College Soccer Sucks!

[@thabomasoga9314]

college coach here 1) scholarship 2) degree option 3) program history and style of play 4) facilities 5) coaching staff, how many (gk coach if any? ) 6) trainers , how experienced are they they are the one's who will be taking care of you 7) usl2, npsl, upsl team near by to play at during summers 8) coaches contacts in case you're good enough for the next level. there's more but if I had asked those questions when I played I would have went somewhere else.

[@DropShort105]

I am from England too. I am an Airline Pilot and I lived and worked in the United States for 4 years between 2016 - 2020. I was excited at first, however after my second year, the novelty wore off and I became desperate to return home. Good vid mate, all the best to you!

[@TomAllenFootball]

Hey Lemi, interesting insight. I really wonder how I would’ve felt had I chosen somewhere else. I found a video of the other college yesterday, that had I seen before I went would’ve made me go there. I think my life could be completely different.

[@je1104]

how did you become an airline pilot? its my interest

[@stevebarrett3363]

Excellent video. I came to USA from England on a soccer scholarship in 1984. I was fortunate enough to be a college soccer coach for 31 years and I recruited many English lads. I tried to be as honest as possible when speaking with the lads, the points you mentioned are all very relevant in the recruiting process.

[@Noel_Mellor]

Top stuff... good advice for anyone considering this kind of a move too. Absolutely crazy that they would not have access to better facilities on site too!!

[@TomAllenFootball]

Thanks Noel, appreciate the comment. I think I just chose the wrong place unfortunately.

[@farukjasaragic5451]

Americas way of life will drain you mentally and physically. It’s a never ending cycle with no hope. Growing up in Europe, it was completely different and I never found the same joy living in the states. Having a family now, I’m looking for ways to move back to Europe.

[@TickleMeElmo55]

What does that have to with anything the kid said? Nothing. > It’s a never ending cycle with no hope This is a meaningless statement. >Growing up in Europe, it was completely different and I never found the same joy living in the states. So you failed to adapt.

[@drewbranch7700]

Which country in Europe are you referring to?

[@scottconroe7061]

Every year, I see athletes decide where to go to college and I wonder what they are basing the decision on. I would say location, coach, area of study, fit with potential teammates. The first year of college is often rough on many people, especially men. I taught at colleges, worked in PR at one, covered college sports for newspapers. My worst story was the fellow from Greece who thought he was going to a college in New York City -- and he was five hours away, in upstate New York.

[@ternedo6074]

He went to Colgate didn't he?

[@scottconroe7061]

@ternedo6074 Oswego

[@wrennico]

V informative vid! Keep up the good work bro 🚀

[@TomAllenFootball]

Thank you bro, appreciate it 🙌🏻❤️

[@MrVaDelux]

I promise you D1 Soccer is different then what you experienced. Im sorry to hear about your situation

[@elgatorivas]

first mistake not looking up the university and never stop college search until you weigh in your options

[@TomAllenFootball]

I mean I did look them up, it was just much harder to find information on them

[@TrentIsTheGoat-66]

Great vid mate really inspired me to keep going

[@TomAllenFootball]

Glad to hear it

[@jacobhoulton1244]

So you went to a uni without doing any prior research? Also what on earth was your agency doing letting you go somewhere like that?

[@TomAllenFootball]

I chose to ignore the red flags and go for an offer. I was unfortunate to be the first to go to this college from the agency. It was a new programme and many things were promised that didn't happen!

[@cameronclaypool2185]

brother they spam offers lmaooo i got offered without them seeing film on ncsa lmaoooo you rushed without thinking for a college smh

[@JNMFootball]

Great video, mate!

[@TomAllenFootball]

Thank you guys, means a lot 🙌🏻

[@angelcamargo3276]

I live in the USA but born in another country, it took me a while to get into high school soccer in the state however I stop soccer for an year after getting rejected for a club college team, I stop half of my freshman year and just came back to play and got an offer to play for the same team you play but the team in Ohio.

[@TomAllenFootball]

Yh bro, there are different ones all over the country, I can’t speak on the others, I don’t know what they’re like

[@malc1717]

Love this video, keep going and keep grinding bro

[@TomAllenFootball]

Thank you man, I will keep working

[@drewbranch7700]

I made loads of friends from most European countries and most of them enjoyed themselves playing soccer in college ,but sorry your experience didn’t work out. I usually say,check out the top 25 NCAA soccer teams in all the divisions and do some research on them prior to making a decision. Definitely think about your academic prospects as well plus what region.

[@TomAllenFootball]

The top 25 NCAA teams are the most elite in the country, I was not of this level

[@drewbranch7700]

@@TomAllenFootballCmon you mean you could not crack a D-1 or D-II or top Division III or let alone a top Junior College,I reckon you would have probably had a shot. I appreciate your anecdotal experience,you got this fam!

