NCSA College Athletic Scholarships Blog

Most soccer players want to play at the highest level possible, but Division I soccer is not for everyone. It is extremely time consuming year round and you must be incredibly dedicated and disciplined to make it work. A Division I player is not made overnight; Division I athletes have been playing against top competition since they were very young.  A great deal of time, energy and money has been spent on these athletes in order for them to be placed in the category of being the best. In many cases, they have traveled nationally and even internationally to gain the experience that is necessary to prepare them for this level of play.Division I coaches, especially at the top Division I levels, are looking for the best and they know where to look for the athletes that can compete at their level.  Many Division I coaches will begin looking at athletes their freshman year, so if you are serious about playing at this level, you need to be taking the proper steps early on.

They are looking for players who have the following experience:

• ODP Experience:

           o National Team/Pool

           o Regional Team/Pool

           o State Team NOT Pool

• CLUB Experience:

          o Premier Club Experience

          o Attend Major Tournaments

               - Surf Cup

               - Disney Showcase

               – Score at the Shore

               - Las Vegas Showcase

               - Blue Chip

• High School Experience:

          o All-American

          o Varsity starter

          o All-State

          o All Region/Conference/Sectional

Most Division I soccer players have club experience and play for a high level premier/elite club team that attends out of state tournaments. Division I players typically have ODP experience at the state level or higher. High level club tournament play and ODP soccer come closest to mirroring the college game, and this is where most collegiate scouting takes place. Nearly 100% of all Division I soccer players who played for their high school teams have earned at least All-Conference recognition. Most have also received All-District, All-State and All-Region honors.

Pay attention to who is contacting you. Division I and II coaches can start sending you personalized letters and emails, in addition to any recruiting materials, beginning September 1^st of your junior year. Before this time it is up to you initiate contact with these coaches and to get your name out there. Remember that there are no rules that are placed on you with regards to contacting coaches. Make sure that the schools you are the most interested in have access to your video and your club tournament schedule. In order to fully evaluate you, Division I coaches need to see you play in some form before your junior year. That way, you will hopefully be on their list of prospects and they will contact you right around September 1st. In a perfect world, Division I coaches would like to have their recruits committed by the end of their junior year and top Division I players will definitely have committed by this time.

For underclassmen, you still have time and you need to make sure that you fit the mold of what Division I coaches are looking for.  For juniors and seniors, if you are not being contacted by Division I coaches after September 1st of your junior year you are going to have to work even harder to get your name out there. Things happen and some Division I coaches may not be done with their recruiting early, but you will need to be active in order to find out which coaches are still looking. This also means that you will need to be more flexible with the opportunities that are available and it would also be wise to look into some other levels where there will be more options.

For most families, the day their son or daughter commits to a college is a joyous occasion. All those years of hard work, travel, and expenses have finally paid off in the form of a college acceptance letter, roster spot, and in many cases a scholarship. Parents brag to their co-workers about their outstanding son or daughter.  The high school student sports his or her college t-shirt to high school, breathing a sigh of relief that the biggest stress of senior year has magically been lifted. A college commitment should certainly be a source of pride, but what many student-athletes fail to realize is that the hard work is just beginning.

Signing on the dotted line and committing to a college athletic program can be a life changing event. You are joining a team that is, in most cases, much more competitive and intense than what you knew in high school. Don’t downplay the meaning of the word “commitment”. You are not only commiting to play for a college team, you are actually making a commitment to work for the coach. One of the biggest mistakes a student-athlete can make is to take the spring and summer off of training.

Most college coaches will mail incoming freshman a copy of their summer workout.

If your coach does not send you a workout book, ask for one!

Follow your college workout religiously. Those athletes who come to campus in the best physical condition will prove to the coaches that they are serious and committed, and in return will have the best chance of playing early. If you do not understand the workouts, call the coach and ask questions, see if there is an upper-classmen who lives in your area and can help, or consider a few private training sessions at a local gym or training facility.

Set goals for your freshman year and be sure to stay out of trouble. Remember that one wrong move could jeopardize your entire collegiate athletic career. I recently heard from a father of an athlete who had to come home after his freshman year of college because he was not mature or responsible enough to survive on his college campus, despite the fact that he was a star on the baseball team. Once you get to campus it is time to prove to your new coaches why they recruited you. They are looking for student-athletes who will make a positive impact not only in competition, but on the college campus at large.

