June 15 Recruitment Kickoff...

Yes.  This warrants a little discussion.  For starters, all of the rankings are laughable.  Just ask any college coach.

The most "credible" are TDS.  But they aren't really.  Sure, the top 50 are well known players, mostly due to participation in national team training centers, ECNL national selection games, etc.  There is definitely a mix of pay to play and lobbying beyond that (buy subscriptions, submit write ups).  Not all of it.  But a significant amount.  Every year, once girls start committing (or not committing), the lists suddenly start changing at the older years.  It's not like TDS has a huge and knowledgeable staff to "scout" club players from Miami to Seattle.  Their business model is built on extracting subscription dollars from eager parents.  I will give them credit for one thing - at least they put their names on their rankings.  

Next is Prep Soccer.  Started by a former TDS employee.  Same model.  But they are even more obvious about pay to play.  I have seen some real doozy of write ups about players that are clearly written by their parents.  From what I can tell, they have a staff of one full time guy and one part time guy. They also reference other "contributors".  Hardly enough credible people with enough standing to rank players.  Again, I will give them credit for one thing - at least they put their names on their rankings.

Which brings us to the above ECNL/GA/Recruiting Twitter account...The people behind this account present themselves as "experts", yet refuse to identify themselves.  They began ranking players in the 2025 year and released rankings again this year for the 2026's.  Now they say it is "too much work" and they won't do rankings going forward.  Hmmm.  Think there's any chance they are actually parents who have daughters in the 2026 year?  They disingenuously ask girls to send them schedules ahead of showcases like they are actually going to go and scout them.  And even if they did, what gives them standing to assess players?  The fact that they won't publicly stand behind the rankings tells you all you need to know...Moreover, if anyone is looking for a rabbit hole to go down...there are lots of obvious clues within their rankings and their overall posts that reveal their geography.  Hint:  it's very close.  

To be fair, I do find value in the information they post about commitment #'s to each school, transfers in/out, etc.  I just find the anonymous rankings a little much...

Definitely a good overview and need to add soccerwire bc I believe you can pay for a player highlight and even write your own kid’s review. Laughable!

As for the hint- I did some digging and popular guess is a family with daughters in the c/o 2025 and 2026 at same club. Apparently they are connected to the club too. Little sister happens to be on the list…

LMAO. I’m good.

By u16, the college coaches already know who the best players are due to seeing them play at high level tournaments or showcases. They don't need a list.

By u16, the college coaches already know who the best players are due to seeing them play at high level tournaments or showcases. They don't need a list.

If you are talking about National Team players, certainly you are correct. However, I can name dozens of players that were total unknowns at 16 years old who were recruited and played at top colleges.

Each player who aspires to play in college - top level DI to low level JC - can market themselves to targeted schools. Of course, not everyone will be successful and find a place to play. And a lot of those who are successful will play for teams that a lot of people think are “beneath them”.

Now, I’m not a great believer in the value of these lists. However, I also don’t discount the value of getting a player’s name in front of coaches any way they can.

On the tweeted list, it says "gone pro or reclassified". What does "reclassified" mean? 

It’s not them anyway.

I didn’t say they were behind the account. That is who came up when I asked around to some of the older player parents. It really does not matter which parent(s) are behind the multiple misleading Twitter accounts, only that players know the reality of who they are tagging and begging for recognition from… some manipulating parent that likely runs those accounts along with their player’s account and probably sends all of their emails to college coaches.

It is simply amusing to watch the lengths at which parents will do rather than let their kid’s play speak for itself or teach them how to communicate on their own behalf. I have another year before I have to deal with all of it. LOL.

But good luck to all of the c/o 2026 players tomorrow!!
May your hard work pay off and lead to where you want to be!!

A few years ago there was a parent who sent comments in regularly about his kid to TDS every week claiming how involved she was in her team’s matches when really she was playing about 1/3 of the game. She was rewarded for this on these sorts of sites but this was a bit before the days of all of these loads of sites with lists and IG and Twitter accounts. Those were just starting. Parents were sneering and trashing this family, but it worked for this kid. They were great at marketing her. The club did not want to call him out publicly so she continued to get some publicity. And she was good enough that no one was going to look at people like they were crazy so it wasn’t a big deal, but it was just that she was not a starter on the team generally.

Agreed. She is good enough to be playing where she is and her degree is fantastic academically. I feel like the promotional behavior put her in an awkward position at the time though it is the norm now. Not sure how she felt about it. Not sure if she had a say in it.

I recommend listening to the College Soccer Nation podcast...hosted by womens head coaches at Duke, Oklahoma, and Rice.   All have been around a long time and provide great insight on all things college soccer (primarily womens focused).  The last few episodes speak to the roster limits coming, as well June 15 recruiting....also sprinkle in some ECNL vs GA stuff.   

Interesting turn of events. This page is now carrying the blue check! Great timing bc all you have to do is purchase x premium and a few other generic items and BAM- blue check. Twitter/X changed the criteria to a “pay for the verification” system. One item is notable though, the account must not be “deceptive” in any way….