Special Episode – Hear From a Player Who’s Made Her Verbal Commitment

In this special episode, I talk to Chayse Ying, a player from California who has worked hard through the entire college recruitment process and has made her decision. Hear about her journey and what led her to her future school.

[00:00:00] Matt: Hi, everybody. Welcome to discover college soccer today. We’ve got a little bit of a special episode. Uh, I’m excited to be talking to Chayse Ying from Los Angeles, California. Welcome, Chayse.

[00:00:14] Well, it’s great to have you. And, uh, we’re excited to talk to you because you are currently a junior in high school for like another week or so, but, uh, you know, getting ready to enter into that final year. And we’re just going to talk a little bit about, you know, what your soccer journey has been like, uh, and, and how this.

[00:00:32] College soccer and recruiting process has gone for you and just gives some people some insight into what it’s like for the journey of, of one particular player. But, but I think people will find it interesting. So let’s just go back. You know, when did you start playing, let’s say travel soccer or, you know, competitive soccer?

[00:00:51] When, when did you kind of really decide, Hey, this is something I really enjoy and really want to get into.

[00:00:59] Chayse: My dad put me into a bunch of sports when I was little and he just wants to see if I’d be good at any of them. Like a huge range, like tennis. I was definitely not good at a lot of them. And I started playing AOI. So, and then I decided that I wanted to start playing, um, more professionally, if you can call that at like the age of seven.

[00:01:28] I started with a co-ed team. And it was just like in my neighborhood, really chill, but it was definitely different because I never played with boys also. And it was the quality. We got a lot higher and. And then at the age of seven, I joined my first all girls club team, which was also really different. Um, and that was with Hollywood FC.

[00:01:55] They were in my neighborhood. And after that, it just, it was, I, it wasn’t exactly like my fit. So I decided to move teams to my current coach who is Jacob to Della. Uh, we weren’t at Della FCA at that time. I joined his team and immediately my parents were like, this is the spot that I think she should be training.

[00:02:20] Just like, sorry about that. Um, younger, like, it was really high intention just for even young children. And it was really different from everywhere we’ve seen and our previous club. So we started downtown. LA which, um, due to some complications with the management, we decided to move, but we also, we stayed as a team and we just decided to move clubs.

[00:02:52] And I’ve actually been with this team for, I’d make my ninth year. And I’ve been with the same coach. Yeah, the same coach, the almost the same girls since I was really young. And that also explained. And like some quips you see on my tech talk there’s we have a lot of chemistry, which is, cause we’ve been playing with each other forever.

[00:03:17] It’s a really long-term club. Yeah. And we moved again from downtown to Lofa and that also was not the best fit for our club. There were some field complications and other stuff like that. And. My coach decided to make his own club. So we were there from the beginning. It’s called Del FC. That’s the club I played for right now.

[00:03:46] And we’ve really struggled a lot because starting a new club is, it’s really tough because there’s these, these big clubs like that you see like surf and just like, like legends and. I wouldn’t say they have it easy. It’s just like at those clubs, they have a lot of money. They can enter whatever tournament they want because they’ve got a name for themselves and we really have.

[00:04:15] Like really, and literally built from the ground up. And it was really tough because we didn’t have a name, lots of tournament’s wouldn’t let us in, and the ACNL wouldn’t let us in and play with them. Even in summer or these like ornaments, we would play C and L teams. He would beat them, but still.

[00:04:37] Um, lots of play. We still aren’t playing ECN hall right now. It’s still like a fairly new club. 

[00:04:45] Matt: Well, that was, that was going to be my question. Like, so, uh, if you’re, you know, your team has stayed together, which is great, but you’ve been in part of different clubs and now you’re on your own. So what, you know, everybody, at least, you know, I’m going to.

[00:05:02] Speak more to the girl’s side of things, obviously right now. But like everybody says, all we, you gotta be CNL or you gotta be GA maybe, maybe some of this, uh, you know, USU soccer and 64 nationally, whatever. But for you guys, as a, as a club moving around and, or as a team moving around clubs and, and being in different places, you probably haven’t had the ability to do those, right?

