Plain words
The soccer recruiting glossary
56 terms a family meets in soccer recruiting, each in a sentence or two. 49 of them are the NCAA’s, the NAIA’s or a league’s own definition, put in plain words with the bylaw or page named. The rest explain how this site counts things.
- Terms
- 56
- With a named source
- 49
- Documents read
- 13
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What is in this glossary?
Every term has its own link: add # and the term to this page’s address.
| Terms | 56 |
|---|---|
| The words in the NCAA’s recruiting calendar | 10 |
| Visits, camps and tryouts | 4 |
| Offers, commitments, scholarships and roster places | 11 |
| Grades, courses and the NCAA Eligibility Center | 8 |
| The levels of four-year college soccer | 7 |
| Changing schools | 2 |
| The club leagues and programs a player comes through | 8 |
| How this site counts things | 6 |
What do the contact rules mean?
The words in the NCAA’s recruiting calendar.
- Contact
- In NCAA rules, any time a college coach says more than hello while face to face with a player or family off the college’s campus.Source: NCAA Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete, Important TermsThe recruiting calendar →
- Contact period
- A stretch of the calendar when coaches may make in-person, off-campus recruiting contacts and evaluations.Source: Bylaw 13.02.5.1The recruiting calendar →
- Dead period
- A stretch of the calendar with no in-person recruiting contact or evaluation, on or off campus, and no official or unofficial visits; calls and messages are still allowed.Source: Bylaw 13.02.5.5This year’s dead periods →
- Evaluation
- When a college coach watches a player practise or compete.Source: NCAA Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete, Important Terms
- Evaluation period
- A stretch of the calendar when coaches may watch players away from campus to judge their play and their academic record, but may not make in-person recruiting contact off campus.Source: NCAA Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete, Important Terms
- First contact datealso: June 15
- The first day a Division I soccer coach may call, message or send recruiting materials to a player: June 15 after sophomore year. Division II allows communication at any time, and Division III allows recruiting materials at any time.Source: Bylaws 13.1.3.1 and 13.4.1; Division II Bylaw 13.1.3.1; Division III Bylaw 13.4.1The timeline, grade by grade →
- Quiet period
- A stretch of the calendar that allows in-person recruiting contact only on the college’s own campus. Coaches may not visit or watch a player anywhere else.Source: Bylaw 13.02.5.4The recruiting calendar →
- Recruited
- The NCAA counts a player as recruited once a college coach contacts them off campus, pays for their visit to campus, or, in Division I or Division II, gives them a written offer of aid.Source: NCAA Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete, Important Terms
- Recruiting calendar
- The NCAA’s yearly list, sport by sport, of the periods when recruiting may and may not happen. Division I publishes a calendar; Division II publishes reminders.Source: NCAA Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete, Important TermsThe soccer calendar, in dates →
- Recruiting shutdown
- A stretch of the calendar when no form of recruiting is allowed.Source: Bylaw 13.02.5.6
What is an official visit?
Visits, camps and tryouts.
- ID campalso: identification camp, college soccer camp
- A camp run by a college’s soccer staff, where the coaches see players train and play. A Division I school’s camp must be open to any and all entrants, limited only by number, age, grade level or gender. Our directory lists 1,888 camps.Source: Bylaw 13.12.1.3ID camps by state →
- Official visit
- A visit to a campus that the college pays for. A player may take one official visit per school, and as many schools as you like. In Division I soccer the first day for one is August 1 of junior year.Source: NCAA Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete, Important Terms; Bylaw 13.6.2.1.1Official and unofficial visits →
- Tryout
- A session where a coach tests a recruit’s play. In Division I and Division III a tryout for a recruit is not allowed. Division II allows one tryout per recruit at each school, from June 15 before junior year. The NAIA allows a tryout of up to two days.Source: Bylaw 13.11.1; Division II Bylaw 13.8.2.1(a); Division III Bylaw 13.11.2.1; NAIA Article II, Section CTryouts and walking on →
- Unofficial visit
- A visit to a campus that the player or family pays for. They are unlimited, paid for by the family. In Division I soccer a visit that includes the coaches may not happen before August 1 before junior year.Source: NCAA Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete, Important Terms; Bylaw 13.7.1.1Official and unofficial visits →
What do offer and commitment words mean?
