Cameron Croy, a 2010 graduate from
Nicholas Martin, a 2009 graduate from
NCSA would like to congratulate all three of these exceptional student athletes and look forward to helping them choose the right fit.
In January I wrote about how top running back prospect, Bryce Brown, appeared to be heading down a dangerous path due to poor advisement. Now, he has landed in deep water. The New York Times is reporting the the University of Miami has pulled their scholarship offer and begun an investigation of his “advisor,” Brian Butler.
Butler, a former rapper and call center manager, was at one time running a website that charged for updates about his clients recruiting process. He still runs a so called non-for profit that some booster donated to in the hopes of luring his recruits/clients. Brown actually voiced displeasure after former Kansas State Coach Ron Prince publicly encouraged their fans not to donate.
The story illustrates exactly why every prospect needs guidance through the recruiting process. At NCSA we specialize in understanding how to navigate the sometimes wavy waters.
Maximizing your financial aid award package is a top priority for countless high school students and their families. The difficult part is learning some tips for how to go about accomplishing this. Remember, you want to think of this as a business; the more revenue streams you can tap into, the more likely you are to receive a positive end result.
Here are some places to check when looking for scholarship and grant opportunities outside of what the college or university is offering.
This week, in an effort to restore some integrity back to the sport of swimming, officials from FINA (Federation International Natation) met to discuss rules and regulations regarding the new high- tech swimsuits.
These state-of-the-art suits have been under controversy since the LZR suit was unveiled by Speedo in 2008. The suits, which sell for anywhere between $350-$550, were designed using ultrasonically bonded seams that fit a swimmer like a true “second skin.” They are fitted with low-drag panels embedded within the fabric – something developed in conjunction with NASA scientists. However, the suits have also come with an enormous level of controversy.
One big argument is that they offer potentially illegal levels of buoyancy (due to a mix of polyurethane layers). Another area of concern came right before the Summer Olympics in 2008 when rival companies of Speedo were unable to get their suits approved in time to be worn by Olympic athletes. In addition, it appeared as though Speedo conspired with the U.S. Olympic Swim Team to make it mandatory for all their athletes to wear their suits. Are the suits really giving swimmers such an enormous advantage? It sure appears that way. In 2008, 108 world records were broken. Of those 108 swimmers, 79 were wearing the LZR suit.
It has become the hottest topic in competitive swimming and as Georgia Tech Men’s Swimmer Mickey Malul said, “If you don’t have the suits, you are at a disadvantage.”
So, after meeting with 16 of the world’s leading swim suit manufacturers, FINA will take the next month to determine what regulations need to be in place in order to calm a lot of these waves in the swimming community.
But what will be best for the sport of swimming? Ban the suits and restore the purity of the sport? Give them the “Ok” and watch as the sport dives into new and uncharted waters of more and more shattered records?
As coaches and mentors of young men and women you will be looked to for guidance with what some consider the most important decision of a young person’s life. Guiding a high school student athlete through the recruiting process and ultimately helping them find the perfect fit for their college experience can be a difficult process. With the recruiting process changing on a yearly basis it’s understandable that some coaches feel unsure as to when their athletes should get started with their search for a college. It’s important that your student athletes and families understand that not all doors remain open forever, rosters are filled, scholarships are given out, and opportunities can be missed, regardless of the talent level their son or daughter possess.
It’s a common theme amongst high school athletes and parents to wait until their senior year before thoroughly exploring the option to extend their athletic and academic career. In an ever changing, fast paced world, this decision can leave families not only behind, but out in the cold all together. Starting the recruiting process early will give families an opportunity to thoroughly review each and every option that presents itself and ultimately make a more informed decision on which school is the best fit for them.
Your families should have time to work this process as thoroughly as possible. They need time identify schools of interest, gauge the recruiting needs at these universities, research each university thoroughly, make visits to see their future campuses first hand, readjust when set backs occur and build relationships with potential future coaches. Having time to do these things will allow your players to identify the school that will provide them with not only the best athletic fit, but the best academic and social fit as well.