To those student-athletes who have signed a National Letter of Intent or made an equivalent commitment to a college athletic program – congratulations. Now get to work!

 Last week, Lane Kiffin was left looking foolish after falsely accusing Florida Coach Urban Meyer of cheating.  In what I am sure Tennessee fans are hoping is not a trend, Kiffin was made a fool once again this week.

The Volunteers have reported two secondary infractions that occurred when recruits came to Knoxville for official visits in January.  The first violation involved a fog machine that was used during a recruit’s visit to Neyland Stadium.  The second involved a number of prospects who took part in a mock press conference at the media center inside the stadium.

While neither violation seems very serious, and in comparison with other recruiting violation horror stories (think drugs, booze, and women), both are harmless, it does reinforce how confusing the NCAA rules and regulations can be.  I am sure none of the recruits felt they were breaking any rules when answering fake questions in front of a non-existent audience during a mock press conference…

I said it last week, and I will say it again this week, the recruiting process is confusing.  DI college coaches who go through recruiting every year are not even sure where the lines are drawn in certain situations so how can families who go through the process once be expected to? 

Make sure you have someone on your side who can guide you through every step to make sure you avoid that evil fog machine…

Every parent who wants to help their child play at the next level will be investing a lot of time and money in that goal.  99% of parents I speak with don’t have the experience or knowledge on how to allocate those scarce resources (time & money) to maximize the recruiting opportunities for their child.  They compound that inexperience or lack of knowledge by relying on information from non-experts.  Non-experts on recruiting include HS coaches, Club coaches, friends and relatives who may have had a successful recruiting experience, or hear-say.  As lawyer friend told me, “a person who represents himself in court, has a fool for a client.”  A college decision for your youngster will impact them for the next 50-60 years.  Should a parent leave that process in the hands of amateurs?  I guess it depends on how serious a parent is about finding the right academic and athletic fit for their child. 

 So let’s get to the point:  How much time and money needs to be spent on a child’s recruiting?  Let’s start with some assumptions based on facts.  First, unless your child is the bluest of the blue chips, they will not be discovered by college coaches.  There will be over 75,000 high school student athletes graduating this year who will be on college rosters next school year.  Less than 7,000 of them will fall into the “Blue Chip” category.  The other 68,000 student athletes will have engaged in a lot of effort to make recruiting happen for them.  The sad reality is that 1/3 to 1/2 of those students will make a wrong choice because they had to settle for what was available.  How does a parent avoid this for their child?  They MUST invest in the recruiting process.

You’ve read on these pages the 5 things you need to know and the 5 things you must do.  But no one has written about specific costs.  Regardless of the sport your child plays, they will need to participate in events outside of their high school team in order to get placed on a college coaches’ radar.  Depending on the sport, those are club, travel, elite, premier, AAU, or other teams.  These clubs spring up and die all of the time so make sure your travel team is participating in the right tournaments.  If your child is a football player, they’ll need to attend camps and combines to improve their skills.  From the time a kid is in 6^th grade until they graduate, a parent can expect to pay $3,000 to $5,000 per year on club fees, travel, lessons, personal trainers, etc.  If you aren’t doing that, you’ll have a severe competitive disadvantage with families who are doing that. 

The frustrating thing for parents is that all of that investment will not get a kid looks by college coaches.  A travel coach will promote her/his team by saying s/he participates in all of the right tournaments and that 100′s of college coaches will be in attendance.  While the college coaches will be in attendance, they come with a list of specific players to evaluate in person.  They do not attend with the idea of discovering players.  So, in addition to all of the funds parents have spent on the above activities, they still NEED to market their child.  Marketing costs break down this way:

Most parents don’t have the time to devote to all of these activities.  If they separate these activities among different vendors, they run the risk of not using an expert.  For example, how many video companies use music to enhance the video?  How much are you paying for that feature?  Now, how many college coaches have the volume turned on when they’re watching the video?  ZERO.  Then what parent has the expertise to lay out a comprehensive marketing plan for their child?  What parent can transfer ownership of the process to their child?  As a parent who has been through this, the hardest thing some parents can do is to encourage their child to do the work necessary.  Where does that empowerment come from?  It comes from an expert’s knowledge.

