NCSA College Athletic Scholarships Blog

An important part of the recruiting process centers around key dates ranging from the first time a college coach can officially write a prospect to the first time they can call a potential recruit and all the way to the official signing day.  These dates shape the timeline for the recruiting process that millions of student-athletes go through each year.

Unfortunately, I think families often times use their knowledge of the important dates incorrectly, or at least fail to maximize the value of their knowledge.

The good news is that the majority of families properly use these dates to gauge their recruiting progress.  For example, if a junior prospect receives 50 handwritten letters on September 1st, they should view that as a good sign that the process has been a relative success up until that point.  Conversely, a prospect who opens an empty mailbox on the same date should view that as a need to make a change in their recruiting approach.   I think most families understand this application of recruiting date knowledge.  

While gauging progress after the occurrence of these dates is helpful, the families who succeed in the process utilize forward thinking prior to theses dates to make sure they are in the right position.

Let me explain.

Imagine a football prospect is in the middle of summer, entering junior year.  Due to research, this prospect understands that September 1st will be an important day in the recruiting process.  Using this knowledge, the prospect and his family formulate a proactive game plan to reach out to more than 100 realistic college programs to alert them of his abilities and interests.  As a result, on September 1st when this prospect goes to the mailbox, it is full of letters from various college coaches.   Essentially, this prospect planned his recruiting process with knowledge of future dates rather than the reverse.

Too many prospects wait for the important dates to come along to gauge their recruiting progress, realize they are well behind, and then formulate a proactive game plan.  This is not how you should use recruiting dates!

I encourage all families to study the important recruiting dates for their individual sport, plan them out on a calendar, and then make sincere efforts prior to those dates to ensure they are on track.

Tom Lemming stopped by the NCSA offices this afternoon to drop off the printing off his annual Prep football Report. Tom has spent the entire summer crisscrossing America to identify the very best football players in the nation.  He will eventually further whittle his list to choose this year’s US Army All-American Bowl team.

Where can you buy his book to see who he has identified?  You can’t.  Go ahead, try.  Google his name.  Check Ebay.  You are not going to find it.  The only people with access to the report are college coaches who buy it and NCSA.

How can you land in next year’s Prep Football Report?  Either get lucky, or join NCSA and ensure you will be evaluated.

The 2009 Summer Edition of the Prep Football Report

If you love the game of fastpitch softball, then keep reading.  This Thursday, August 13th, the IOC (International Olympic Committee) will make a very important recommendation.  If you are a softball player, a softball fan, or both, you should be paying attention.  If you are a softball player looking to further your career in college, you should really be paying attention. If you are a college recruit who someday aspires to play the game of softball at the highest level, then you should already know what’s going on.

After the completion of the 2008 Summer games in Beijing, softball is no longer considered an Olympic sport. According to the IOC, the sport is not globally competitive enough to continue competing in the Olympic games. Although it is too late to be reinstated for the London Summer Games in 2012, the ISF (International Softball Federation) has been campaigning vigorously with an initiative called Back Softball, in hopes that the sport can return to the Olympics in 2016.

On August 13th, the IOC Executive Board will announce which two (of the seven candidate sports for the 2016 Olympics) they are recommending for the vote in October by/at the full IOC Session in Denmark. 

Some of softball’s greatest players are working tirelessly to make sure softball continues to compete at the most elite level.  I can’t think of anyone else more active in this effort, than 2-time Olympic Gold Medalist, Michelle Smith.

Check out her website and look at all she is doing as an ambassador for softball.  She loves the game and is passionate, not only about seeing softball return to the Olympics, but also seeing it grow as an international powerhouse.  She is a strong advocate for girls and women in sports all over the world.  

Softball is an amazing game!  It belongs in the Olympics.  If you agree, don’t just sit there.  Stand up and Back Softball.

Q:  What should I include in an introduction letter to a college coach? 

When constructing a letter to a college coach, keep these tips in mind:

1.  Most every coach now relies on e-mail to both contact and receive contact from potential recruits. That is the preferred method of communication. To find out the e-mail addresses for the coaches you are looking to contact, simply go to the college’s athletic website and look for a staff listing of names and e-mails or ask your Recruiting Coach.