Making this decision is something that should definitely not be taken lightly. It is often said that the decision on where to go to college will not only have an effect on the following four years of a students life, but the next forty years as well. In most cases this will be the largest decision your athletes will be making in their life so far. Whenever making a potentially life changing decision the one thing everyone would like on their side is time, time to think, review, review and scrutinize every single facet of the options that are in front of them.
Ideally your student athletes should start this process as early as their freshman year. And while the early years of the process will be far less active then the later years, it’s the foundation of knowledge about the process and an understanding of what they are truly looking for out of their college experience that your athletes will come to understand during these early years that will set them up for success later on.
As you begin to guide your student athletes and families through this process it’s important to educate them on what to expect. First and foremost they should understand that this can be a difficult and frustrating process. Like anything else in life it takes hard work and preparation to prepare yourself for success. Your families should be ready to put in the work if they are expecting results. Another difficult aspect of the recruiting process is that it is ever-changing. Coaches are constantly developing new ways to reach out to recruits. NCAA recruiting rules changes on a yearly basis. One of the common mistakes that families make is relying off of a parent for the main source of guidance who went through the process twenty plus years earlier. As a coach you need to reach out to your families to explain that like just about everything else in the world, things have changed in the last few decades. It’s not the same process that they went through and they need to be aware of that. Competition for athletic scholarships is fierce. Knowing which schools to target, and marketing the student athlete properly is really only half the battle. Keeping up with rule changes and the current time line of the process is a job unto itself.
As I mentioned previously your student athletes should really begin to undertake this process during their freshman year. And while there are critics out there that will tell you that making the comment to become a college athlete is one that should not be made during a player’s freshman year. I would ask you to consider this, it is not a commitment to play in college that your athletes will be making during their freshman year of high school; they are simply making the commitment to still have the option to make the commitment at a later point in their high school career. And while many athletes will decide that they no longer want to invest themselves in their respective sports during college, it is far better to have the opportunity to make that decision, then to not have the option because they failed to put themselves in a position to have the opportunity to make that decision.
During your players freshman year they should begin to research schools. Have them focus on schools at all levels. It’s important that they begin to understand that there are options outside of the division one level. The reality of college recruiting is that less than one percent of all high school athletes will go on to compete at the division level. The sooner your athletes can start to become realistic about what their opportunities might be, the easier it will be for them to begin to move towards finding out which schools might be the best fit for them. Ideally your players should leave their freshman year with a short list of colleges at all the different division levels that they want to begin to target during their sophomore year. In addition to identifying possible schools of interest, it is important for you players to review the NCAA guide for college bound student athletes. This will give them a general overview of the recruiting process and more importantly it will open their eyes to the idea that they also need to focus on their academics as well, as there are specific standards they most meet to become eligible to play at the next level.
As your players start to enter their sophomore year it will be time for them to start to reach out to the programs on their short list. It’s a little known recruiting rule that student athletes, regardless of their age/grade level, can initiate contact with coaches at any time. Although coaches will have to wait until players reach their junior year before they can start to send out recruiting materials, there is no reason why players can’t begin to call schools to introduce themselves and express interest in their programs. Ideally your players should be looking to schedule an unofficial visit with these universities to get on campus and experience the schools first hand. It’s important to note that their may not be much contact with coaches on these visits, but they still should be viewed as a valuable way to educate themselves on the potential school of interest. Remember the earlier your players can figure out what they’re truly looking for out of their college experience the easier it will be for them to narrow their options down at a later point in the process, allowing them to more effectively deal with the volume of schools that will begin to contact them.
Once your players enter their junior year there should be no more red lights with the recruiting process. Coaches can begin to contact players both through mail, and during the latter part of the year through phone calls. After your players junior season is complete they should deliver their game film to any and all coaches that they have an interest in playing for. Starting early will allow them to have already initiated contact with several programs and the coaches should be expecting their film. This will allow coaches to get a jump on their evaluations of your players, and they should hopefully receive some early decisions on where they stand on the coaches recruiting board.
