Don’t Sleep Through Your Recruiting Alarm
April 29th, 2009 - byOne of the first questions families wonder when they begin to contemplate the potential their student-athlete might have to pay at the next level is “when should we start the recruiting process?”
Unfortunately, the reality is that there is no “perfect” time to start navigating the recruiting process. There is no 
alarm clock that will go off when its time to start reaching out to college coaches…and if there is an alarm clock, too many families are hitting the snooze button far too many times.
After speaking with thousands of families about the process, at times, it seems like some are waiting for a sign from above to get started. This lack of a clear starting line also leads to student-athletes falling into one of two categories in relation to their recruiting competition:
Either you are behind…or…you are ahead.
It’s as simple as that. No student-athlete is “right on time” when it comes to the recruiting process. You can’t receive the perfect number of letters or the perfect number of offers.
If you view other student-athletes playing the same sport as your recruiting competition, almost none of them will have received the exact same amount of interest from college coaches. They will have either received more letters, talked on the phone with more coaches, sent more videos, taken more visits, received more offers…or less of all of those…but almost never the same. Nine times out of ten, the student-athlete who is on the more desirable end of that scenario is the one who started the process earlier.
The recruiting process can have a life changing affect on a student athlete and the college decision will be the single most important choice a young person has to make. Given the impact this process can have, you have to ask your self, do you want to be behind or do you want to be ahead? All I ask is that you stop hitting the snooze button.