Parents who truly want the best for their kids and want to help their kids achieve their dreams, must be willing to invest the TIME and MONEY to make that happen.  Only in the rarest of cases, will a parent hit the lottery with a gifted, hard-working student-athlete who will get discovered and recruited by her/his dream school college coach.  In all other cases, parents should not rely on “LUCK”.  As a wise man once said, luck is the residue of clearly defined goals and hard work.  If you need help defining that game plan, start here.

With last week’s hectic signing day over, you would think that most coaches can now kick back and start making their plans for spring practice.  Think again.  The Michigan State Spartans are just one example of a program already focused on the class of 2010.  From the Detroit Free Press:

While many teams were hosting recruits on official visits last weekend, MSU coach Mark Dantonio and his staff were hosting many of the top juniors in the state at a Junior Day function. The Spartans welcomed more than 150 football prospects from across the Midwest.
 Not all of the prospects are necessarily Division 1 recruits. Dantonio believes in developing relationships with high school coaches and players throughout the state. With that being said, several of the top recruits in the state of Michigan were on hand last week.

The article makes two very important points.  One, college coaches are already making decisions on the 2010 class.  The majority of their scholarship decisions will be made very soon.  Recruits need to start working to contact schools earlier than ever before.

The more relevant point for the majority of recruits is the fact that Michigan State coaches are developing relationships with high schools even if they aren’t very interested in a particular recruit.  It illustrates why hopeful recruits simply cannot close doors early in the recruiting process.  Building relationships with as many schools as possible is vital if you want to have numerous options.  Focusing on one particular division or type of school could leave you in a bind later on!

NCSA will be touring America this summer with theDeBartolo Sports University.  Their Lacrosse and Football events are sure to be some of the top events of the spring and summer. Be sure to check out if we are coming to your town! 

Grammar is something that few high schools teach anymore, so many students are posting low scores on the ACT and SAT English sections.

Grammar Tip: starting as early as the 9th or 10th grade, gradually begin to study grammar.  By the time you’re in 11th or 12th grade, you’ll not only have strengthened your grammar scores on both tests, but you’ll have become a much more successful English student in the classroom.

For an easy-to-use grammar plan, use Academic Approach’s online SAT and ACT grammar courses at http://www.academicapproach.com/.

All NCSA members receive a discount on Academic Approach online programs, contact NCSA to retrieve the code.

Last week the Wisconsin Supreme Court made a landmark ruling by declaring that Cheerleading is classified as a contact sport.  The court ruled that a former high school cheerleader cannot sue a teammate who failed to stop her fall while she practiced a stunt. 

More interestingly, the ruling could have major consequences in women’s college athletics and the application of Title IX Law.  Title IX is the law that famously mandated that university offer the same number of men’s and women’s scholarships.  Those numbers do not currently include sports like cheerleading.  This ruling may open the door for colleges to add cheerleading scholarships to their women’s tally.   This would of course take away another scholarship opportunity in another sport.  Here is the in depth legal breakdown.

Should cheer leading be considered a college sport? Should a softball program be cut for a cheer leading program? Which sports take priority? What do you think?

As most of you know, creating a winning highlight / skills video is a critical step in the recruiting process.  With recruiting budgets being cut at every level, college coaches are depending on video more than ever to efficiently evaluate a large number of prospects.  At the same time, advances in technology have made this step easier than ever…if you know what you’re doing!

Simply put, the quality of a highlight / skills tape can make or break a student athlete’s process.  If filmed or edited incorrectly, the DVD will end up in the trash bin next to the coach’s desk and the recruit’s name will be crossed off the recruiting board.

Recognizing the growing importance of video, I recently sat down with NCSA’s Professional Video Editing Department to get the scoop on how to film and edit a highlight / skills tape…the NCSA way.

NCSA Video Coordinators Jim Broe, Alex Horton, and Marko Markovic have seen their fair share of athletic footage.  Between the three of them, NCSA has produced more than 7,000 highlight / skills videos for student-athletes over the years.  After speaking with them, it became clear that there are two main aspects to creating a highlight video: filming and editing.

This week, I will share their insight on how to properly film and then next week we will cover the vital information about editing.

CK:  Why is the initial filming of a student-athlete so important?

