by Hannah Garrett
When deciding what college to go to academics came first for me. I had known that I wanted to be a graphic designer for the past couple of years and Cal Poly has a very strong art and design program. To get in I had to have a GPA that met the schools standards, as well as submit a portfolio. My GPA was 3.9 which got me through the academic cut. To create my portfolio I was able to draw on work that I had created throughout high school. However, I also had to create an assigned piece. For this, I made a book cover for a fictional book that was about banned books. This process was very intense, but was worth it as I got in!
While I was looking at schools I always checked out soccer but that was never the defining feature in a school for me. I decided to try out for the Cal Poly team probably a month after I got accepted. I figured I might as well keep my options open and see if I could really connect with the soccer program and if I was good enough to play. Cal Poly has a NCAA D1 Soccer Program. The main difference between D3, D2 and D1 is the level of competition. The athletes who choose to partake in D1 programs are expecting to encounter much more rigorous training and a lot more commitment.
When I decided I wanted to go out for the team, I had missed the official tryouts. In order to make contact I decided to go to a 6 v. 6 tournament at Cal Poly because I thought it would be a good way of getting the coach to see me. In order to get on a team for the tournament, I had to talk to the assistant coach who was running the event. I ended up doing really well at the tournament and our team got 2nd place! Before I left the assistant coach told me that the next step was to come to Cal Poly’s soccer camp over the summer.
In order to make my best showing at camp I worked with an athletic trainer and my soccer coach in the couple of months leading up to the camp. I met with the trainer once a week for a weight training session and the rest of the week I followed a detailed work out plan that we he came up with for me. This included a day of short sprints, a day of long sprints (200s and 400s), a day of long distance running, and another day of weights.
For soccer training I gathered a group of close friends and fellow competitive soccer players to come train with me a few times a week. In these training sessions I was put through very rigorous defensive drills to prepare me for what I would be facing at camp in the left defensive position. I’ve also been playing competitive D3 and D1 club soccer since I was nine years old.
I was nervous about the camp, of course. I was going to be surrounded by some of the best players in the state, girls from the Pleasenton Rage, Santa Clara and other prestigious soccer areas. Being from Humboldt, that alone was a lot to take in. Once we started playing I actually got an ego boost because I was able to keep up with some of the top players from the state! While I was able to play at this level, I was not the best there. I think the biggest difference was how much more physical the other girls at the camp were in comparison to me. They were able to react more reflexively with their strength to what was happening in the game. I was able to react with technical and tactical skills but even though I had been training extensively my level of physical strength and quickness was not as high as the other girls.
The atmosphere was at intense and positive among the players attending the camp. We were all there for the game and were able to recognize that in each other. The coaches also lent to this in that they were clear in what they asked of you, expected a lot of you and communicated positively when they wanted someone to improve something. What was not so great were the players from the Cal Poly team who were working at the camp. They did not give the impression that they would be at all welcoming to new players coming onto the team. My personal opinion is that the most crucial part of choosing a team to be on, is finding out who the other players are and how they act. I feel like it defeats the essence of a team when someone feels like they are an outsider.
The best part of my tryout period was playing in the select game. In this game half of the players from the older groups were divided into two teams who then scrimmaged. While playing in this game I was surrounded by really high quality players who I was connecting with on the field and because of this I was able to make plays start from the back third of the game. This was very fulfilling.
The result of all of this is that I’ve been invited to re-tryout in spring to possibly play my sophomore year. To do this I would have to get all of the training material and find away to practice on my own. I’m currently undecided about weather or not I will tryout for a few reasons. The main one is that I’m not sure if I’m ready for the commitment of a D1 program. Also I’m considering going to France my sophomore year on foreign exchange and if I did that I would not even be here for the season.
In order to increase your chances to get onto a college soccer team, as a player from Humboldt, I would suggest making contact with coaches as soon as possible. While players from Santa Rosa and Southern California can get away without playing ODP, I would definitely suggest Humboldt players go out for their regions ODP team or join a competitive Santa Rosa team. While this isn’t necessary it will increase the amount of exposure a player receives from college scouts. It will also give a player from Humboldt the extra competitive edge they need to play college, as well as get them prepared psychologically for the highest level of competitive soccer.