Offers, commitments, scholarships and roster places.
- Athletic scholarshipalso: athletics aid
- Money a college awards a player for playing a sport. Division I and II and NAIA soccer programs may award it. Division III awards none: aid may not be based on athletics ability or participation.Source: Division III Bylaw 15.01.3College soccer scholarships →
- Athletics aid agreementalso: scholarship agreement
- The paper a player signs to accept an athletic scholarship at a Division I or II school. Once it is signed, other NCAA schools that offer athletics scholarships must stop communicating with the player, and a player may not sign with more than one school.Source: NCAA Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete, Athletics Aid AgreementCollege soccer scholarships →
- Celebratory signing form
- Division III’s signing paper: a standard, nonbinding NCAA form used after a player has been accepted for enrollment at a Division III school.Source: NCAA Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete, Important Terms
- Equivalency limitalso: equivalency sport
- A cap on a team’s athletic aid, counted as the value of a number of full scholarships that the coach may split among many players. In Division II soccer it is 9.0 for men and 9.9 for women. In the NAIA it is 12.Source: Division II Bylaw 15.4.2.1.1 and Bylaw 15.4.2.1.2; NAIA Financial aid policy: upper limits for institutional aidCollege soccer scholarships →
- Official commitmentalso: signing
- In the NCAA’s words, signing an athletics aid agreement for a scholarship with a Division I or II school.Source: NCAA Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete, Important Terms
- Preferred walk-onalso: PWO
- The NCAA’s guide describes it this way: a coach wants the player on the team but has no scholarship for them. The player has a place on the roster.Source: NCAA Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete, Important TermsTryouts and walking on →
- Roster limit
- The most players a team may carry. Division I soccer’s is 28, at schools that are part of the House settlement: those in a conference named in it, and those that opted in.Source: Bylaw 17.2College soccer roster size →
- Signing date
- The first day a soccer player in the class may sign with a Division I school: November 11, 2026 for this year’s seniors.Source: Bylaw 13.02.13 and Figure 13-2When players commit →
- Verbal commitmentalso: verbal, commit
- A player’s spoken agreement to play for a college, made before signing. It is not binding on the player or the school.Source: NCAA Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete, Important TermsWhen players commit →
- Walk-on
- A player who joins a college team without having been recruited in the usual way and without a scholarship from the school.Source: NCAA Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete, Important TermsTryouts and walking on →
- Written offer
- An offer of athletic aid on paper. A Division I school may not give one before August 1 of senior year.Source: Bylaw 13.9.3.1When players commit →
What do the eligibility words mean?
Grades, courses and the NCAA Eligibility Center.
- Core course
- A high school course on the school’s NCAA-approved list. Division I and II both require 16 of them.Source: NCAA Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete, Important Terms; Division I and II academic standardsThe GPA you need →
- Core-course GPA
- The grade point average in core courses only. The minimum is 2.3 for Division I and 2.2 for Division II.Source: Division I academic standards; Division II academic standardsThe GPA you need →
- Dual-enrollment coursework
- College courses a student completes while still enrolled in high school.Source: NCAA Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete, Important Terms
- Institutional request listalso: IRL
- A college’s list of the players it is recruiting. Adding a player tells the Eligibility Center that the college wants a certification decision for them.Source: NCAA Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete, Important Terms
- International student-athlete
- In Divisions I and II, a player who went to school outside the United States at any point from ninth grade to graduation, at a school not under United States sponsorship and not teaching the standard United States curriculum. Division III’s definition also covers a player who competed for a team based abroad or whose permanent home is abroad.Source: NCAA Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete, Important TermsPlaying college soccer in the USA →
- NCAA Eligibility Center
- The NCAA office that certifies a player’s academic record and amateur status before they may compete in Division I or II. Division III schools certify their own players, except international players, whose amateur status the Eligibility Center certifies.Source: NCAA Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete, What Are the Eligibility Requirements in Each Division?The GPA you need →
- NCAA ID
- The number on a player’s Eligibility Center account. A college that is recruiting the player uses it to add them to its institutional request list.Source: NCAA Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete, Important Terms
- The 10/7 rule
- A Division I requirement to finish 10 of the 16 core courses, seven of them in English, math or science, before the seventh semester.Source: Division I academic standardsThe GPA you need →
What do D1, D2, D3 and NAIA mean?
