Recruiting Rules

The NCAA D1 Recruiting Calendar

What D1 women's soccer coaches can actually do, and when. The rules changed materially in 2018 (delayed-contact reform) and again in 2025 (House settlement). This is the current, working calendar — written for families, not compliance officers.

The Two Dates That Matter Most

First date

June 15 After Sophomore Year

First contact day

The first day D1 coaches can initiate any direct communication. Phone calls, texts, emails, DMs, recruiting materials, off-campus contact, verbal offers — all of it opens at 12:01am on June 15.

Second date

August 1 Before Junior Year

Official visits open

Official visits (program-funded campus visits) and on-campus official-visit contact begin. Most committable verbal offers happen in the June 15 → November window of junior year.

Before June 15 of Sophomore Year

D1 coaches are not allowed to initiate contact with the athlete or her family. They can:

Receive and review your unsolicited materials — film, profile, stats, transcripts.
Send camp and clinic information (this is the loophole — that's why every D1 program runs ID clinics in May).
Talk to your club coach and high school coach about you. This happens constantly. Your club coach is being asked about your character, work rate, and game intelligence as early as freshman year.
Attend your games (the NCAA bans direct contact during evaluation periods, not observation).

Athletes may initiate contact themselves at any time. You can email coaches, send film, and request unofficial visits from freshman year forward. The coach simply can't reply with anything recruiting-substantive until June 15 of sophomore year.

After June 15 of Sophomore Year

Almost everything opens up:

Phone calls, texts, DMs, emails — unlimited, both directions.
Verbal offers — coaches can extend, athletes can accept (non-binding).
Off-campus contact — coaches can meet you and your family in person off campus during contact periods.
Unofficial visits — you can visit campus on your dime; the coach can talk to you on campus.
Recruiting materials — printed brochures, handwritten letters, etc.

What's still restricted:

Official visits — those wait until August 1 before junior year.
National Letter of Intent (NLI) — only signable during the official signing windows (early November of senior year, mid-April for late signers).

Contact / Evaluation / Quiet / Dead Periods

Within the recruiting calendar, the NCAA breaks the year into four kinds of periods. Each restricts what a coach can do.

Contact period

Coaches can do everything: in-person off-campus contact, evaluations, phone calls, written/digital communication. Most aggressive recruiting happens here. For women's soccer, the bulk of the year is contact period.

Evaluation period

Coaches can watch you play (in person) and assess academic records, but cannot meet with you off-campus. Phone / digital comms still allowed. Showcases and ECNL National Events tend to fall in evaluation periods.

Quiet period

No in-person contact off-campus, no evaluations. Coaches can host you on their own campus and continue phone/digital communication. Most of summer.

Dead period

No in-person contact at all (on or off campus). Phone/digital still allowed. Dead periods are short (a few days at a time) and typically bracket signing windows or major holidays.

When Do Commitments Actually Happen?

Real-world commit timing for D1 women's soccer, post-2018 reform:

Sophomore summer (June–August): A small wave of Power-4 elite commits — typically players already on US Youth National Team tracks who have been informally "in" with a program since freshman year. Maybe 10–15% of the eventual D1 class.
Junior fall (September–December): The largest single wave. After ECNL National Event and showcase fall season, programs lock in 40–60% of their class.
Junior spring + summer (January–August): The second-largest wave. Programs fill remaining spots after spring showcases. Another 20–30% of the class.
Senior fall + NLI signing (November of senior year): Final spots. Often late additions, transfer-window adjustments, or athletes who had to make late academic decisions.

Mid-major D1, D2, NAIA, and JUCO recruiting runs later — many commits happen senior year. If you missed the junior-fall window, it does not mean recruiting is over. It means the destination set has shifted.

Which months coaches actually recruit at camps — and which are revenue.

Read →

Get her in front of coaches before the window closes

A Brava profile is the single link you send when a coach asks. Built to open in the time you'd spend pulling up a Google Doc.

Get Started