[00:05:25] Chayse: No, we have not. Um, I think most would say, unfortunately, but it’s really taught us just that however much work you put in is what you’re going to get out. And I think that it’s, it’s like really set into goal soccer that you, you have to be ECN out or you’re not good, or your clubs, nothing. And to Della FC, I think also a big reason why.

[00:05:58] It’s not as detrimental as you would think that we’re not a part of CNL or any of those big leagues because I would say two galaxies are really different from all these other clubs. I think we really try to focus on soccer, like the real soccer aspect to this message is. However much money you have, whatever lead you are.

[00:06:28] It shouldn’t matter. And the basic principle is that African players or soccer players can play soccer. So we have scholarships like all across the club. I also want a scholarship for $2 and we have, um, like a small program called Teddy and you pay as much as you can, and you get the same amount of training as anyone else, and really.

[00:06:52] I think that stood out to a lot of colleges. And I think that helped a lot just, and we’re really getting our name out there, especially with UCLA. We have some side coaches. Um, or, uh, assistant coaches training our staff. And it’s really becoming a new message that not everyone has to be STNL to get to a top level of soccer.

[00:07:18] Like I have, I have two commits aside from me on my team and one of them is going to use TSP. One of them is going to Princeton. Oh, wow. Yeah. So it’s, it’s really not. Yeah. I really love being a part of Della. Yeah. So 

[00:07:34] Matt: just out of curiosity, have you played, uh, for your school at all or have you just played club.

[00:07:44] Chayse: For me, I have played with my school as a varsity soccer team since freshman year. And I think it’s really different from clubs. It’s kind of hard to explain, but it’s a different feeling as well. Like it’s almost like you’re playing for your school and like, you have like a sense of pride because you’re gonna, everyone knows that you have a game in the next day and you’re coming the next day to school, like, oh, They’re not.

[00:08:13] And it’s, it’s really like, even though you, cause I’ve been with my, my clubs off the chain for like a really long time and it feels like a family and in high school, I feel like. Because my club team is like that, we’re all the same age. It’s different in high school. Cause when I started as a freshman, you have these seniors and it’s like, when you’re not playing high school soccer, the seniors are scary.

[00:08:41] But when you’re playing in like a S. And when I was a freshman, I was like, sure, I wasn’t. I mean, I’m not saying that I’m not sure, but like I was tiny. These girls were huge to me. I was so intimidated by them and high school soccer, really. Brings you together, if that makes sense. And it creates like, almost like they’re like an older sister to you.

[00:09:08] It’s really awesome. Yeah, that’s great. I also got a lot of my clips from there. Um, I’d say the level did draw with competition in high school, but it’s still like, whatever you can get out of it, you can get out. 

[00:09:21] Matt: Oh, that’s a great attitude. Uh, yeah. I’m happy to hear that, that you got the chance to do that.

[00:09:27] Cause I think it’s something that’s always a good thing to do if you can. So, you know, we talk about high school. Um, so you get into high school and maybe you’re thinking, okay, maybe this is something I want to do in college. So. When did you kind of start reaching out to schools about, Hey, I’d be interested in playing or when did schools start contacting you if they saw you in a tournament or something, when did that process really start for you?

[00:09:54] Chayse: So, um, for me, the process is just about like, even thinking about playing college, soccer started pretty early. Cause my, my coach, um, Jacob’s Nadella, he actually played. In college for soccer, D one at Indiana university. So he’s like, he was fairly familiar with the process. Um, even though it’s a little different from the guys, he got us thinking about the college process when I was a freshman.

[00:10:22] So we were making lists of like schools fairly basic, because we were in, like, we couldn’t even talk to coaches at this point. So we were just starting down like. What schools do you like academically? What schools? We like amazing soccer and it’s like D one or D three. It was really basic.

[00:10:44] And actually, I remember I still have the list on my notes app. I remember I made it like right before the training year, so to make it, I completely forgot about it. And I did not think at all, it wasn’t even the realm of possibilities that I could play. D one soccer. I had mainly D three schools, which is completely fine.