JB:

The final product of a highlight or skills tape is only as good as the initial footage.  Even the most skilled editing professionals cannot take poor footage and turn it into a high quality highlight reel.  Editing professionals also cannot create plays out of thin air; meaning if the skill or play was not captured in the original filming then it is lost entirely.

AH:

Filming is where it all starts.  In some cases, the only way college coaches will ever be able to evaluate a prospect will be through a highlight film.  With thousands of prospective student-athletes looking for that initial “interest,” it is not uncommon for a college coach to turn off a film after one or two plays if they are boring, display the wrong skill or they cannot tell which player they are supposed to be watching.  Good filming will make editing and evaluating much easier.

CK:  What are some common mistakes that families make when filming?

MM:

An awful lot of families zoom in on their particular student-athlete which does not show the entire play and that student athlete’s role in its development.  On the other hand, some families film so far away from the action that it’s hard to make out the student-athlete who is being showcased.

AH:

I completely agree with Marko.  To avoid that mistake, make sure to spend some time preparing before you film.  Sit down and discuss what games to film, where the camera will be located to capture the best angles and shots, the types of skills desired, etc.

JB: 

I think too many families rely on their high school coach to film which can be a mistake.  This might result in unqualified people being responsible for a student-athletes future.  I suggest a family meets with the high school coach before the season to determine who will be filming all the games, what the quality will be like based on previous film taken by the coach, and whether or not the coach will provide the family with access to the footage.

MM: 

Another mistake I have commonly run into is families attempting to edit the footage while filming.  The best filming will be a steady shot of the action with no interruption.  Families should not rewind or stop filming because who knows what you might miss!

CK:  What are some of the trends you have seen in filming and how has technology played a role?

AH:

The advancements in technology have made the life of a filmmaker much easier.  One tool that families should utilize more is a tri-pod.  I know it does not sound very “high tech” but it is an enormous advantage. 

MM:

Absolutely!  A tri-pod will go a long way towards maintaining steady footage and will prevent the human movements (mom or dad jumping up and down) that can be a distraction.  Also, the prices of quality cameras have gone down quite a bit in recent years.  I realize many athletes are part of a team and one suggestion that I have is pooling the resources of all the families to purchase a good camera.  This could be shared by the entire team and produce a much better product for all the athletes.

JB: 

In the whole scheme of things, tripods and quality cameras are relatively inexpensive given their correlation to overall quality.  Also, the use of HD has increased in the last year, but at this point is not a necessity for student-athletes or college coaches.

CK:   How does filming differ between a team sport and an individual sport?

JB:

In team sports, coaches need to see interaction between teammates.  The play may have an outcome that is dependant on several factors outside of the individual student-athlete and coaches need to see all of it to effectively evaluate the prospect.  This goes back to the mistake Marko pointed out earlier in which families sometimes will zoom on their student-athlete and miss the play going on around them.

AH:

To build off what Jim said, in team sports, coaches want to see more “real-time” footage whereas for the individual sport, coaches are more interested in their skills which don’t have to come during a game or match.  Typically, individual sports should require closer filming to allow the coach to evaluate the skill set.

MM:

Jim and Alex hit it right on the head.  Generally speaking, team sports should be filmed with a wide angle and individual sports with a tighter shot.

CK:  Many families face the decision of hiring a “professional” to film their games or doing it on their own.  Any advice for families making the choice?

AH:

My personal opinion would be to film on your own if possible.  There are a lot of small, local companies and services who charge too much money given the return.  Families are fully capable of taking their own film…and doing it well!  The hard part is the editing.

JB:

This really depends on the amount of experience that the “professional” has regarding what college coaches want to see.  Some production companies have no idea what skills a volleyball coach, for example, will want to see in which case the wrong footage will be taken and money wasted.  I think if a family can receive the proper guidance about what to film from someone like NCSA, then they really can do the filming on their own.  Just make sure to get that information before starting to film!

CK:  I am sure you guys have seen plenty of high quality filming jobs over the years.  What were some of the common characteristics those all had?