The levels of four-year college soccer.
- Conference
- A group of colleges that play each other for a league title each season. We list 113 conferences with soccer.Source: Startline, how we countCollege soccer conferences →
- Division Ialso: D1
- The NCAA division with the largest schools: a median enrollment of 8,900 by the NCAA’s count. 562 soccer programs play in it, and they may award athletic scholarships.Source: Our Three DivisionsEvery D1 program →
- Division IIalso: D2
- The NCAA’s middle division, with a median enrollment of 2,100. 460 soccer programs play in it, and most of their athletic aid is partial scholarships.Source: Our Three DivisionsEvery D2 program →
- Division IIIalso: D3
- The NCAA division with no athletic scholarships, and the one with the most soccer programs: 820. Its schools have a median enrollment of 1,600.Source: Our Three Divisions; Bylaw 15.01.3Every D3 program →
- NAIA
- The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, a separate governing body from the NCAA. 373 soccer programs play in it, and they may award athletic aid.Source: NAIA Official HandbookWhat is NAIA soccer? →
- NCAA
- The National Collegiate Athletic Association. Its member schools play in three divisions. We list 1,842 NCAA soccer programs.Source: NCAA Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete, What Is the NCAA?
- Two-year collegealso: junior college, JUCO, community college
- A college where a student can earn an associate degree in two years. We do not list two-year college programs yet.Source: NCAA Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete, Important Terms
What do the transfer words mean?
Changing schools.
- Transfer portal
- The NCAA’s national transfer database. A player gives their college a written notification of transfer, the college enters them in the portal, and other colleges may then contact them.Source: Division II Bylaw 13.1.1.3.1The transfer portal, in dates →
- Transfer windowalso: notification-of-transfer window
- The dates when a Division I player may give notice of transfer. For soccer this year: November 23 to December 22, 2026, and May 1 to May 15, 2027.Source: Figure 13-1The transfer portal, in dates →
What do ECNL, GA, MLS NEXT and ODP stand for?
The club leagues and programs a player comes through.
- Academy Divisionalso: MLS NEXT 2
- The second tier of MLS NEXT, added in the 2025-26 season, with approximately 230 clubs by the league’s count. Academy Division players may play high school soccer.Source: Academy DivisionHomegrown and Academy Division compared →
- ECNLalso: Elite Club National League
- The Elite Club National League, a national club league with a girls’ and a boys’ competition. Our directory lists 133 girls’ clubs and 170 boys’ clubs in it.ECNL Girls clubs →
- ECNL RLalso: ECNL Regional League, ECRL
- The ECNL Regional League: the regional competition the ECNL runs under its national league, for girls and for boys. Our directory lists 411 girls’ clubs in it.ECNL and ECNL RL compared →
- GA Aspire
- The Girls Academy’s second level. The league describes it as a tier two league. Our directory lists 148 clubs in it.Source: What is AspireGA Aspire clubs →
- Girls Academyalso: GA
- A national girls’ club league. By its own count it has over 120 member clubs in eleven conferences. Our directory lists 121 clubs in it.Source: About the Girls Academy (2025/26 season)Girls Academy clubs →
- Homegrown Division
- The top tier of MLS NEXT: 152 clubs by the league’s count, playing a 10-month season.Source: Homegrown DivisionHomegrown and Academy Division compared →
- MLS NEXT
- The boys’ youth league run by Major League Soccer, launched in 2020, with teams at U13, U14, U15, U16, U17 and U19. It has two tiers: the Homegrown Division and the Academy Division.Source: About MLS NEXTMLS NEXT clubs →
- ODPalso: Olympic Development Program
- US Youth Soccer’s Olympic Development Program, which selects players by state. Its pathway runs: state team, summer ID camps, interregionals, national select team.Source: The ODP pathwayHow ODP works →
What do the words on a Startline page mean?