[00:11:08] I just, I didn’t have a lot of confidence in myself that I could just play at that high of a level and we kind of stopped talking about it. And then I picked it up again right after I ended my sophomore year. And this was when it really became real. And I started seriously thinking about it. Plain at the next level in playing soccer.

[00:11:33] And thankfully, my dad is really passionate about soccer. He was not a soccer guy. When I first started, he was big on swimming and ice hockey. Surprisingly, I even know who he could move that fast, but he really got into it. Really like, thankfully he was super helpful with me in this process. He also, because he’s a film director, editor producer, just in that industry, he was really, um, experienced with the whole reel type of work and just the cameras and just like.

[00:12:18] Talking to people and being a people person, because we weren’t always filming all our days. We had to talk to their managers to get the game footage and stuff like that. And we were starting to just really hone in on like the specifics of schools. And we didn’t even think about soccer. At first, we were just talking about a location, if I wanted it to be.

[00:12:43] East coast if I want to stay in California and just like also taking into account, like my academic ability and if I would even be able to survive at that school with just pure academics, let alone soccer. And that was a really big part of my decision. Cause I actually, I wanted to go. Um, on the east coast, I just love the feel of there.

[00:13:12] So that really narrowed down my schools. And I think that’s a really important thing to know when you’re looking at spaces where you want to be. Cause it’s, it’s hard to look up. There’s 50 states, an insane amount of colleges. Um, so it’s really helpful with the whole college soccer process. And once I started looking at that, then I started taking from that.

[00:13:38] Taking them, which are D one schools, some D three schools. And we started reaching out to them with just emails, like nothing super serious. We made a template and we researched about these small colleges. To like personalizing the email and make sure that they know that I’m really interested in that.

[00:14:00] Because if we’re not interested in them, they’re not going to take interest in you. If you don’t put in that effort. And we put together an email with my height, my weight, my. GPA, just all those small details about me as well as my real self, which is really important. That completely helped me in my process.

[00:14:23] That was one of the most, I’d say most important parts of the process besides like camps, because you’re not going to be able to go to all these camps, just the, um, financial aspects, because camps are really expensive. I think that’s a thing that a lot of people do. And it’s really important to just let them see you and let them know that you’re interested.

[00:14:47] And once I got from that, like email and process, I, they were, I was getting emails back and they were reaching out and thankfully the auto fit that I was interested in, um, expressed their interest in me. And they invited me out to some camps and that is like, we’re really. I started gaining confidence in myself that like, oh, maybe I do belong here.

[00:15:16] Maybe I can play like these girls who I’ve always been like, wow, can I even be at that level?

[00:15:27] Um, I’d say around. So then I went to a Stanford camp. I went to a lot of camps. I went to a Stanford camp, a Michigan cannabis, Notre Dame pants, UCS, the, um, just like also some small camps around me that weren’t even for colleges because it’s, it’s really. Uh, type of, um, you also have to be like able to talk to that coach and because there’s so many girls there, you have to make the most of how much time you’re going to get to talk to that coach, which is like, it will be less than it will be under a minute.

[00:16:08] Like if it’s over, then you’re lucky because there’s so many girls that are all in line and they all have the same goal as you. And you’ve just got to start getting used to that. I remember I went to my first college camp. I was a freshman. And I went to the UCLA camp and I was so scared. It was terrifying, but I really used that.

[00:16:31] And I kept it in my pocket for the entire time. I was thinking about college soccer until I actually started in that real pro. I started getting into that real process and you’ve really got to let them know that. You’re there, you’re working hard to that, those coaches and you, you’ve got to really put in that extra mile, like if you’re gonna, like you’re on a field and you’re scrimmaging very, they might look over once.

[00:17:03] And if they see that you’re walking or you’re, like, you’re just not giving your full effort. That could be the one thing that really likes the tourism from really looking at you for the rest of the camp. And that’s, I think, a really important thing to be completely focused on and the entire camp. And that’s, that’s really hard, but I think even if you find yourself, like, kind of.

[00:17:28] Getting out of it during the camp, you’ve got to really immediately start back into it. Yeah, 

[00:17:33] Matt: no, that’s great advice. And, and I agree. Um, so, uh, I think, uh, if I’m not mistaken though, you’ve had some other opportunities for other teams right outside of high school, outside of club. Uh, what, what other teams have, have, have you gotten opportunities to be, to be a part of.

