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College soccer recruiting rules: contact, visits, offers and signing

Updated · 7 min read

The recruiting rules decide when a coach may call your player, meet them, invite them on a visit and make an offer. They differ at each level and they change often. Here is how they stand this school year.

Rules checked for the 2026–27 school year on , at the NCAA, NAIA and NJCAA's own rulebooks. Rules change: confirm anything important with the college's compliance office.

Why there are rules

The NCAA limits when college coaches may contact a player, so that recruiting doesn't start in middle school and families get some peace. The rules are different at each level, and they apply to the coaches, not to your player: your player may write to any coach, at any age. What changes is when the coach may answer, meet them and make an offer.

When coaches may do what

NCAA D1NCAA D2NCAA D3NAIA
Calls, texts, emailsFrom June 15 after sophomore yearAny timeAny timeFew limits
Meeting off campusFrom August 1 before junior yearFrom June 15 before junior yearAfter sophomore yearFew limits
Official visitsFrom August 1 before junior yearFrom June 15 before junior year, one per collegeFrom January 1 of junior year, one per collegeAllowed
SigningFrom signing day in November of senior yearFrom signing day in November of senior yearNothing to signAsk each college

Junior colleges (NJCAA) may sign players to a letter of intent from November 1 of senior year.

Before June 15 after sophomore year, a Division I coach can't call, text or email your player about recruiting, or take their calls, though they do read your player's emails. Your player can still visit the campus at their own cost, but not to meet the soccer staff before August 1 of junior year. Each Division I school may contact or watch a player seven times a year, and meet them off campus no more than three of those times.

Contact, quiet and dead periods

The NCAA calendar has periods when coaches may not recruit in person. In a dead period there's no in-person recruiting at all, on campus or off: for soccer they fall around the November signing day and the college championships in December, and in women's soccer at the start of August, over the winter holidays and at the end of July. Calls and emails are still allowed. The rest of the year coaches may recruit within their limits.

Official and unofficial visits

An official visit is paid for by the college: travel, a room and meals for a short stay, to see the campus, meet the team and talk with the coaches. A Division I school may pay for one visit during high school and another after; Division II and III allow one per college. An unofficial visit is any visit you pay for yourselves, as many as you like, though at Division I your player can't meet the soccer staff on one before August 1 of junior year. On either, watch a practice, talk to the players without the coaches there, and sit in on a class if you can.

Offers and commitments

A verbal offer is a coach saying they want your player and, usually, what aid they'd give. A verbal commitment is your player saying yes. Neither is binding on either side: coaches change their minds, coaches leave, and players do too. So ask exactly what is offered (how much, for how many years, and whether it depends on admission), and keep talking to other schools until something is signed.

Some offers come with a deadline. A good coach will give your player time to visit and think; if a deadline feels like pressure, say so and ask for more time.

Signing

The old National Letter of Intent ended in 2024. Now your player signs the college's written offer of athletics aid, from the signing day in November of senior year. Division I colleges may not make a written offer before August 1 of senior year. Once it's signed, other Division I colleges that give aid, and Division II colleges, must stop recruiting your player. If the head coach leaves, your player can ask to be released within 30 days.

At Division III there's nothing to sign with the soccer program: the commitment is the admission, often through early decision, which is binding. Read the terms of any early decision before applying.

After enrolling: the transfer portal

A college player who wants to move to another Division I school enters the transfer portal, which for soccer opens twice a year: for 30 days after the championship selections in the fall, and from May 1 to 15. It's worth knowing, but the best plan is still to choose a college your player would be happy to stay at.

Sources

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