College Recruiting Stories from the Road
April 13th, 2009 - byI recently delivered “College Recruiting Simplified” at the Schuman National Underclassman Combine in Nashville. Between speaking, I had a lot of chances to talk with parents of athletes. I wanted to share with you some of their experiences when it comes to recruiting.The event was a Football Combine, but two parents sat in the bleachers and shared this story about their soccer-playing son:”One of our son’s was an All District soccer player. We thought being All District would mean he would be recruited. We also thought his high school coaches would contact the College coaches. Nothing happened, which surprised us. Finally, one College contacted us late in his senior season. They asked if he was cleared through the NCAA Eligibility Center. We said, “What’s that?” We handled the whole thing wrong. Our son is now working at a store and missed out on playing College sports. We are not making that mistake with our younger children.”
Later on I talked with a mother whose oldest son was loving the experience of playing NAIA College Football:
“My son helps the head coach look at video of recruits. He said his coach looks at three plays of the high school player. The tape either stays in at that point or goes out. Our son says his coach can evaluate a player on three plays and can tell if he is too slow, too small and so forth.”
(My take – this is why it is so important to get professional guidance from NCSA in how you put together your video. Time is of the essence for many College coaches. They don’t have time to horse around with video that has not been put together the right way. If your first few plays are done right, a world of possibilities can open up…. If not…..)
I then sat down next to some high school football coaches from Smyrna H.S. in Tennessee. They told me new Tennessee recruiting coordinator Ed Orgeron had been at their school recently. “He told us in today’s climate that college coaches are using video more and more to check kids out to see who they should recruit. Even at Tennessee.”
Later on a parent told me the story of a parent that was so angry at his kid’s high school coach for not getting him a college scholarship that he still carries a vendetta – two yeas after the fact. He videotapes games of his son’s former high school team and sends them to opponents. Very sad, but an example of what can happen when families do not know how to navigate the recruiting process.
Recruiting is something that can go so much smoother if you are educated on how to navigate the trails. It is a one shot opportunity. Contact NCSA today if you would like to learn more about how to make all the right moves.