[@TomAllenFootball]

@drewbranch7700 I had offers from top Junior Colleges, I was just misinformed when making my decision to go to the US

[@estebanmazier8004]

U didn’t go to a real school tbh u gotta go to an ncaa school and d1 if u can

[@tompsgoalkeeper8386]

Was this Bryant and Stratton in Buffalo? i got an offer there but chose somewhere else

[@shlepmessing8703]

The "campus in a parking lot" would have been enough for me to decline.

[@TomAllenFootball]

Different place

[@mahimwali3990]

was this bryant and stratton in albany or which one? they have like 4 in new york and 1 is good and the rest are complete shit lmao

[@TomAllenFootball]

In Rochester

[@davidday2373]

I wanted to visit Europe... I chose Moldova... Europe Sucks.

[@TomAllenFootball]

Moldova 😂, bro thinks Europe is a country

[@TickleMeElmo55]

lol I know right (not Moldova, just the lack of researching on what country you want to visit) .... the guy blames US soccer and the US but he doesn't self-reflect.

[@TickleMeElmo55]

@@TomAllenFootball No, mate, he's just using your own poor logic. And learn to read. It's clear as day on what the OP was going for.

[@gabe1277]

Lmao thats such a rando college

[@samzuckerbraun3496]

Bro I’m from that area and Bryant and Stratton is kind of known as a scam around here. Their degrees aren’t respected and from the sounds of it their sports facilities are terrible as well. Sucks that you ended up there.

[@TomAllenFootball]

Yh, it’s just not something you want when you travel halfway across the world. The level was good of sport was good, but that was about it.

[@samzuckerbraun3496]

Yeah I can imagine it’s not too nice. It can be really hit or miss with these two year schools over here.

[@TomAllenFootball]

@samzuckerbraun3496 It’s really a shame bro, I found a video yesterday that if I had seen before I went would’ve made me go to the other school and maybe my whole life would be different. Crazy to think

[@lucads1664]

@@TomAllenFootballwhat was the other school

[@TomAllenFootball]

@@lucads1664They were called Rich Mountain - genuinley wish I went there

[@riccardo_tobi]

My sister went to that college, the bobcats was their “mascot” I forgot the name. In Albany right?

[@TomAllenFootball]

Yh there are different ones, mine was in Rochester

[@Deano04]

I was meant to go to Bryant and Stratton last summer so glad I didn’t now 😂

[@TomAllenFootball]

😂

[@bigsteppa298]

I'm sorry to say but you really went about this all wrong. Not to demoralize you, but colleges in the US are not interested in developing players unless you're in a top D1 program. Coaches are all about wins, even at the juco level. The joke when I was in juco was that the team didn't matter, any coach could import pros from South America or Africa and win a national championship (and many did). You were there to get stats and hopefully get picked up by a D1 or D2 college. If you really wanted to play in the US, which I can't understand why you would coming from England, you should've signed for an academy or low semi-pro team. The only reason I would pick college soccer over academy or semi-pro is the education.

[@TomAllenFootball]

The advantage to the US is playing full time football for another 4 years. Whereas in the UK at 19, you are too old to be in academies and to play Semi Pro you would be training with a team once a week. In the US it’s once a day, sometimes twice!

[@bendover8477]

There have been many guys who’ve played D1, D2, even D3 and NAIA, who’ve gone on to play pro soccer. The vast majority of academy players don’t make it pro, so before quitting outright at 19, why not increase your chances by playing college soccer, while getting an education to boot? Many US and English academy players end up playing college soccer for this very reason. There are also many semi-pro clubs in the US as well, and many college soccer players play semi-pro in the spring and summer after their college season is over.

[@milancoric8606]

How did you do the economy?

[@TomAllenFootball]

The economy?

[@marcellomichel1769]

It’s cause you went to Bryant and Stratton bro 🤣 everything about the college sucks

[@TomAllenFootball]

Wish I’d have known that before 😭😂

[@michaeledwards6701]

How much did it cost your parents serious question

[@TomAllenFootball]

Whole thing cost like 7k, about half of it was my money. Would’ve been more had it been longer

[@michaeledwards6701]

@@TomAllenFootball thanks Tom

[@DublinDapper]

Why didn't you visit the college before signing is ridiculous mate

[@TomAllenFootball]

Very few people going on scholarships from abroad visit the colleges. It’s £1500 for Flights so to take that to a place you might not even go is ridiculous. On top of that you have multiple offers so that would be another £1500 for every college you go to visit. People aren’t made of money

[@we_breathe_football370]

Did you like your teammates, were they good people and good players or were they not what you expected?

[@TomAllenFootball]

I felt a few were a bit frosty to me, but 99% of the lads were top. Funny people as well!