It’s important to remember that collegiate recruiting is a process. It’s not an event; your players will need to work through the various steps to find success. Getting started early will allow them to take all the necessary steps to put themselves in position for success. You wouldn’t expect to show up in the third quarter of a game and expect to win, apply the same logic to recruiting and your players will be in a better position for success.
After a great showing at Cal South’s Soccer Nation Expo, I came away feeling that many families and athletes still aren’t sure what is needed to play college soccer. There are a lot of athletes who say they would like nothing more than to play their sport at the next level, but saying those words and acting on them are two very different things. You can not just sit back and wait to be recruited; you need to get involved in the proper activities to make it happen.
First, you need to have the heart and determination to make your dream a reality. The recruiting process is not going to be easy or fast for most athletes and you must be prepared to put time and hard work into your recruiting to be successful. If you don’t have the drive to make this happen, it won’t, so think hard about this decision.
You will need to find a club team to participate on as well, if you aren’t on one already. The majority of college coaches are looking for athletes who have club experience because it is a higher level of play and commitment than at the high school level. If you are not on a club team now, try to find one as soon as possible. If you cannot find one close to your home or cannot afford to play on a club team, you will unfortunately have fewer opportunities to play college soccer. There are some schools that have start-up programs or teams that don’t require club experience and those opportunities, while few and far between, will be at the lower Division III or NAIA levels.
Coaches also prefer recruits to have tournament experience, so if you can’t join a club team full-time, try to be a guest player at tournaments or showcases. This will at least give you some additional experience and exposure that you would not get with your high school team. The higher level of team and tournament, the more exposure and level of competition you will face.
Every athlete has to put work towards their recruiting, some more than others. The less background and experience an athlete has, the more work they will need to put forth to be recruited. There are approximately 2,500 colleges and universities that have soccer programs. Set yourself apart from other recruits and do everything in your power to get noticed by as many of these coaches as possible. Never forget your desire to play soccer at the next level and let that drive you to put in the time and effort to make it happen.
Yesterday’s New York Times profiled Kenyon swim coach Jim Steen. Steen is known throughout college athletics as one of the most succesful coaches regardless of division level. His team’s have won 29 consecutive national men’s team championships and 22 women’s championships over his 33 year career at Kenyon. In fact, Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel recently sought out Jim for coaching advice. Coach Steen’s value’s and philosophy span all levels of competition.
Steen challenges his swimmers to reshape their contours of success. In one mass e-mail message to them, he wrote, 
“Find a place within yourself where success and failure don’t matter, a place where you can engage in battle without compromise.”
Steen preaches the art of adaptation, of reinventing yourself as circumstances dictate. One of his best breaststrokers, Tracy Menzel, a senior, came to Kenyon as a freestyle sprinter.
Her best events were the 50 and 100 freestyles, but she hit a plateau as a freshman and declined. At Steen’s suggestion, she started training in the breaststroke. In four years, she has lowered her time in the 100 by more than six seconds. As a sophomore, she won the national title.
Menzel said, “I wonder what would have happened if I had been at another school and hadn’t had a coach who said, ‘Let’s do something completely different than what we recruited you for.’ ”
Asked which of Steen’s simple truths she has most tightly embraced, Menzel did not hesitate. “The one that’s really stuck with me,” she said, is, “you can approach anything two ways: under a threat or for the challenge.”
The best swimmers at Kenyon would be challenged to make the traveling squads for the top Division I programs, though not for lack of training. They spend as much time working out as their counterparts at powerhouses like Michigan or Stanford. The difference is they are swimming for personal satisfaction and not for fear of losing scholarships.
I talk to a lot of athletes that aspire to play collegiate athletics. Unfortunately, some tell me that if they can’t play at the Division I level they are no longer interested in pursuing their sport. The Kenyon swim program is an example of why that sentiment may be incorrect.
A couple of great websites that I look at often to keep track of which players are committing to what colleges are PG Crosschecker and College Baseball Insider. Check these sites out to see if any of your senior competitors have committed or who has committed to the college you are interested in.