[00:17:53] Chayse: Oh, so I fortunately my high school soccer coach also had a, um, other club team and they were actually, oh, threes and oh two. So that was really intimidating, but I got it. Like maybe five games for ECNO and this was very terrifying for me because also I’ve never played. Like I had no idea what you see now look like, cause I’d always just been told it was so much better than.

[00:18:25] Everything else. And it was also because he’s so much bigger than me. It was terrifying because these girls are seniors and juniors. I was this Ronnie freshmen, but it was also just really. Interesting. Cause I, I, as I mentioned before, I’ve been with the same team forever and it’s really, um, it also prepares you like jumping into a new environment.

[00:18:52] I think it prepared me just like being able to adjust that quickly because that’s what’s gonna happen when you’re. If you plan to play collegiate soccer and you’re gonna go into a completely new environment and it’s going to be super different from what you’re used to, at least I think it will be for me.

[00:19:13] Yeah. Okay. 

[00:19:15] Matt: Well, I know you’ve had a, so let’s say, you know, you, you went through a handful of camps. You got to have these conversations back and forth with coaches, from a number of schools, both division one division three. How many, uh, how many schools did you have? I know division three, doesn’t technically have official official visits, but how many schools would you say, did you have official visits with, were you, you were really kind of putting them in the running and, and really deciding on where to go.

[00:19:48] Chayse: Well, I actually didn’t at this point, I wasn’t really looking at division three. I would say I had five schools that I was really interested in and that were showing interest in me. I wouldn’t say that they were all like the same amount of interest. Like some had already had offers and were giving me offers from the beginning and others.

[00:20:12] I was waiting on them. And this was really stressful because when you’re dealing with this side where this is really where it’s coming together and it’s, it’s going to decide what you do in your future. Right. And it’s permanent. You really have to think about it. Cause now it’s not just, oh, let’s.

[00:20:33] Let’s go throw out, like, let’s go dip our toe in that and see if they might have interest. It’s really like, this is the end of the process. Um, and that was really stressful waiting on other people because you could be waiting on them. And this one might be like this other school might be thinking you’re taking too long and ha might have the chance to pull out.

[00:20:56] And I had the, um, I was fortunate enough to have. Three or three, four official visits because technically two of them were in California, so they didn’t actually have to fly me out. Right. But yeah, that was, that was a really fun process. Because they had no soccer in them whatsoever. This whole time. I had been.

[00:21:23] Um, proving to them what I’m capable of and what I can add to their team and how the coach might see me fit into his Shane or her team. And this was now just sitting back, relaxing them, taking you around. Uh, and really picture yourself if you can see yourself in that school, because this is where you might spend the next four or five years at the canyon depending on how far you might go.

[00:21:53] You might take an extra year. And it was really fun. I’d say I had a lot of fun, especially at Notre Dames. I remember going there and I was like, cause I had never been to like a real college football game and especially for Notre Dame, which is. A big football school. I went and it was their first home game since COVID. It was packed and they also let me onto the field, like in the beginning of the game.

[00:22:24] And I just remember standing next to these football players and they looked like giants. They were, they were massive. And there were like a hundred of them. Oh, yeah, it was really fun. Yeah. 

[00:22:35] Matt: Good. Well, um, I really appreciate you kind of taking us through this, uh, this journey that you took and congratulations.

[00:22:43] Um, and I think, uh, it’s, uh, you know, I think you’ve, you’ve already said it and I, and I think we know just from the shirt that you’re wearing and the football team that you went and visited, where we’re going to get to see you play here in, in, in the near future. So congratulations. Um, and, uh, we’ll, we’ll definitely keep an eye on what’s going on with Notre Dame.[00:23:05] Women’s soccer. They have an amazing tradition. There it is. It’s a great school. I’ve had the chance to visit it before myself. And I think you’re, you’re going to enjoy it. You enjoy yourself for sure. So, uh, all the best of luck and thanks again for letting us in