. Coaches may write and telephone student-athletes or their parents during a dead period.

Recruiting FAQs

• When can a college coach contact me directly? Rules regarding when coaches can have direct communication with players vary by division.  Division I and II coaches can call and speak to recruits beginning June 15^th after their sophomore year of HS. However, coaches can send invitations to ID camps and receive emails regarding highlight tapes, information to watch games, etc. On the women’s side the June 15^th after sophomore year looms larger and is a bigger phenomenon than on the men’s side.  If you are a male player do not be dismayed if June 15^th has passed and you are not getting many calls from coaches.  The process is definitely slower when compared to the women.
• When can a coach talk to me or my parents at an event? During official contact periods
• When can a college make a verbal commitment or scholarship offer to me? The general rule is that offers cannot be made to potential student athletes until September 1^st of the athlete’s junior year.

Recruiting Resources

Hopefully the above information gives you some more insight on rules and regulations that directly affect each athlete’s recruitment and when coaches can and cannot contact athletes, watch them play, and invite them to visit campus. For more information, visit:

• NCAA Recruiting Eligibility Center
• Soccerwire: Recruiting Rules for Youth Soccer Player-What You Need to Know

You can also check out these videos for additional guidance:

• NCSA Next College Student Athlete-YouTube
• Sports Recruits Webinar-The Importance of June 15th

Personal Development: Mental Toughness

When looking to stand out to potential college coaches, they are absolutely watching your successes, both your team and you individually.  But just as closely, if not more, coaches are watching how athletes respond to adversity in their sport. Whether it’s turning the ball over, missing a wide-open net, fumbling an easy save, getting subbed out of a game, or even not starting a game, these are just a few of thousands of scenarios that could happen in a game that athletes will have to respond to.

The question you must ask yourself in these moments is “what is my immediate response?” If it is to blame others, hang your head, mentally check out from the game, or have a negative attitude, you may want to keep reading. Many times, coaches are interested in players, but because of witnessing a pattern of these negative reactions to adversity, they lose interest, despite the player having incredible talent. Adversity and hardship will happen to every athlete (and it probably has already happened to you) every season, during training sessions and games. What is most important not to dwell on the adversity that happens to you, but how you respond to these moments and how you use them to help you improve in the future.

Below are a few questions athletes can ask themselves prior to games and in moments of adversity to help them develop mental toughness and resiliency.

• What do I have direct control over during a game? Your attitude, effort, attentiveness, and engagement are all things you can control, whether you are the best or the worst player on the field. If you want to play at a high level, controlling and holding yourself to a high standard in these regards is a great place to start.
• How do I respond to constructive criticism? Is my first instinct to blame others, take the information negatively, or am I receiving it as feedback to help me improve? There is a clear difference!
• What does my body language look like immediately after I make a mistake? Do I stop running, hang my head, and pout? Or do I have a short memory, maintain confidence, and keep playing as hard as I can?

For more information, see below to links for a couple great videos on mental toughness in sport.

• Red Bulls-Mental toughness in athletes: what is it and how to develop grit
• Attacking Self-Doubt
• Geno Auriemma on the character of player he recruits

Monthly Help Links from Sports Recruits

• The Importance of Video-July 9^th
• Building Your Target List of Schools-July 25th

For a list of ALL Sports Recruits Webinars, Past and Future, visit the link below

• Sports Recruits Webinars

College Commitments

• CJ DeBra – Youngstown State University
• Riley Arnold – Ohio Dominican
• Ellie Greenwell – Ohio University
• Zara Graff – Wright State University
• Abby Unkraut – University of Georgia
• Mia Fiore – Xavier University
• Victoria Zappasodi – Cleveland State
• Ella Smith – Miami University
• Jordan Church – Arkansas State University
• Amanda Schlueter – Ohio State University
• Sophie Decker – Marian University
• Ruby Dunlevy – Eastern Kentucky University
• Margo Roberts – Ohio Dominican University
• Olivia Parmer – Marian University
• Emma Morrison – Kentucky Christian University
• Shannon Ott – Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
• Rose Vigran – George Washington University
• Jill Planeaux – Ohio Dominican University
• Katie Hoog – Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
• Millie Cluxton – College of Charleston
• Mia Jackson – Purdue University Fort Wayne
• Chloe Morrison – Milligan University
• Kalyn Rich – Baldwin Wallace University
• Ella James – Baldwin Wallace University
• Donna Bundy – Northern Kentucky University
• Timothy Griffin – Northern Kentucky University
• Aiden Byrd – Transylvania University
• Avery May – University of Dayton
• Caitlin Burger – Wright State University
• Sophia Kuerze – Wright State University
• Lainey Smith – University of Dayton
• Aliana Weibel – Kent State University
• Peyton Jones – Thomas More University
• Asia Espiritu – West Liberty University
• Faith George – Thomas More University
• Sydney Bortz – University of Richmond
• Brynn Collins – Taylor University
• Ellie Walker – University of Tennessee Southern
• Trey Pitzer – Heidelburg University
• Barrett Moore – Otterbein University
• Mallory Como – University of Toledo
• Brooke Wilson – University of Richmond
• Brynn Collins – Taylor University
• Brennin Sanders – Mount St. Joseph University
• Molly Robinson – Transylvania University
• Ashtyn Ivy – Austin Peay State University
• Lexi Kollar – Otterbein University
• Reece Heisel – Transylvania University
• Ayden Theobald – Thomas More University
• Killian Riley – Mount St. Joseph University
• Rylie Niemeyer – Western Carolina University
• Cole Marsh – Thomas More University
• Lauren Link – Eastern Kentucky University
• Claire Cress – Morehead State University
• Piper Farris – East Carolina University
• McKenzie Carle – Bellarmine University
• Sarah Deaton – Wittenburg University
• Maggie Molnar – Taylor University

Remember to post your commitment to your Sports Recruits account and send commitment photos to info@kingshammer.com so that you can be recognized for your achievements.