Let me start off by saying nothing is given and everything is earned. Yes, scholarships are always involved, and I have personally seen players come and go because the coaches take their scholarship away for not living up to the expectations set for everyone else on the team. A scholarship is like a one-year renewable contract. When you sign somewhere officially, you are only signing for one year and not four. This does not just apply to soccer; this happens for football, tennis, baseball and every other NCAA sponsored sports.
While it breaks my heart to lose teammates, sometimes this lifestyle we live; the early practices, weight sessions, traveling for four days or more, is so taxing on the body that enough is enough.