A First Look...

With the announcement of the D1 recruiting "dead period" being extended until April 15th, 2021, I thought we should start taking a look at what club season will look like in 2021 without D1 coaches on the road. First, I thought we should look at the National Qualifier schedule and I will include the Triple Crown tournament in this as well. I am including only those qualifier dates with recruitable (high school) age groups.

Full List of Qualifier Dates and Locations

Triple Crown, Kansas City

February 12th-15th (All Ages)

Mizuno Northern Lights

January 29th - 31st - Omaha (17s)

May 14th - 16th - Minneapolis (15s - 16s)

Colorado Crossroads

March 19th - 21st - Windsor (18s)

May 7th - 9th - Denver (15s - 17s)

Sunshine Classic

March 6th - 8th - Orlando (15 American)

March 12th - 14th - Orlando (15s - 18s)

Mideast Qualifier

March 13th - 15th - Indianapolis (15 Open and 16s)*

March 19th - 21st - Indianapolis (15 Open, 17s-18s)*

March 26th - 28th - Indianapolis (15 American/USA)

*Possible a typo

Pacific Northwest Qualifier

March 20th - 22nd (No ages given)

March 26th - 28th (No ages given)

Northeast Qualifier

March 27th - 29th - Philadelphia (18s)

April 2nd - 4th - Philadelphia (15 USA/American

April 9th - 11th - Philadelphia (15 Open, 16s, 17s)

Red Rock Rave

March 27th - 29th - Las Vegas (15s - 18s)

Big South Qualifier

April 2nd - 4th (All Ages)

Lone Star Classic

April 10th - 12th - Dallas (15 American)

April 16th - 18th - Dallas (15 Open/USA, 16s - 17s)

Show Me Qualifier

April 3rd - 5th - Kansas City (18s)

April 9th - 11th - Kansas City (15s - 17s)

Far West Qualifier

April 17th - 19th - Reno (15 American)

April 23rd - 25th - Reno (15 Open/USA, 16s 17s)

Windy City Qualifier

April 23rd - 25th - Chicago (All Ages)

As you will notice, there are 6 weekends that I marked in BOLD. These are the Qualifier weekends that will occur AFTER the dead period is over, as long as it does not get extended again.

There are only several dates for 18s listed above, but for a full list of 18s Qualifiers you can click HERE. All of those tournaments will occur within the current dead period or prior to April 15th. This will make it extremely difficult for the unsigned class of 2021 athletes to be seen live and in-person by D1 coaches. With the inability to attend a camp at a D1 school at the moment, I want to stress the importance of contacting and reaching out to those schools NOW and being as proactive with the recruiting process as you can.

With the younger age groups having so few opportunities to get seen by D1 college coaches, I have a few thoughts that I will try and flush out over the next few weeks:

1) Reach out to D2 coaches: If D2 stays with it's current recruiting calendar, there is a really good opportunity that those coaches will be out as much as possible and this includes Qualifiers.

2) Be proactive: The idea that "college coaches will find me" or this notion of "walk-by recruiting" is NOT something that is going to happen this club season. The athletes that are willing to spend the time and energy reaching out to schools are going to have a distinct recruiting advantage.

3) Focus: I think that the "why" is going to be more important than ever. Coaches are going to want to cut to the chase asap with athletes. Any time wasted by athletes or coaches is going to hurt their recruiting processes.

It should also be mentioned that there is a really good chance the D1 "dead period"gets extended until June or even July of 2021. This will make things even more "interesting" for the next few recruiting classes. I think it would be advantageous for everyone (athletes and college coaches) to move forward with the notion that the "dead period" will draw out until the end of the Summer of 2021. I think that taking this approach will prepare everyone for the possibilities ahead and create a situation where everyone is on the same page as we move through the club season.

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