What gets a player picked
What do college soccer coaches look for in a player?
The short answer
A coach checks four things: can the player play at this level, is there room at the position, will admissions take them, and will they fit the squad. Rosters show the result. Across 66,356 players on 2,193 current rosters, the median listed height is 5'6" for women and 5'11" for men, with a wide range at every position.
Counted from our data on
| Rosters read | 2,193 |
|---|---|
| Players counted | 66,356 |
| Players with a listed height | 58,454 |
| Median height, women | 5'6" |
| Median height, men | 5'11" |
| Median goalkeeper, women / men | 5'7" / 6'1" |
Heights are as each school lists them on its roster page.
What does a coach check first?
- Level. Can this player do their job at the speed of our games? Video answers the first pass; seeing the player live answers the second.
- Room. Do we need this position in this class? A good player at a position that is full is a no.
- Admission. Will the college admit them, and can they stay eligible? Grades decide whether a coach can take a player at all.
- Fit. Will they train well, take coaching and get on with the squad? A coach will often ask your club coach.
A player controls the first and third. The second is a fact about the program, and it is one a family can check. Each program page shows the squad by class year so you can.
What do coaches look for on the field?
- Speed of play: how quickly the player sees the next pass and plays it.
- First touch under pressure, on both feet.
- Athletic base for the position: pace, strength, endurance, and for some positions height.
- Decisions without the ball: where the player moves when the camera is on someone else.
- Reaction to mistakes: what happens in the ten seconds after losing the ball.
A highlight video shows the first three. A full game or an ID camp shows the last two, which is why a coach may ask for full-game film.
How tall are college soccer players, by position?
On rosters, goalkeepers are listed tallest and midfielders shortest, and the range at every position is wide. This is what schools list, not a requirement.
| Position | Women | Men |
|---|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | 5'7" (5'4" to 5'10") | 6'1" (5'10" to 6'4") |
| Defenders | 5'6" (5'3" to 5'9") | 6'0" (5'8" to 6'3") |
| Midfielders | 5'5" (5'2" to 5'8") | 5'10" (5'7" to 6'1") |
| Forwards | 5'5" (5'2" to 5'9") | 5'11" (5'7" to 6'2") |
| All players | 5'6" (5'2" to 5'9") | 5'11" (5'7" to 6'3") |
The range leaves out the shortest and tallest tenth. Division by division: average height of college soccer players.
How do college rosters split by position?
A roster is built by position. This is the share of players at each, which tells you how many places a class has for yours.
| Division | Women’s rosters | Men’s rosters |
|---|---|---|
| D1 | 11% / 32% / 27% / 30% | 12% / 33% / 32% / 24% |
| D2 | 10% / 32% / 30% / 27% | 11% / 33% / 31% / 25% |
| D3 | 11% / 33% / 29% / 28% | 11% / 33% / 32% / 25% |
| NAIA | 11% / 32% / 30% / 27% | 11% / 32% / 31% / 26% |
Among players whose position we could place from the school’s own wording. A player listed at two positions is counted at the first.
What do coaches look for off the field?
- Grades. They decide admission and academic aid: see the GPA you need.
- How the player communicates. Their own emails, their own questions on a call.
- What their coach says. Expect a college coach to ask your club coach about attitude and training habits.
- What is public. Assume a coach looks at social media.
Quick answers
- What do college coaches look for in soccer players?
- Four things: whether the player can play at their level, whether the roster has room at that position, whether the college will admit them, and whether they fit the squad. Technique, speed of play and athleticism show on video; attitude and decisions show in full games and at camps.
- Do you have to be tall to play college soccer?
- No. The median listed height on current rosters is 5'6" for women and 5'11" for men, and one player in ten is at or below 5'2" and 5'7". Goalkeepers are the tallest group on rosters.
- Do college soccer coaches care about grades?
- Yes. A coach can only recruit players the college will admit, and Division III programs can offer only academic and need-based aid. Good grades widen the list of programs that can take you.
- Do college coaches look at high school soccer or club soccer?
- Both count. Club events and a school’s own camps put many players in front of a coach at once, so that is where it is easiest to be seen. High school film is useful when it shows you against strong opponents.
- What position is most recruited in college soccer?
- Rosters carry far more outfield players than goalkeepers; the table on this page shows the split by division. What matters for one player is the count at their position at each program on their list.
How this was counted
Counted from the roster each school publishes for 2026-27, where the page confirms the season. Positions are the school’s own words, grouped into four lines; a roster is used for position shares when at least 90% of its players could be placed. Heights outside 4'8" to 7'0" are treated as typing errors and left out. No player is named or stored in the study file. Last checked 2026-10-05.
Sources
Last checked against these sources on. Figures marked Startline are counted from the data we hold and move when it does. Rules change: check anything dated against the governing body itself.
See how a sample player scores at each school
The demo’s fit screen shows the same checks for a sample player: level, academics and room at the position.
The demo is the real product with a sample player in it. No account, no card, and nothing you do in it is charged or sent.