[@tshepisotheka2918]

Do u still play football

[@TomAllenFootball]

Yes bro, coming back from an injury now but will be back soon

[@kenrowan1057]

What college is that? Not a real University

[@davidday2373]

I thought he was going to join a REAL team, D1.

[@MrVaDelux]

Yea sounds like one of those scammy type colleges where they charge you to play

[@namaanwaheed8496]

Solid video

[@TomAllenFootball]

Thank you bro

[@gloriabura-vm5nx]

Everything is possible bro

[@TomAllenFootball]

❤️

[@gloriabura-vm5nx]

@@TomAllenFootball maybe not today ,maybe not next month but trust me one day you will become a CHAMPION and you will remember what i said. 🤑🤑

[@tobylansdowne5849]

nice one tom

[@TomAllenFootball]

Thank you mate, lots of love ❤️

[@locochoco5959]

I like the idea of college football but to go there from europe with the aim to get better and develop? Not so sure about that.

[@TomAllenFootball]

It was the only way to get full time football after the age of 18. There are many success stories and that’s why it’s very popular, it gets you more football so you develop

[@wakanda-nd8po]

“Europe” varies from excellent to very bad, not necessarily better than US soccer. If you look at the D1 college roster, you'll see players from famous soccer academies around the world, including “European” ones, coming here to develop. Many of these graduates have played professionally, including in Europe's top leagues. FYI, Zahiroleslam, an unknown D1 sophomore, immediately became a starter in the Belgian first division last year!

[@locochoco5959]

@@wakanda-nd8po Nope. Not even a hand full of players from the top colleges can go to Europe and play in the lower rated teams. Teams that are no where near playing in the European cups so you clearly have no idea what you are talking about. Maybe you can go to the Albanian leagure or the league in Faroe Islands, maybe even Lithuanian league but anywhere else is better in Europe. Any European league 99/100 times better than the US. Edit: the player that you talk about is housing in the Belgian division (considered very weak) and they are close to relegation, so a weak club in a weak league and they are close to relegation. That is not impressive at all.

[@TomAllenFootball]

@locochoco5959 There are countless examples of players going pro from college. Either way for me, at the time it was go play non league football and train once a week or go to college and train everyday, with better facilities and full time football. It made sense for development

[@locochoco5959]

@@TomAllenFootball Yeah I get it if your options are going from college to pure amateur league division 5/6 where people play for fun. But a young player who is playing in a pro academy in Europe (anything from Malmö FF, Dinamo Zagreb to Manchester City or Barcelona) has a better chance of going pro.

[@MohsinAmirGK]

yeah unlucky mate you got scammed into playing in the LOOOWWWWWWEST division of college soccer in the usa

[@r2dad282]

D1 is no guarantee of quality much less top coaching. So many parents are sold this bill of goods that a D1 scholarship is the holy grail of player development. Results speak volumes. Of the 250 top HS prospects that enter the NCAA system every year, how many exit ready to become a pro? 5-10, maybe? And let's be honest, it's a lot of kickball as well, even at D1.

[@Ack4ever11]

Why on earth would you go from living in a Futbol country to then going to a country that Futbol is like 5th in team sports(especially at a juco) to try and make it playing Futbol? First and only problem right there buddy

[@TomAllenFootball]

At the age and place I was the facilities and opportunity was more in that country.

[@wakanda-nd8po]

Does it really matter so much if soccer is popular or not? I think it matters what career paths are available. Besides, some top D1 college teams draw an average of several thousand spectators. This number could be compared to the lower division professional leagues in some futbol countries. If you look at the D1 college roster, you'll see players from famous soccer academies around the world, including “British” ones, coming here to develop. Many of these graduates have played professionally, including in Europe's top leagues.

[@MRMeditzRTO500]

VV

[@TomAllenFootball]

🙏🏻

[@mattmatt7072]

lol you screwed yourself!! What kind of college did you go to??? Lol😂 I smell fake video

[@TomAllenFootball]

Fake Video?

[@algogeminus]

Soccer is far more respected in European countries anyway. Why go to the US where it has a fraction of the popularity?

[@WYblocka]

It’s and easier route to make it… jack Harrison who plays for Everton on loan from Leeds united did this route left Manchester united academy and went to the states

[@algogeminus]

@@WYblocka understandable

[@wakanda-nd8po]

Does it really matter so much if soccer is popular or not? I think it matters what career paths are available. Besides, some top D1 college teams draw an average of several thousand spectators. This number could be compared to the lower division professional leagues in some futbol countries. Many of the top D1 college players have played professionally, including in the top leagues in Europe. If not, you can get a degree and work in another field.

[@TrainAdaptPeak]

Going to the states can be a great opportunity but it has to be the right college for you. All about the comeback now mate🫡

[@TomAllenFootball]

100% bro, chose the wrong place but that’s how life works sometimes