NCSA College Athletic Scholarships Blog

At NCSA we talk everyday about the 5 things every recruit needs to know and the 5 things every recruit must do to get recruited.  One part of the 5 things that every recruit needs to know is;  Your High School Coach Cannot Get You a Scholarship.

This point always seems to confuse families until you consider the obvious; Only a college can hand out a scholarship.  However, beyond the obvious is the fact that coaches simply have to much on their plate to handle all of their athlete’s recruiting processes.  Here is a short excerpt from the  Southern California News that really makes my point.

Moreno Valley Rancho Verde coach Pete Duffy might deal with five teachers in a given week, all of whom hope he can discipline their football-playing students. Riverside King coach Ken Mushinskie types his team’s roster himself, double-checking every height, weight and position to make sure it’s error-free.

And Jurupa Valley coach Dave Pierson has gigs at both ends of his program’s food chain.

“We don’t have equipment managers anymore,” Pierson said. “So now I’m the equipment manager.”

Forget hell week. If they don’t know how to delegate, coaches could go through hell season.

From spending eight hours at a carwash fundraiser, to buying helmet decals and spirit packs, to filling out paperwork for recruiters — some of these guys might need to pummel a tackling dummy or two just to stay sane.

Colton coach Harold Strauss thinks all the non-football tedium is why there’s such a high turnover rate among coaches these days, while Pearne sometimes finds himself asking: “Why am I doing this again?”

But it’s tough to top the load of Riverside Norte Vista coach Ken Batdorf.

Like other coaches, he organizes study halls, conducts grade checks once a week, recruits volunteers for jobs like hosting team meals and attends all the fundraisers.

But he also lays out the entire team program and helps set up the snack bar a couple of hours before kickoff.

“One time someone from the snack bar came up to me right in the middle of a game,” Batdorf said. “She said, ‘Coach, we’re out of ice.’ “

(Batdorf was probably using the last few cubes for his headache.)

The first year with a program is usually the toughest, as coaches are still trying to figure out the lay of the land and acquire proper, reliable help.

But the paperwork, the fundraisers and the rest of those ulcer-building responsibilities? They never really go away.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 1st, 2009 at 6:17 pm and is filed under Athletic Scholarships. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.