FC Copa Academy’s Annual College Night was a huge success with over 300 FC Copa Academy family members in attendance. College Night is an informative annual event that we provide for our student athletes and their families as they journey through the often stressful recruitment process. We have assisted over 400 student athletes move on to play at the college level and the information that parents and players receive on College Night plays a critical role. The night began with Lori Berman, our Director of Academic Guidance assisting our student athletes on how best to navigate the high school years as well as how to begin the college search process.
This year, we were honored to have two impressive college coaches join us on our panel; Abby Shiffler, head coach of the women's soccer program at Ramapo College, and Brian Doherty, head coach of Kean University’s women’s soccer team. Shiffler, has been the head coach at Ramapo for 8 years. Doherty, who holds the most wins in Kean women’s history, has become a crowd favorite at College Night the past few years. They shared insights to what college coaches are looking for in prospective athletes, how to get the attention of college coaches, helpful tips in crafting a good email and many other great points.
Along with Shiffler and Doherty, our Copa staff - Roberto Aguas (Director of Coaching) , Billy Englishby (Technical Director), Matty Berman (Staff Coach and FC Copa Alumni) and Andrew Santos (Staff Coach and FC Copa Alumni) provided unique insights and reflections . Coach Roberto has been helping soccer players reach the next level ever since he opened the doors of FC Copa 16 years ago. Coach Billy, our current Technical Director was a part of two college coaching staffs before joining us at FC Copa Academy; Drexel University and Campbell University.
Both Coach Matty (Marist College) and Coach Andrew (Manhattan College) played for FC Copa and then went on to have great collegiate careers and have FC Copa Academy ingrained in their DNA. While playing for FC Copa, they went through the same process that has helped hundreds of student-athletes go on to play soccer in college. Their experiences as collegiate players helped shed light on what the recruitment process is really like as well as the true life of a college athlete.
“FC Copa College Night is such an important night for our families! It is a tremendous opportunity for both athletes as well as their parents to learn so much about the reality of the college process. We are very grateful to Abby and Brian for being with us and also thankful for the hundreds of Copa members who enjoyed the night! ” shared Lori Berman, Vice President and Director of Academic Guidance.