Talk to any high school student, and they will tell you that the process of getting into college is daunting, tiresome, and stressful.

For a soccer athlete, it’s even worse. Players don’t only have to find an institution where they can get a great education, but also a soccer program where they can grow the most, and in turn, help the program.

With hundreds of programs in the NCAA divisions, the National Collegiate Scouting Association (NCSA) has been helping student-athletes facilitate the recruiting process, and find the right university and athletic program for their wants and needs.

“NCSA is an athlete recruiting network that serves four main communities,” NCSA Marketing Director Adam Diorio explained. “We serve the student athletes, parents, college coaches, and the business world for those graduates to get jobs after college.”

It is this asset that makes NCSA and attractive service.

Not only does NCSA connect a student-athlete, and their family, to a vast network of NCAA coaches across the nation, but it’s also a service that a student can depend on after college.

With a business network as large as its athletic counterpart, NCSA facilitates graduates to find internships and careers.

“NCSA uses sports as a vehicle for a better life,” Diorio said. “Businesses like looking for former athletes because the skills that an athlete gains in college are transferable into the business world.”

For any student-athlete that wants to be involved with NCSA, it’s quite simple, depending on the desire of involvement by the individual.

NCSA provides a free website profile in which college coaches can filter through the database and scrutinize any player that posts their information.

For those members that want more involvement from NCSA, they have the option to be “verified” by one of NCSA’s recruiting coaches.

“Every student goes through a scouting evaluation,” Senior Soccer Recruiting Coach Jeff Schlicht said. “We talk to the student-athlete and the parents to make sure that they’re completely committed and are a good fit into the program.”

For those athletes that become verified, they are entitled to various services, including uploading highlight videos, transcripts, and access to a recruiting management system that is a type of flow chart for the recruiting process.

NCSA also has services on how to contact a coach, and how to write letters, according to Diorio. The player receives everything that gives them the education and guidance of the recruiting process to leverage their chances to get into the program that is best suited for them.

Like mentioned before, after the player has graduated from college, that NCSA profile that they used to attract coaches, becomes a resume to attract businesses.

Overall, NCSA has become an expert in the college recruiting circuit. It has helped soccer players get into Division I programs, like Louisville, Wake Forest, and UCLA. Schlicht, and the rest of the soccer recruits have also ties with the majority of Division II and III programs around the nation.

A student-athlete should never be overwhelmed or confused with the recruiting process. And NCSA has mastered how to help an athlete along that process, and open the gates to possibilities probably never considered.