How this site counts things.
- Confirmed season
- A roster whose page states that it is the 2026-27 squad. 2,194 of our 2,215 programs are confirmed; the rest are labelled with the season they show, and are left out of 2026-27 figures.Source: Startline, how we count
- Median
- The middle value when a list is put in order: half the programs are at or above it and half at or below. We use it instead of an average because a few very large rosters would pull an average up.Source: Startline, how we count
- Program
- One college team: a school’s women’s team or its men’s team. A school with both is two programs. We list 2,215.Source: Startline, how we countEvery program →
- Roster size
- The number of players a school lists on its own roster page, on the day we read it. Each program page says which day that was and which season the roster is for.Source: Startline, how we countCollege soccer roster size →
- Target list
- A player’s own short list of programs to write to, spread across more than one level, chosen on fit and on room in the squad rather than on name.Source: Startline, how we countGet a free target list →
How this was counted
Each NCAA, NAIA and league definition was read in the document named under it and put in plain words. A date or a limit inside a definition is read from the same registry our guides use, which holds each rule beside its bylaw and the day it was last checked. Rules change: check anything dated against the governing body itself.
- NCAA Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete, 2026-27 (opens their site in a new tab)
- NCAA Division I Manual, 2026-27 (Legislative Services Database) (opens their site in a new tab)
- NCAA Division III Manual, 2026-27 (Legislative Services Database) (opens their site in a new tab)
- NCAA Division II Manual, 2026-27 (Legislative Services Database) (opens their site in a new tab)
- NAIA Official Handbook, 2026-2027 (opens their site in a new tab)
- NCAA Division I notification-of-transfer windows, 2026-27 (opens their site in a new tab)
- ECNL (Elite Club National League) (opens their site in a new tab)
- Girls Academy: about (opens their site in a new tab)
- Girls Academy: what is Aspire (opens their site in a new tab)
- MLS NEXT: about (opens their site in a new tab)
- MLS NEXT: Homegrown Division (opens their site in a new tab)
- MLS NEXT: Academy Division (opens their site in a new tab)
- US Youth Soccer: Olympic Development Program (opens their site in a new tab)
Last checked:
Quick answers
What is a dead period in recruiting?
A stretch of the calendar with no in-person recruiting contact or evaluation, on or off campus, and no official or unofficial visits; calls and messages are still allowed.
What is a quiet period?
A stretch of the calendar that allows in-person recruiting contact only on the college’s own campus. Coaches may not visit or watch a player anywhere else.
What is a preferred walk-on?
The NCAA’s guide describes it this way: a coach wants the player on the team but has no scholarship for them. The player has a place on the roster.
What does ECNL RL stand for?
The ECNL Regional League: the regional competition the ECNL runs under its national league, for girls and for boys. Our directory lists 411 girls’ clubs in it.
What does ODP stand for in soccer?
US Youth Soccer’s Olympic Development Program, which selects players by state. Its pathway runs: state team, summer ID camps, interregionals, national select team.
Is a verbal commitment binding?
A player’s spoken agreement to play for a college, made before signing. It is not binding on the player or the school.
Where to go next
Your player, your list
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