In the last issue of Make the Team we made the audacious claim that "recruiting should be fun." Let's dig a little deeper there. When you take control of the college sports recruitment process, it's kind of like learning to drive a car. At first, it's a little bit overwhelming. There are signals to heed, other drivers to avoid, and the radio playing that song that you just have to sing along with at the top of your lungs.

But once you learn how the dynamics of the road work, it's very powerful because you can control the destination and the route. In other words, you can determine where you end up playing and what your experience is like getting there. And to be quite frank, your recruiting experience, when you understand what you need to do, can be incredibly empowering.

So what does it take to learn how to take control of the recruiting process? It takes two things: determination and organization. By determination, we mean that you need to be steely-eyed and say to yourself, "I'm going take control of this thing." Organization means that you have to be willing to put a few minutes every few weeks into getting the job done. The good news is that it really doesn't take that much time or effort.

Some people choose to use CaptainU or other college recruiting services to learn about NCAA recruiting guidelines. Others just decide that they'll feel it out on their own. Either way, you have to be determined and organized to learn. It's the same as when you learned to drive. You knew that you wanted to do it, so you did it. There's your determination. You also needed to go to driver's ed and put in a little time at the wheel, which required some organization.

Let's be honest, you have to be a glutton for punishment to enjoy driver's ed. But everyone loves the control and freedom that you get once it's done. The same is true with recruiting. It takes a little bit of determination and organization at first. But once you understand the process, you have the power to control your college sports destination.

Imagine this scenario: You're sitting in a cafe in Switzerland watching Euro 2008. You don't speak any French, German or Italian, but you are handed the thickest menu you have ever seen. This thing is like 50 pages long. You open it and start flipping through. You have no idea what you're looking at. To boot, you're a picky eater. The waiter comes and you point to a random item and hope...

Amazingly, the pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey method is how a lot of young soccer players choose a college. They make a decision with little information other than hearsay or some indication that they might be able to play soccer there. Unfortunately, the result is that a lot of people end up transferring.

If you want to have a successful college soccer career, you have to work for it - and not just in the sense of going out on the field and practicing a lot. Finding the right college requires research. The good news is that there are a number of excellent resources at your disposal:

Relatives and family friends. It's always good to start with the people you know. Ask them what schools they think might be a good fit for you. Often, these recommendations can be the most powerful because your relatives and family friends know you and the college.

College guidance tools. Web sites like Campus Explorer suggest a list of colleges based on the criteria you input. Books such as those offered by The Princeton Review can be very useful as well. Go to the bookstore, sit in a big cushy chair with a hot chocolate and flip through some guidance books.

College counselors. If your school has a college counselor, schedule an appointment. Otherwise, talk to your teachers. They are often familiar with many colleges. Talk to you club and high school coaches as well.

Don't be overwhelmed. Spend a couple hours each week doing some research and before long you'll have a great list of colleges. You'll notice that the resources above focus not on soccer, but on academics and social life. That is by design. Once you have found a group of 20 or so schools that are right for you academically and socially, then it's time to focus on soccer:

College team Web sites. You can learn a lot about teams by checking out their Web sites. Read about the coach, the most recent results, and check out the schedule to see who they play. Have a look at the roster to learn about the players, where they're from, and what types of clubs they played for. Use Facebook to send messages to some of the players and ask them about their experience.

Visits. Once you've narrowed your list down to five to 10 colleges, visits are essential. Don't wait around for coaches to offer you official visits. Instead, take the initiative to visit on your own and try to stay overnight with one of the players. This will show the coach that you're seriously interested and give you an opportunity to really assess the place. If you love it, great. If you don't, cross it off your list.

Finding the right school is one of the most challenging aspects of college athletic recruiting. But a little homework goes a long way. First find a group of colleges that are right for you as a student and socially. There are so many colleges out there that, if you are fairly thorough, your pool will end up including a handful that are right for you as a player.

If you can find the college that's right for you on these three dimensions, you'll be setting yourself up for a great college experience and a great college soccer career. So as you start sifting through all the colleges out there, heed the following: Fit is infinitely more important than prestige. Find the right place, not the fanciest.

5 tips for communicating with college coaches:

• Write a cover letter and resume introducing yourself to college coaches


• Follow up on your cover letter and resume; don't be deterred if you don't hear back from coaches


• Send a schedule of your games and tournaments to college coaches


• Provide regular updates and progress reports -- maintain monthly contact with each coach
• Make a highlights video

There is much more to know about contacting college coaches.