One of the major pulls of elite club soccer is college recruiting. It is the goal (and likely destination) for the vast majority of youth players that compete in the sport at the highest level in the United States.
Last week, ECNL, the female-only nation-wide club soccer league, held its marquee-scouting event in Colorado. According to the league, over 450 scouts were in attendances to watch the playoffs for the U15, U16, and U17 age groups, as well as the U18 National Finals.
With that many eyes staring at the fields, there is a lot of pressure on the players to attract that glint that will make them stand out from the herd and land that lucrative collegiate scholarship offer.
Despite the pomp and circumstance, neither the players nor coaches felt the heat of playing with that much weight given to the performance at the event.