AH:

For me, this is easy, it’s five main parts:

• Good viewpoint, angle, and distance from the action
• Plenty of film to be evaluated (not just a two minute video already edited)
• Variety in the skills showcased
• Still and steady footage
• Good lighting

MM: 

Be aware of what you’re filming and keep focused on the task at hand which is gathering footage of a student-athlete that can be turned into a highlight video.  Sometimes parents lose sight of the goal and end up filming things that aren’t helpful.  One time, I edited a film that included 30 seconds of a bee buzzing around a man’s head.  I don’t know many college coaches that wanted to see that…The best films are all about the action on the field.

CK:  Any examples come to mind of videos that were filmed well that our readers can look at?

JB:

Sure.  Here are three links to some NCSA videos that are posted on You Tube that families can take a look at:

• Soccer
• Basketball
• Volleyball

CK:  Any final advice for families in regards to filming?

JB:

Don’t become emotionally invested in the filming process and remain objective.  Parents need to let the tape run and not try to edit the game while filming.  You can only edit what you have filmed.

MM:

Investing in the right equipment can go a long way towards improving the filming quality.  Seriously discuss the possibility of investing in things like a camera or a tri-pod.

AH:

Keep the shooting simple.  Place the camera on a steady platform, follow the athlete through their performance, and make sure to show each and every play to the end.  Let us worry about the rest!

Be sure to check back next week when the NCSA video experts share some trade secrets on how to turn that raw footage into a final product that college coaches can evaluate through the editing process.

This week, Tennessee Women’s Basketball Coach, Pat Summit captured her 1,000th career victory!  A feat never accomplished by anyone, male or female, in NCAA Division I coaching.  Better yet, a record that seems out of reach for anyone else in the future!  Putting it in perspective, Coach Bobby Knight (2nd to Summit with 902 wins) said it would take another coach 30+ years of 30-win seasons to ever reach that Summit!  That coaching longevity is hard enough.  But to have to have 30+ wins in EVERY SINGLE ONE of those seasons??  Even Pat has only done that 18 times!

In looking back on Summit’s career, I found another staggering statistic.  The amount of coaches (in all ranks) that have sat alongside Coach Summit on the bench, either as a player or a coach.  

It was another reminder that the coaching community is quite an impressive network.  Something to be respected as you go through your recruiting process.  

At NCSA, we stress the importance of replying to all coaches who contact you as a student-athlete.  Even if you don’t believe that a certain college is big enough or competitive enough or not the right fit for you, take the time to respond. Consider first, that you may not have all of the information.  From a recruiting standpoint, it is best to research the school to see what they have to offer academically, athletically, socially, and more.  Take the time to hear the coach out as they begin to correspond and gather information about you, as well as share information about their program and school.  You may find out a lot more than you thought you knew.  Also consider, you are building a reputation for yourself as a student-athlete.  The manner in which you respond (or don’t respond) to a coach, may set off a ripple effect in the coaching community that you were not even aware of.  

Coaches talk to other coaches.  They talk on the recruiting trail.  They talk when they are competing against each other.  If they are in the same league or conference, they talk a lot.  If they are in the same community or even the same state, they talk.  Even nationally, coaches at conferences and clinics, talk with one another.  This connection in the coaching community can be the biggest contributor to your recruiting story.  Or, it can be the kiss of death.  It depends a great deal on you and the reputation you build for yourself.  

You could correspond with a coach at a certain school, but it may not turn out to be the right fit for you.  Consider the fact that they will potentially have a conversation with a coach from another school that just might be the perfect fit.  What do you want that conversation to sound like?  ”Hey, I talked to a kid quite a bit, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to work out.  He’s a super kid.  You should take a look at him.”  Or…. “I was looking at that athlete as well, but he was hard to get a hold of.  Couldn’t communicate well at all.  Didn’t seem to know what he wanted.  I think we made a good choice passing on him.”  

Finally, think about the fact that coaches move around a lot.  Maybe as a sophomore, you talked to a coach that you really seemed to like, but the school was not what you were looking for.  Now, as a senior, that coach is at a different school that you are really interested in.  Is that coach still going to be interested in you?  Did you have a good correspondence with them 2 years earlier, regardless of the final outcome? Or did you burn that bridge once you decided you didn’t like the school?  

As a recruit, you need to keep an open mind.  And an open line of communication.  You may not ever know all of the conversations that take place about you during the recruiting process.  But remember……it is YOUR process.  You create the image these coaches will have of you.  So, make it a great one!