2.  Be brief. Coaches at all levels receive dozens and dozens of e-mails/letters from high school-aged players. All you are trying to do is show you have interest, pass along all of your contact information, your resume, and provide each coach with an upcoming schedule of your matches so he can see you play.  Always include a link to your scouting report, it has all of this information!

3.  NEVER have one of your parents write to a coach. You are the one the coach might be recruiting, so he/she wants to hear from you directly. (If the relationship develops and it appears that you might be attending that college, they’ll be plenty of time for your parents to have contact with the coaching staff.)

4.  Provide contact information for yourself and your coach (es). Nothing is worse for a college coach than to have to track down your coach’s e-mail or phone number. By having both an e-mail address and a phone number listed after his/her name, it allows for the college coach to quickly e-mail or call your private and/or high school coach to follow up.

5.  Always include basic information about yourself such as grad year, high school, athletic history, GPA, SAT/ACT scores.  Tell the coach why you are a good fit for their program based on research you might have done.. 

6.  Do not send a form letter that starts out with “Dear Coach” and does not mention anything specific about his/her program and school. The bulk of your e-mail will be kept the same for correspondence you send out to various coaching staff; however a portion of it should be personalized.  Bring in something specific about it that you learned by going through the website.  State your interest in the school and specific reasons (like “my Dad went to Madison and I want to carry on the tradition” or whatever fits you personally)  This is your chance to show off your personality!

7.  Detail is important!  Be sure that you use spell check and proper English.  This is a reflection of your ability.

Q:  What happens after a recruit sends a video to a coach and when should they expect to hear back?  What should a recruit do if they do not hear back?

A:  First all, every recruit should consider the time of the year when sending a video.  For example, if they send a football video to a college coach right now while the coaches are in the middle of two-a-days, watching film on recruits might not be a top priority.

However, here is some general advice that recruits can follow when sending video:

Aside from sending the DVD or online link to a video, an athletic and academic resume should accompany the film.  This should include contact information; etc along with a well thought out explanation about “why you are interested in their school and the reasons it’s a good match.”  This is a critical question to answer to avoid the appearance of a form letter.  Keep in mind, college coaches want to make sure you are interested in their program for the right reasons (they have your desired major, their school is within your geographic target area, you think you would be a great fit for their scheme).

Typically, a recruit should give the coach 10 days to respond and then be sure to follow up to see if that coach received the film and ideally request some feedback.

If there is still no response after a written follow-up, then I would recommend calling the coach to try and get a direct answer.  If you speak with the coach, be prepared with a list of questions.  If you leave a voicemail, make sure you leave the pertinent information such as your full name (spell it out), your phone number, and explain why you are calling and what you are hoping to accomplish.

Also, be open to the potential that the feedback from the coach is potentially negative.  Recruits often face the harsh reality of having to hear the following answers from a coach:

- You simply do not fit our program athletically
- I have already identified the prospects I am recruiting in your class
- We are not recruiting your position.

Joe Paterno has a thoughts on Twitter and recruiting

“You guys have to talk about something. The fans have to put something on those — what do you guys call those things, Twittle-do, Twittle-dee?”

So in response Joe has moved to a more familiar medium to reach recruits.

All jokes aside the column works because everyone realizes how high-tech recruiting has become.  Its exactly why recruits need someone like NCSA to help simplify the process for them.

After playing his high school football in Miami, Michael found the recruiting process to be a frustrating experience and received little interest from college coaches. This lack of interest forced Michael to seriously evaluate his options and he ultimately decided that the best avenue to continue his football career would be Junior College. After enrolling at College of the Canyons JUCO in Santa Clarita , California , Michael began to realize his potential. Michael was voted Team Captain and led a nationally ranked team to a 10-1 record and the school’s first bowl win in over 20 years.

Building on his success at the Junior College level, Michael received several scholarship offers to 4 year universities and eventually decided on the University of Illinois. While a member of the Fighting Illini, Michael excelled both on the field and in the classroom, earning Academic All Big Ten honors twice. Based on his collegiate success, Michael was signed as an undrafted free-agent with the Jacksonville Jaguars and spent time with the Buffalo Bills as well as a Seattle Seahawks team that went to the Super Bowl before his career was cut short by injury. Michael is confident that his unique path through collegiate football and into the NFL will serve him well as he teaches student-athletes around the country how to maximize their athletic scholarship potential.