On Saturday, January 23, 2010 South Valley Chivas Academy in collaboration with Fresno Pacific University Men’s coach Jaime Ramirez and Fresno State Women coach Brian Zwaschka offered a free camp for 76 local boys and girls high school soccer players which came as far north as North Fork and as far south as Bakersfield to participate in the camp.
“The college prospect camp was something which Jaime Ramirez and I have been planning for the past year but unfortunately our schedules never allowed us to do it. Finally we planned it with anticipation and we couldn’t have asked for a better turnout”, said SVCA Director Gilbert Hernandez. “This was a total success! All players in attendance left with details, guidelines and recommendations on how to be recruited by a D1 or D2 collegiate soccer program”.
Apart from the two hour long college training session, the players and their parents were able to participate in a Q&A session offered by the collegiate coaches. Some of the topics discussed included the NCAA, NAIA, Eligibility Center, recruiting, academic requirements, financial aid and sports scholarships.
Coach Jaime Ramirez went into details of his Division II Sunbird soccer program at the Fresno Pacific University and the importance of using soccer as a stepping stone to get a college education. “It is important soccer players use their talent to get a college education”, said Ramirez. “I am here to speak and answer questions you might have on what it takes for you to play collegiate sports at all colleges and universities, not just Fresno Pacific University”. “Just the fact of you being here at this camp tells us that you want to succeed in soccer and more importantly you want to get a college education”. When asked about sports scholarships and financial aid, coach Ramirez said, “You cannot imagine how many financial aid sources you can find out there if you spent the time to do the research. “
Fresno State Women Soccer coach Brian Zwaschka talked to the group about the recruiting process and some of the NCAA regulations which don’t allow him to speak to players until the end of their high school junior year. “The NCAA doesn’t allow me to contact any player until their junior year of high school but there is nothing that says you cannot contact me or any other coach. Be persistent when contacting coaches. Just because they don’t answer your voicemail or emails it doesn’t mean they are not interested, it is just there are so many regulations imposed by the NCAA which don’t allow us to speak to prospects”.
When asked about full sports scholarships at their respective college both of them assure everyone that it is very uncommon to give out full sports scholarships in collegiate soccer. “What we do is try to find other financial aid sources to make up the difference” said Coach Ramirez. “At Fresno State I am given nine sports scholarships a year and I need to divide those nine scholarships amongst 25 rostered players. It would unwise for me to give out those nine scholarships to nine individuals, it just doesn’t happen”.
“If there was anything to complain about this camp, it would have to be the participation of local soccer players from the Porterville area”, said Gilbert Hernandez. “We had 15 players from Porterville participate out of a total of 76. With all the local soccer clubs and all three high school soccer in mid season, you would have to expect more than 15 players from Porterville. What coach or parent wouldn’t want their child to get this type of information and guidance from these college coaches for free? “
There are already plans for future camps and projects by the South Valley Chivas Academy with both Fresno Pacific and Fresno State Soccer programs, any details of information about this events will be posted on www.chivassouthvalley.com.
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